on his twitter he says he is selling the synth keyboard used in the time!

bidding starts at 2 grand

http://cgi.ebay.com/Oberh...500wt_1010

At least he's not selling his organ this time.

Oh well, I've always wanted an OB-X, OB-Xa or an OB-8, but I'm not going to travel to the States to get that one or willing to pay the shipping costs. I guess I could deem my life complete if I could get one in a decent / good-enough / powers up and hums -condition.

Not sure if I'd pay more than 2,000 for an OB-8 though.

novabrkr said:

Is it even possible to use that keyboard in Europe, considering that most countries in Europe have a 220 V electrical system and the USA has 110 V ?
I know it´s a silly question but...how do American musicians cope with the different system when they have a show in Europe? Do they use converter when they go on tour ? Do they use different amps? I read that you can use a converter with electric stuff but not with electronic stuff.

Any basic converter should be just fine.

I think you're mixing up generators and transformers. A basic transformer plugged into the mains is fine for electronics. But a standard generator is unsafe, whatever the voltage.

KoolEaze said:

i would head to minneap asap if this thing was cheaper

he needs money?

$500


analog synth

cool makes good paper weight oh yeah...I like this part

"and can be heard on one of their hits "The Bird"


LOL

paper weight?

show some respect to the mighty Oberheim

minneapolisFunq said:

Did you place your bid?
Let us know....and take pics once it arrives

did it sell yet? what's the current bid?

0 bids

$2000 bucks

was that some type of jab towards me?

as a fan of the mplsound the oberheim is considered the holy grail of synthesizers

dont be trippin!

Oberheim OB-8 analog synth used in The Time
Item condition: Used
Ended: Aug 30, 200913:49:08 PDT
Bid history: 0 bids
Starting bid: US $2,000.00
Reserve not met
Shipping: Local pick-up offered.See more services See discounts | See all details
See shipping below
Returns:
No Returns Accepted
Coverage:
Pay with and your full purchase price is covered | See terms


Gosh that is a shame. Maybe it's because people just don't know who St. Paul is or because they feel the instrument is just yesterdays news and don't trust the condition of the keyboard.

DesireeNevermind said:

Analog synthesizers are some of the most valued and desired items on the used music equipment market place. Believe me, there is no shortage of people who'd want that item in their hands - Oberheims in particular might go for ridiculous prices sometimes. Anyone who has played a proper synthesizer knows today's units are an insult to the sound- and build quality of the units past decades.If I see something similar on sale for here I'd better act quick, because most of those things are sold literally in just few hours.

It's just that 2000 is what one would pay for an OB-Xa currently in the US, not necessarily for an OB-8, which is a bit cumbersome to operate and can't pull off some of the signature sounds of the past Oberheims. I will say though that it's a little bit of surprising that no one's bidded for this one though. The US recession seems to be keeping buyers on their toes.

It's been his touring keyboard too, I'd be a bit cautious in that case.
[Edited 9/2/09 2:05am]

I friggin love synthesizers!! Can't believe that St. Paul is selling his, but I guess he has his reasons.

a little off-topic, but can someone PLEASE tell me what synth Prince used on The Beautiful Ones?
An Oberheim or .. ?

That is new wave perfection to me

psychodelicide said:

sure seems like it. I think he's broke.

DesireeNevermind said:

Kind of sounds like it, doesn't it? That would suck having to sell your keyboard like that, but I guess sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

psychodelicide said:

true

psychodelicide said:

I've been to Paul's house - I ain't gonna tell you where it is but his neighbours are NFL & NBL players and Fortune 500 CEOs. St paul's doing alright ... some people here obviously sit around waiting for an opportunity to say something negative! Damn!!

abigail05 said:

Hard to tell what was used on it exactly, and it was commonplace during that era to use several different units to let the synth textures breathe a bit more (analog synths tend to sound the best when coupled with different analog synths on a multitrack production). As far as polyphonic synthesizers go, I think he had all the polyphonic Oberheims (4-Voice, OB-X, OB-Xa, OB-Sx & OB-8). It could have been any of those, although I'd place my money on the later models (OB-Xa / OB-8) due to the sound of the filter (especially on the chorus of the song). The steppy, mechanic sound with the "wandering center frequency" heard on the intro and also during the rest of the track demands a sample & hold circuitry and most of the bigger Oberheims had that. It should be noted that there's quite a lot of effects used on the track as well, and that really plays a huge part in the end result.

He also used the Memorymoog for years, so that could be there as well, but I don't think the leads are done with that. As far as I know, he used primarily US manufactured gear during that time, so there were basically no Japanese synths used on the stuff. Of course, there'a also a piano on it too.

EDIT - I checked out and apparently he did also have a Roland Jupiter-8. Oh well, it could have been in that case pretty much any of the bigger boards, but I'd still place my money on the OB-X / OB-Xa / OB-8.
[Edited 9/5/09 4:16am]

thx nova! you clearly know your stuff - wow.

I was hoping to get a similar sound from my yamaha SY77 - buy a patch or something.
maybe it's not gonna be that easy

DesireeNevermind said:

yeah- probably from all that touring...it hardly pays to be on the road with Kenny Loggins.


PS- maybe he's just trying to get a little cash on the side to put into fDeluxe. Not like a label is paying the bills..and yet everyone is begging to hear Clare Fisher strings...

nusouldownunder said:

Well, that's good to hear that Paul is doing okay. I'm happy for him.

He ended the sale. He realized that it really was a piece of history, and decided to hold onto it.

DesireeNevermind said:

Funny, he actually purchased one of his own CD's from a seller on ebay...

if you look at his feedback under "left to others" and click on the first item listed it's his own CD he bought in august..


[Edited 9/6/09 3:40am]

novabrkr said:

I love tech posts like this.

inspireof said:

That is odd. You never know a person's reasons for stuff like that, though.

It's pretty normal that artists don't have copies of their own albums anymore at their houses, hah. Or they might have them in one format but not in another one.


They could probably get them by asking the labels (which could be a bit embarrassing), but it's probably easier just to buy them from the internet than make a trip to a warehouse somewhere. I've done some smale scale industrial stuff myself and I really don't have or even care that much to have the physical copies of the first couple of things released by non-local labels, so I can sort of relate to that mentality.