Yamaha A3 Combo Organ (1974) The first instrument presented is a very unusual organ, the Yamaha A3 Electone combo organ. This was the very first combo organ Yamaha ever made. |
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Gem Imperial II (1975) The first organ I bought myself was a GEM. I remember I spent all my money I got from my confirmation on this one. It sounded pretty good for the time, and when connected to a Leslie 760 speaker it sounded even better. These Italian organs had a lot of issues with the contacts under the keys, so a can of |
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| Arp AXXE (1975) From my point of view, this synthesizer is about the worst thing you could possibly buy for your hard earned money back in the seventies. The one I had was constantly out of tune, and the only thing it was good at was the white and pink noise. It generated a great helicopter sound too, which is way useful, eh...... I can't even remember what happend to it, maybe I gave it away or sold it. Or maybe I just did what they should have done at the factory and stuffed it in the garbage can and jumped on it for a while. On the other hand, I guess I would have remembered that. |
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| Wurlitzer 200A (1977) Not much to say about this piano. I have had two of them through the years. The sound is very unique, but incredible useful for 70's style rock music. If you are not familiar with the sound you should listen to one of my favourite Supertramp albums, Breakfast in America. Then you will understand what I mean. Some great albums just wouldn't been so great without this piano. I sold my first Wurlitzer in 1979 when I needed money to buy a car, then bought another similar piano in 1980. For some reason the first one sounded far better than the later one, so Wurlitzer number 2 did not stay long. |
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| Moog Sattelite (1977) This was a low budget Moog synth probably made for those who wanted the real thing, but could not afford it. It had 1 oscilator, lots of preset sound tabs, very limited editing, and it sounded like ...... ehhh, squeezing a Humming Bird to death? I guess it was not that good at all. I remember I found one good preset, ran the signal through an analog delay to make it sound a little wider, and that's about it. It did not stay for a long time. |
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| Korg MS20 (1978) This one was my first "real" synthesizer. I was extremely proud of it, and it sounded good compared to everything else I had heard. It had an impressive lay out too, which of course helped a lot. One of the really interesting issues with the MS-20 was the patch panel that gave the user the opportunity to configure the signal routings in many ways. But in the end of the day I never found more than a couple holes to put the patch cables into that made much sense. I remember that I had a lot of fun with this one and kept it for many years. |
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| Crumar Orchestrator (1978) This machine weighted about one ton, and had the most delicious string sound you could find. The brass was very useful too, and I had this keyboard until it started to fall apart. When I finally gave it up, it had 5 keys missing and it was held together with lots of stage tape. It was a great instrument, and I still miss its velvet like sweet sounding string sound. I still wonder what made it so heavy. Well, I figure it must have been all the Italian violinists hiding inside it. Oh, and I have not mentioned the piano sounds. And it's truly a reason for that, as it would take a lot of imagination to even believe the sound was intended to sound like a piano. To get a demonstration of this unique instrument check out this youtube video. |
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| Korg CX-3 with Leslie 760 (1980) This was, and still is a great Hammond Wannabe. I loved this organ, and for a while I thought it sounded just as good as a real Hammond organ. Later I realized that it was not entirely so, but I still think this instrument was exceptional for its time. |
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| Rhodes MK1 73 (1980) To go from my Wurlitzer to this piano was like entering a completely new world. I used this piano for years, and it could sound like the sweetest thing you ever heard to a real beasty distorted piano. I had a preamp built for it and also used a Roland Chorus pedal and an external EQ, which gave this instrument an up to date sound in the eighties. |
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Hammond L-100 with Leslie 122 (1982) My first real Hammond organ was the small, but heavy L100. Wow, that was great. Never the less, it did not stay for long since I soon found out that there were even better Hammond organs out there. |
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| Hammond M-100 with Leslie 147 (1982) My next organ brought me both the nicer percussion and the scan vibrato much similar to the big B3 organ, but it still had the short 44 key manuals. This organ was bought from the world famous Norwegian band Titanic, and was cut and painted red, white and blue, just like the Norwegian flag. It sounded extremely nice, and you can actually listen to it on Youtube. I was told that this organ had been used by Keith Emerson on a jam session in Paris. I later restored the organ and Leslie speaker, and I still have the modified Leslie speaker cabinet from this set up. To buy this organ I spent most of the money that should have been used for food when I studied. That sure helped me staying slim and very happy those years. |
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| Moog Minimoog (1983) My Minimoog was a very early model with only two adjustment pot meters for each oscilator. It was of course constantly out of tune. I had it serviced again and again, but finally gave it up and decided to let the bass player use it as a bass synth, which it did great. When that is said, the filters and sound was way nice, but it required constant temperature to be playable. Even with these issues I wish I never had sold this one in the mid eighties for about $150. Can you believe the buyer even tried to negotioate that price. That was times! |
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| Korg PolySix (1983) This was my first polyfonic preset synthesizer, and to tell the truth, I did not like it much. Compared to the Minimoog it sounded like cheap shit, and as a pretty obvious result it did not stay very long. I know many keyboard players who even today have the PolySix as one of their favourite synthesizers from this era. One thing is for sure, it was good value for the money. |
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Roland Juno 60 (1983) My first Roland ever was this Juno 60. I liked it a lot better than the PolySix, but still it was not what I was looking for. I did not keep it for a very long time, but as long as I kept it I had a great time tweaking the knobs making warm and nice sounds. |
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| Sequential Prophet-5, rev2, #1000-1160 (1983) Sweet love of my life, this is the best thing that ever happend to me when it comes to analog synthesizers. It had the most incredible sound you can imagine, and I felt like I was in heaven when I played it. So fun, so sweet. This machine was totally hand built, and looking inside it was just like to see a piece of enginering history, with all the circuit boards factory modified, and lots of green straps crossing from one point to another. Except for one small incident, this machine was stable as a Ford Truck and served me well all the years I owned it. I still hate myself for selling it when I needed money to buy some new and fancy gear in 1992. How dumb can one get? |
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| Korg Poly 61 (1983) I still can't remember what brought this one into my life, (it must have been a summer sale or something). On the other hand I clearly remember why it was sold; It was a cheezy cheap piece of junk compared to my Prophet-5...... |
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Yamaha DX7 (1983) |
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1974 Hammond B3 / 2 x Leslie 147 (1984) Most people thought I had lost my mind totally when I bought this huge organ at the same time most musicians thougt that organs were the most outdated instrument you could possible find. I don't have numbers on how many times I were asked why I bothered about this heavy useless B3 all the time a DX7 or any other modern synth could do the same job. That was untill they heard it. |
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| Yamaha CP-70 Grand Piano (1984) Oh, my back hurts. I have often thought that this piano might have been one of the reasons for the back problems I got later :) You could split it into two pieces when transported, but it still was heavy compared to a Rhodes with its 331 Lbs. In their brochures, Yamaha claimed their electric grand pianos were "compact" and "portable". I used this on the road for about a year and can't say I agree with them. Finally it was parked in my living room. It sure sounded good, and it had a great piano feel to the keys and super build quality. I should have kept this one, but as they say, you just can't keep them all. |
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| Oberheim Matrix-6 (1985) Bought it with intention to keep it, and tried for some time to figure out what it could be used for. Not that much later I sold it without finding out for sure. Just like that. But I can't say it left me completely untouched. I still wonder what the h.... that "key release" function was good for. Most people would desire to be run over by a train rather than to be forced to edit sounds on this insane analog monster. It sure brought user un-friendly interface to a new level. |
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| Roland D-50 (1987) Believe it or not, this is the synth I really did not want to buy, but the guys in the band pushed me to buy it because they wanted to hear the "fancy" sounds that used to be so popular in the late eighties. Surprisingly, I loved it after a while and I still like the sound the D-50 makes. I sold my keyboard version after a couple of years, but missed it so much that I soon bought a Roland D-550 sound module, which I still have in my rig. |
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| Yamaha EMT-10 (1988) Since I sold my CP-70 piano I needed something in my keyboard rig that at least could make the impression of an accoustic piano on stage. This little box did exactly that, and it also gave me a useable choir. But the best thing was that it was way easier to carry around than my old piano. (330 Lbs less to be accurate) |
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| Yamaha DX-5 (1988) Was the DX-5 cool or was it way cool? What could possibly be better in the eighties than a DX-7? Of course two of them in one great 76 keys package. Everything that was great in the DX-7 came out even better from this machine. I loved it. The only thing I did not like was a constant "hiss-sound", but I guess I was the only one that really noticed it. Oh, and the weight . . . It was HEAVY |
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| Fender Rhodes MK1, 73 (1989) My second Rhodes was an earlier model than my first. It looked brand new, and I never took it on the road. I don't know why I sold it, it was just sitting there and I never had time to play it. I probably had an idea that the money could be used for something else. Too bad really, this would have been a great collectors item today. More about Fender Rhodes |
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| Roland D-70 (1989) This machine became to me the same as a hammer and a saw would be for a carpenter. It had a great programable MIDI master controller, and had some rather fat pad and strings sounds inboard. The organs and piano sounded mostly bad or worse. There was one strange thing about it, when you hit the keys you had to wait a few milliseconds before you could expect to hear a sound. An e-prom with a new oprative system reduced it somewhat, but for midi signals the latency was still noticeable. After a while I got used to it, but the guys in the band did not like it as much as I did. |
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| Roland D-550 (1989) This one replaced my D-50, not much more to tell about it. The fact that it still is in my rig today (2008) should prove that this machine is both solid built and that the sounds lasts forever. One funny thing is there to tell about it; I sold this one when I gave up live music, and later when I decided to buy one again I found one for sale on the net, so I bought it unseen. Believe my face when I opened the package and found my old D-550 in the box. Even the sounds I made years earlier were present. |
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Yamaha SY-99 (1991) This is the synth that made me decide to replace my |
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Akai S-1000 HD (1992) It was fancy, gave a lot of status, and it cost a fortune when it was new. After som time it was still good, but gave no status, was far from fancy and it was worth about the same as a bag full of peanuts. Anyway, It sounded amazingly well, was incredibly easy to use and I had a lot of fun sampling anything from Harley Davidson, Ford V8 sounds, to fancy introes for live performances. And the best of all, I bought it used for a reasonable price and sold it before I lost money on it. In other words, I was happy with it. |
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Yamaha TG-500 (1993) Had it one week and sent it back to the Yamaha dealer. Needless to say; I did not like it at all. |
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Korg Wavestation AD (1993) |
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EMU Vintage keys (1993) |
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| 1964 Hammond A-100 (1994) I originally bought this organ to have something to use on the road so my nice B3 could stay at home. Since an organ on the road easy get scratches and get beaten up, I found that I just as well could buy one that looked a little rough, and ended up buying this 1964 A-100. Anyway, even if it looks rough, the sound is the best (and a little more). This is the organ that never will be for sale as long as I live. I love everything about it, and to me it is very special. I am not sure what makes the sound so good, it is just there. It screems, grooves and it's soft as velvet at the same time. The percussion and key klick is just where you want it. MY TRUE LOVE You can listen to me playing this organ on Youtube. (I am not acting on the video as I had quit the band when it was made) |
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| 1995 - 2002, Pause in playing. I sold most everything I had and spent the money on cars and my home. The only thing I kept was my A-100 and the Leslie 147 cabinets. | ----------------------- NOT MUCH --------------- |
| Yamaha DX7-II (2002) I really did not own this, it belonged to a band I joined for a while, and they told me I could take it. It did not sound as good as I remember the DX series sounded, so I guess something was wrong with it. I left it behind when I quit the band, as I guess it would have bee too expensive to have it fixed. |
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Korg 03R/w (2003) Antoher bread and butter synth that I bought becasue it was cheap. Kept it for a short while and sold it again. Paid €100, sold it for about the same. It is actually value for the money. I guess it was cool when it was new? |
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| Yamaha EX-5R (2003) OK, I had read a lot about this thing and seen so many keyboard players use it, so I just had to get one. I found this one used on eBay. It had all the memory upgrade and SCSI interface. It sounds good and will probably last forever like most Yamaha equipment. I still have it, but don't use it much anymore. |
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Roland A-90 EX (2003) This thing has the nicest weighet piano keys I have ever used. It's also a great MIDI master controller. With the VE-RD1 expansion card this gave me very good piano and synth sounds too. A great machine that I loved to play for some years. I sold it just because I wanted something new, not because I needed something better. |
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Hammond-Suzuki XK-2 (2003) Nice keys, but somewhat too soft organ like sound. Also the Leslie simulation stinks and it's able to ruin the sound totally if used. Plugged into a Leslie it will sound OK, but not more than that. My experiences from live situations is that the sound does not cut through at all. After a while I decided not to mess with it anymore, and it found a new home where someone hopefully wasn't as spoiled on quality organ sound as I am.. |
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Novation Supernova II (2003) |
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Roland JV-880 (2004) |
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Korg 01R/W (2004) |
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| Oberheim Matrix 1000 (2004) One simple word describes this box well; Boring. Fat analog sounds, no effects, and with a hopeless user interface. Thats it. I know a lot of people who likes it, but I just cant't help compare it with the Prophet-5, and that is probably why it does not reach up in the competition. |
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Yamaha Motif Rack. (2004) |
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| Hammond BC (2004) It has a beautiful cabinet, and the plan is to put the A-100 components into it. Then my A-100 will look just as great as it sounds. Untill then it will rest as it is 110 Volt 60hz, and cant be used here on our 220Volt 50Hz power system. |
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Voce V5 (2004) |
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Kurzweil PC2x (2006) |
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Yamaha Motif ES7 (2006) I guess this thing can do allmost anything except landing a Boing 747 on Chicago O'hare Airport :) |
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Moog Voyager "Electric Blue" (2006) Now, this is what I call a nice piece! Just as I thought I had all the keyboard gear I wanted, a friend of mine bought one of these. Of course I had to take it for a test drive, and I was in love. Luckily I found this one for sale in San Francisco, and it was reasonable priced. It just had to come home to Norway with me. |
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Dave Smith Instrument (2008) |
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| Yamaha Motif Rack ES (2008) I just found that I missed some of the sounds I had become used to in my Motif 7 ES, and bought this one very cheap on eBay. It does exactly what it is supposed to and I am happy with it. |
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| Roland A-70 (2007) Now this is back to old days I guess. I bought it in Florida for not so much. Even if it's 10 years old it looks brand new. The sounds are kind of obsolete, but the master keyboard function and the feel of the keys are first class even today. Anyway, I decided to let it go and sold it in the fall of 2008. More inforamation here |
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| Yamaha CP-300 Stage piano (2008) I have always loved the key feel that you can find on Yamaha instruments. It has a really good piano feel and sound, and it also offers some other nice sounds. I sold it in the fall 2009 because I started to play live again, and needed something not so heavy. Anyway, I missed it so much that I bought another one after a couple of weeks. Factory information on the CP-300 |
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| Kurzweil PC3 (2008) The PC3 has a great synth engine, and can do almost anything. On the other hand, it was a steep learning curve to find out how to take advantage of all the power. The internal sounds cut through in a great way, but the factory sounds needed some adjustments to sound as good as I expected. I guess it's a matter of taste and play style. It has probably the best string sounds on the market and It also offers a great organ with real time drawbars. Factory information on PC3 |
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| Yamaha S70XS (2009) For years I have wondered if I was the only keyboard player that wanted a really good sounding synthesizer, a nice acoustic piano sound and 76 piano weighted keys all in the same package. Finally Yamaha made an answer to my dreams, the S70XS. Time will show what it's good for, but so far I love it. More information on Yamaha web site |
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| 1976 Rhodes 73 Mark1 (2009) I found a really nice and clean Rhodes piano for sale that has been very little (if at all) on the road. It sounded really warm and nice, but the key action was not as good as I remembered my 79 Rhodes had. I made a lot of investigations on the internet to find out how to improve it, and ended up doing several modifications using parts from Vintage Vibe . Now it looks, plays and sounds first class. Maybe because I am stupid it was sold in the spring 2010 |
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My live rig today is like this:
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