• We are back from our studio job on Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Everyone is asking us if we had a nice time. It is beautiful there. But it was grueling. We worked about 100 hours over 10 consecutive days. In that time, we serviced and in many cases overhauled, an Oberheim OB-X, Oberheim OB-Xa, Sequential Prophet 5, Prophet VS, ARP Solina, Omni and Odyssey, two Moog Model Ds, a Synton Syrinx, Ensoniq Mirage, Linn LM-1, Oberheim DX, spent some time trying to crack a Maestro Rhythm King which unfortunately we could not fix, and calibrated an ARP 2600. Many of the synths were in really rough shape. It was the gosh dang gauntlet and we are exhausted! But I am proud of what Darian and I were able to accomplish. I would like to go back there some day when I don't have to work [as much]. We took a walk on the beach a couple mornings before work though, and I did see what looks like a trilobite?! Is that possible? . . . . #analogsynth #vintagesynths #analogsynthesizer #synthesizers #vintagesynthesizers #vintagekeyboards #vintagesynth #moogmodeld #minimoog #minimoogmodeld #oberheimobx #prophetvs #sequentialprophetvs #sequentialprophet5 #sequentialcircuits #oberheimobxa #oberheimdx #linndrum #ensoniqmirage #ensoniq #prophet5 #arpsolina #arpodyssey #synthtech #synthrepair #lennykravitz #gregorytownsound #eleuthera #trilobite
    00
    We are back from our studio job on Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Everyone is asking us if we had a nice time. It is beautiful there. But it was grueling. We worked about 100 hours over 10 consecutive days. In that time, we serviced and in many cases overhauled, an Oberheim OB-X, Oberheim OB-Xa, Sequential Prophet 5, Prophet VS, ARP Solina, Omni and Odyssey, two Moog Model Ds, a Synton Syrinx, Ensoniq Mirage, Linn LM-1, Oberheim DX, spent some time trying to crack a Maestro Rhythm King which unfortunately we could not fix, and calibrated an ARP 2600. Many of the synths were in really rough shape. It was the gosh dang gauntlet and we are exhausted! But I am proud of what Darian and I were able to accomplish. I would like to go back there some day when I don't have to work [as much]. We took a walk on the beach a couple mornings before work though, and I did see what looks like a trilobite?! Is that possible? . . . . #analogsynth #vintagesynths #analogsynthesizer #synthesizers #vintagesynthesizers #vintagekeyboards #vintagesynth #moogmodeld #minimoog #minimoogmodeld #oberheimobx #prophetvs #sequentialprophetvs #sequentialprophet5 #sequentialcircuits #oberheimobxa #oberheimdx #linndrum #ensoniqmirage #ensoniq #prophet5 #arpsolina #arpodyssey #synthtech #synthrepair #lennykravitz #gregorytownsound #eleuthera #trilobite
  • Approaching the end of our time in Eleuthera, I was finally faced with one of the things I had been dreading all along, the tragic hot mess that is Linn LM-1 #022. When I actually saw it in person, I suddenly felt so exhausted I wanted to lie down on the floor. In addition to all of the normal craziness just from it being such an early unit, it also features some of the most poorly-executed (and of course undocumented), invasive mods I have ever seen. The lower mod board was so fragile and had so many wires, yet contained many of the clocks for sample DACs (the originals having been cut out of circuit apparently) and had several of the sounds passing through CEM filters on it. At first I was afraid I couldn’t get it working and whoever had done this mod had essentially ruined this Linn. But the main problem turned out to be just a broken trace in the stripboard from the insane way it was mounted. Once that was fixed I said I would do no more; since it was working at last and the studio wanted to track with it this week, it just seemed too risky to handle it any further with such limited time here. And you have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to cleaning up other people’s messes. . . . #linndrum #drummachine #vintagemusicgear #paisleypark #synthesizer #vintagebeats #synthtech #synthrepair #vintagesynth #vintagesampler #vintagedrummachine #vintagedigital
    00
    Approaching the end of our time in Eleuthera, I was finally faced with one of the things I had been dreading all along, the tragic hot mess that is Linn LM-1 #022. When I actually saw it in person, I suddenly felt so exhausted I wanted to lie down on the floor. In addition to all of the normal craziness just from it being such an early unit, it also features some of the most poorly-executed (and of course undocumented), invasive mods I have ever seen. The lower mod board was so fragile and had so many wires, yet contained many of the clocks for sample DACs (the originals having been cut out of circuit apparently) and had several of the sounds passing through CEM filters on it. At first I was afraid I couldn’t get it working and whoever had done this mod had essentially ruined this Linn. But the main problem turned out to be just a broken trace in the stripboard from the insane way it was mounted. Once that was fixed I said I would do no more; since it was working at last and the studio wanted to track with it this week, it just seemed too risky to handle it any further with such limited time here. And you have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to cleaning up other people’s messes. . . . #linndrum #drummachine #vintagemusicgear #paisleypark #synthesizer #vintagebeats #synthtech #synthrepair #vintagesynth #vintagesampler #vintagedrummachine #vintagedigital
  • Apparently the Bahamas has only one species of native mammal (the hutia) and this is not it. Spotted this guy on the path between the studio/main workshop and trailer workshop ! . . . #analogsynth #vintagesynth #analogsynthesizer #vintagesynthesizers #synthesizer #synthtech #synthrepair#travelingsynthtech #prophet5 #sequentialcircuits #sequentialcircuitsprophet5
    00
    Apparently the Bahamas has only one species of native mammal (the hutia) and this is not it. Spotted this guy on the path between the studio/main workshop and trailer workshop ! . . . #analogsynth #vintagesynth #analogsynthesizer #vintagesynthesizers #synthesizer #synthtech #synthrepair#travelingsynthtech #prophet5 #sequentialcircuits #sequentialcircuitsprophet5
  • This week is a surreal combination of the extraordinary and the mundane. Every day we wake up here on the beautiful island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas and then spend 9+ hours fixing synths like every other day! The shipping container/trailer is literally my workshop (it is air conditioned). We replace tantalum capacitors and clean up crappy past repairs as usual and then eat lunch on the beach of the Carribean! We will be here all week working on synths at Gregory Town Sound. U N R E A L . . . . #travelingsynthtech #vintagesynthtech #synthrepair #synthtech #gregorytownsound #vintagesynth #vintagesynthesizers #analogsynth #analogsynthesizer #oberheim #oberheimobx #obx #vintageoberheim #lennykravitz #gregorytown #eleuthera
    00
    This week is a surreal combination of the extraordinary and the mundane. Every day we wake up here on the beautiful island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas and then spend 9+ hours fixing synths like every other day! The shipping container/trailer is literally my workshop (it is air conditioned). We replace tantalum capacitors and clean up crappy past repairs as usual and then eat lunch on the beach of the Carribean! We will be here all week working on synths at Gregory Town Sound. U N R E A L . . . . #travelingsynthtech #vintagesynthtech #synthrepair #synthtech #gregorytownsound #vintagesynth #vintagesynthesizers #analogsynth #analogsynthesizer #oberheim #oberheimobx #obx #vintageoberheim #lennykravitz #gregorytown #eleuthera
  • I am so lucky to be able to find myself in situations like this, getting to play two ARP 2600s at the same time (in quad perhaps?)! My job affords me access to sort of a revolving library of the coolest synthesizers in the world. All I had to do was study electronics for 11 years and then work 60 hours a week fixing synths! . . . Now after making a joke like that, I feel like I want to make clear that I don't really buy into the "anyone can succeed/American dream" narrative. I'm aware evey day how one of the things that's allowed me to succeed in this business is my ability to appear middle class, and therefore trustworthy and credible, to my clients, despite being in the early days young and really broke-- just by virtue of being a college-educated white person with all of my teeth (long story). Having a functioning small business is a lot of work, yes, and my ability to claw my way up to the point where I'm respected in my field and not living hand-to-mouth all the time has certainly depended on me working way more than typical full time hours for years. And I do encounter bias as a woman in a male-dominated field. But I can't deny that at the same time, it all would have been harder if it weren't for other factors that are not the result of my hard work and merit, but that rather are just circumstance. I think those of us who are small business owners must strike a balance between being proud of what we have built, and acknowledging that for many people in our country, building a small business can be much harder, or virtually impossible. .. . . . #synthesizer #arp2600 #arpsynthesizers #arpsynthesizer #tonusarp2600 #vintagesynths #vintagesynthesizers #vintagesynthesizer #analogsynth #analogsynths #whiteprivilege #classprivilege #womenintrades #womenownedbusiness
    00
    I am so lucky to be able to find myself in situations like this, getting to play two ARP 2600s at the same time (in quad perhaps?)! My job affords me access to sort of a revolving library of the coolest synthesizers in the world. All I had to do was study electronics for 11 years and then work 60 hours a week fixing synths! . . . Now after making a joke like that, I feel like I want to make clear that I don't really buy into the "anyone can succeed/American dream" narrative. I'm aware evey day how one of the things that's allowed me to succeed in this business is my ability to appear middle class, and therefore trustworthy and credible, to my clients, despite being in the early days young and really broke-- just by virtue of being a college-educated white person with all of my teeth (long story). Having a functioning small business is a lot of work, yes, and my ability to claw my way up to the point where I'm respected in my field and not living hand-to-mouth all the time has certainly depended on me working way more than typical full time hours for years. And I do encounter bias as a woman in a male-dominated field. But I can't deny that at the same time, it all would have been harder if it weren't for other factors that are not the result of my hard work and merit, but that rather are just circumstance. I think those of us who are small business owners must strike a balance between being proud of what we have built, and acknowledging that for many people in our country, building a small business can be much harder, or virtually impossible. .. . . . #synthesizer #arp2600 #arpsynthesizers #arpsynthesizer #tonusarp2600 #vintagesynths #vintagesynthesizers #vintagesynthesizer #analogsynth #analogsynths #whiteprivilege #classprivilege #womenintrades #womenownedbusiness
  • Hohner String Performer bringing the "whimsical Black Forest handicraft" vibes. There is literally a WOODEN vactrol in here. Also it provides _leather straps_ to help the service person lift it out of the absurdly heavy case. This should be a fun one. . . #hohnergermany #vintagesynthesizer #vintagesynth #analogsynth #analogsynthesizer #synthesizer #stringsynth #stringsynthesizer
    00
    Hohner String Performer bringing the "whimsical Black Forest handicraft" vibes. There is literally a WOODEN vactrol in here. Also it provides _leather straps_ to help the service person lift it out of the absurdly heavy case. This should be a fun one. . . #hohnergermany #vintagesynthesizer #vintagesynth #analogsynth #analogsynthesizer #synthesizer #stringsynth #stringsynthesizer