30 years on....
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:26 pm
I was speaking to an old customer today about vintage synth purchasing, and I thought that I should share my take on buying machines from a repairer's perspective.
Many vintage synths are now between 30 to 40 years old. Not many pieces of domestic electronic equipment that age are still in use. I doubt that the people that designed and built these synths ever expected them to be in use for much more than 10 years. The issue with vintage synths of course is that they often sound fantastic and they are things of beauty in many people's eyes. So they remain valuable and people keep using them. Some synths just keep on going and basically never stop, the Roland SH-2 comes to mind. Some machines weren't that reliable when they were new, particularly the early computer driven poly's.
The point I wanted to make is this: If you decide to find and purchase a vintage synth I really suggest that you find one that is in excellent condition both inside and out. If a machine is cosmetically bad it is not unreasonable to assume that as without, so within. If the outside is dinged, corroded and dirty then that should tell you something about what the synth has been through. If a machine is fairly new I can understand the idea of "I don't care what it looks like I just want it for the sound" but with a machine that is 30 years old I don't think that that is a wise idea.
As a repairer the best advice I can give if you are going to hand over your hard-earned for a vintage electronic musical instrument of that age is to avoid anything that is not in very good cosmetic condition and that is not working perfectly.
I would avoid the temptation to buy a rough or "fixer upper" machine unless you have electronics training yourself and are prepared to treat it as a restoration project that you want to DIY. It is worth spending the extra money and buying a good machine and then continuing to look after it well. Remember that the mechanical and cosmetic parts that these machines used are generally no longer available so if you buy a synth with broken pots and switches or a corroded front panel you are stuck with it.
There are some exceptions, for example some synths have common and well known issues that are easily fixed such as Juno 106 VCF/VCA modules that should not stop you purchasing if the machine is in great condition otherwise, but a good rule of thumb I think is to take the emotion out of your vintage synth purchases and take a good look at the potential new purchase first with a critical eye exactly the same as if you were purchasing any other piece of very old electrical gear and ask yourself "does this piece of equipment look like it is going to last reliably for the time span that I intend to keep it?" and "Is it worth spending the extra to get a nice example of the machine because when I come to sell it I the buyer will willingly pay a premium the same as I did"?
To sum up I will use the example of a vintage car: Do you want to buy the car that you will drive and enjoy each weekend, or do you want to save money on the purchase and then spend each weekend laying underneath it with a spanner?"
As a service tech I have to say that you should be spending your repair money having the tech diagnose and repair the occasional electronic fault, not spending it having your tech rebuilding clogged sliders and pots, cleaning wasps nests out of the insides, replacing corroded jacks, epoxying smashed keys and repairing boards dissolved by leaked battery electrolyte, it is too common that you finish up spending as much money to buy a dog and having it patched up as it would have cost you to buy a nice machine in the first place.
Just my two bob's worth (FWIW) ;-)
Many vintage synths are now between 30 to 40 years old. Not many pieces of domestic electronic equipment that age are still in use. I doubt that the people that designed and built these synths ever expected them to be in use for much more than 10 years. The issue with vintage synths of course is that they often sound fantastic and they are things of beauty in many people's eyes. So they remain valuable and people keep using them. Some synths just keep on going and basically never stop, the Roland SH-2 comes to mind. Some machines weren't that reliable when they were new, particularly the early computer driven poly's.
The point I wanted to make is this: If you decide to find and purchase a vintage synth I really suggest that you find one that is in excellent condition both inside and out. If a machine is cosmetically bad it is not unreasonable to assume that as without, so within. If the outside is dinged, corroded and dirty then that should tell you something about what the synth has been through. If a machine is fairly new I can understand the idea of "I don't care what it looks like I just want it for the sound" but with a machine that is 30 years old I don't think that that is a wise idea.
As a repairer the best advice I can give if you are going to hand over your hard-earned for a vintage electronic musical instrument of that age is to avoid anything that is not in very good cosmetic condition and that is not working perfectly.
I would avoid the temptation to buy a rough or "fixer upper" machine unless you have electronics training yourself and are prepared to treat it as a restoration project that you want to DIY. It is worth spending the extra money and buying a good machine and then continuing to look after it well. Remember that the mechanical and cosmetic parts that these machines used are generally no longer available so if you buy a synth with broken pots and switches or a corroded front panel you are stuck with it.
There are some exceptions, for example some synths have common and well known issues that are easily fixed such as Juno 106 VCF/VCA modules that should not stop you purchasing if the machine is in great condition otherwise, but a good rule of thumb I think is to take the emotion out of your vintage synth purchases and take a good look at the potential new purchase first with a critical eye exactly the same as if you were purchasing any other piece of very old electrical gear and ask yourself "does this piece of equipment look like it is going to last reliably for the time span that I intend to keep it?" and "Is it worth spending the extra to get a nice example of the machine because when I come to sell it I the buyer will willingly pay a premium the same as I did"?
To sum up I will use the example of a vintage car: Do you want to buy the car that you will drive and enjoy each weekend, or do you want to save money on the purchase and then spend each weekend laying underneath it with a spanner?"
As a service tech I have to say that you should be spending your repair money having the tech diagnose and repair the occasional electronic fault, not spending it having your tech rebuilding clogged sliders and pots, cleaning wasps nests out of the insides, replacing corroded jacks, epoxying smashed keys and repairing boards dissolved by leaked battery electrolyte, it is too common that you finish up spending as much money to buy a dog and having it patched up as it would have cost you to buy a nice machine in the first place.
Just my two bob's worth (FWIW) ;-)