I have always wanted to know what happened to most of the American synth manufactures? I know E-mu is still and business and so is Moog Music. And that companies Like ARP and Sequential Circuits went out of business. While companies like other companies bought Kurzweil and Oberheim? Even Ensoniq is now merged with E-mu. I do know ARP failed mostly due to poor management, so did Moog Music eventually. But Bob Moog did get the rights to his name back. As for Oberheim and Kurzweil I really don’t know why they were bought out? So are there any American own synth manufactures still in business? Apart form E-mu and Moog. Also is Alesis American or is it Japanese?

I'm not sure about where Alesis came from. I think their first product was a guitar tuner though. Originally Japanese I think Paul. Alesis is American owned today by Harmon Industries, a real giant. I had heard from many sources that if it were not for the Alesis A6 (AKA, Andromeda), Harmon would not have bought the company and the A6 would have become super rare instantly because Alesis was going down. whew! it's a good thing that Harmon Ind. said OK. I wonder what they did with all the money from all of those ADAT's they sold? Hmm.
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I was totally bummed when Sequencial Circuits closed the books. I mean REALLY bummed. Paul, they made the best synths man, (for the time)Their units generally had way more flexibility than the others. I Still miss them.

You know I forgot that I had read about the fall of some of these companies in "Vintage Synthesizers" by Mark Vail. Tom Oberheima left due too cash flow propblems. Sequential was hurt by makeing the Sixtrack/MAX/ and Multitrack, Plus with Korg's Release of the DSS-1 Sampler hurt sales of the Prophet 2000. Alesis is actually American.

You know I think I just answered my own question.

Funnily enough, I was going to suggest that you read Mark Vail. He's still writing a column in Keyboard if you want to keep up. I think the problem with American producers is the same as with stereo, motorcycles, computers, etc. Other countries, notably Japan, Taiwan and S. Korea, just make cheaper and better products. You might not like what they make but the markets speak very loudly. Americans (or anyone else) could make the stuff but how much would it cost?

It was late at night when I thought this one up. Little did I realize I had read Mark's book and remebred reading about most of these manufactures. I'm not eaxtly sure why I wrote this one when the answer was sitting next to me. Actually I have the Frist and second edditons of Vintage Synhtesizers. Also I subscribe to KEYBOARD magazine to see Mark's latest vintage synth review.


Next time I will ask a question that I don't already know the answer too. Sorry about all this.

Two words . Korg Poly-6 . It sank ALL american synth sales when it came out . Arp , Moog , Oberheim had their management problems and Sequential was heading into unknown territory with multitimbral synths . But , the Korg Poly-6 sank them all in terms of price . The Korg Poly-6 had a list price of $1095 , so whole sale music stores were selling them at $995 . A 6 voice polyphonic synthesizer that was programmable , far more reliable than the Moog MemoryMoog , Sequential Prophet 5 , Arp had nothing , Oberheim Sem synths and the original OBX and it was less than a grand .

The american synth manufacturers had nothing to compete with this . Forget about features , price sells and Korg did it . You could not touch an american synth for less than $3000 and the Korg was less than a grand . Then just a few months later Roland came out with the JUNO-6 and JUNO-60 . Moog was done , Oberheim was on thin ice , Arp was history , and Sequential came out with the Prophet 600 .

Oberheim is still in business but the OB-12 is made by Viscount in Italy

Moog is back , but I hear rumours that the Voyager sales are really bad . At $3500 I wonder why ?

Price sells and the american synth makers learned a hard one .

hmmm! I'm surprised Mark did not mention anything about the Korg Polysix haveing an affect on the American synth indusrty. I'm not surprised about the Voyager's sales not doing so well. Mainly since there are a lot more inexpensive synths out there. Alot for around $2,000 and under. That was one thing I noticed that alot of the american synths were overpriced in the 1970's and early 80's.

I took a curise to HAWAII that was cheaper then the cost of the Minimoog Voyager. The one downside I see to Moog Music is they don't have a varity of other synths. I mean they sell moogerfogers but those things are expensive, and you have Thermines. Though I do not know how many of those things have sold. Also they are a difficult instrument to play. Well until you had some practice.

Maybe it's just me but it seems as if Moog Music is now catering to the rich. They could learn a thing or too from the Japaneese.

Buying a classic sound always comes at a price. This is not only true of buying a Moog Voyager. Today a Gibson Les Paul guitar can cost between $2,500 - $3,500 If you want an authentic classic sound you pay the price otherwise you have to look at alternative options. It really just depends on what your needs and financial situation are.

Personally, be it guitars or keyboards, I look for value in lower priced gear.

Note that the man behind sequential released the Evolver this year and it is pretty awsome.

As did Linn release his guitar thing.

gibson at one point had purcased the Oberheim name, and I do know the last synth to bear the name was the OB12 which was designed by viscount in italy.

Kurzweil is owned by Young Chang in Korea, but R and D is still in the USA.

global markets, global companies,

By the way you have to look at the parts in the Moog before you can judge if it is just the name your paying for. Sure Alesis makes r made compressors but a Manley is a tad bit different in electronics, thus they are on opposite ends of the cost scale. One of them sounds better than the other too.

OK I could do with out the autographed model of the voyager myself, but hey, for a collector why not.

Nigel's right with buying lower priced gear.

Nigel is right... You want that classic sound, then the price is higher.. Here's a good example. I was watching PBS the other day and one of my favorite shows came on which is "The Antiques Road Show", and someone had brought in a 1960's model Fender Tele. It wasn't in mint condition, and you'd be shocked at the auction price for it.. The guy borrowed like $150 from his parents in the 60's to buy it, and now he can get upwards of $9,000 for it at auction. Keyboards are like that too. Look at the old Roland Juno's, the Yamaha DX's, The old Moogs, ect..... Those babies in mint condition sell for a lot more than you'd expect them to.

Squeak

Auctions are usually a bad place to buy . It's an idiots market at an auction , they tend to keep bidding just to beat the other guy/girl . Just go to a vintage guitar shop to get a 1960s telecaster , it more than likely will not be $9000 . Here in Georgia you can get a PolyMoog for about $250 - $350 instead of $900 or more on Ebay . Usually it makes it that high because the person who is trying to beat you has more shit in their head rather than brains . Auctions are not a good standard to go by . Use you're head , look at the newspapers , music stores , and Harmony Central ( becareful and get ALL seller info ) and drive around to Pawn Shops . You WILL find what you want .

Well I did my my ARP AXXE on ebay 3 years ago for $250.00. And I bought my OMNI from a Pawn Shop for $150.00.

I have gotten lucky on ebay a couple of times, but 800dv is right that there are people who are dumb enough to pay a high price just to get on particular item. Especialy with ebay expanding and reaching a broader audience.

Although buying from a Music Store or a Pawn shop is not easy for some people, who may not live near a music store or Pawn shop and have to rely on the Internet. I had one bad experience with a Pawn Shop my omni was dead, but they told me it worked. Big mistake, I should have been more assertive. But I did get it working, but it cost me $195.00. Plus it now has two dead keys. Plus finding vintage music gear in a music store is getting harder too. I live an hour form Baltimore MD in Frederick MD. So I usually go to Bill's Music house I have seen a few vinatge peices ther but not many. Usually one or two. I remember back in the early 90's when vinatge synths were not popular they had several vinatge synths. Of course I did not have the money at the time, and a lot of their used gear tends to still be price high. Well more then I am willing to spend. So I keep looking until I find what I want at a price that I want. Even if it's ebay, or a music store.

Ebay can be cool if you are careful .

Yea I am very carefull. I only bid on auctions That have a feeback rating higher then 20 and have a Star next to their user ID or are Power sellers. Plus they have pictures and very good descriptions. I have even found a few Musical Instrument Bussniess selling on ebay. Sometimes Pawn Shops as well.

The people I look out of have zero or negative feedback, shades next too their User ID and no picture and to short a descrpition.

So yes I scrutenize every auction very carefully. I am not one to just jump in and bid on an item with out reading the feedback rateing. Unless of course it is higher then mine.