Chris Simpson, FX Music Control's analogue synth specialist, checking through a refurbished EMS Synthi AKS Type A.
Many 'classic' analogue synths are getting on for 30 years old now, yet they are still highly sought after. Hugh Robjohns reports on a company that specialises in finding and fixing vintage electronic instruments.
Why are analogue synths so popular? Since the late‑'80s, knob‑festooned vintage instruments that couldn't be given away just a few years previously have been back in fashion, dominating the work of cutting‑edge artists from mainstream dance to esoteric electronica and experimental indie groups. This renewed and on‑going desirability seems to be for two reasons; firstly, many classic synths produce sounds that are hard for modern digital systems to emulate. Analogue synths are also more likely to provide 'one‑knob‑per‑function' control interfaces, and this results in an immediate 'tweakability' which many musicians find attractive for hands‑on experimentation.
Of course, both of these selling points have been targeted in recent years by the manufacturers of new 'virtual analogue' modelling synths, but vintage instruments possess a further attraction that the relative newcomers cannot (yet) offer, and which lends them an attraction even to non‑musicians; their collectability value, which continues to increase as the synths themselves become rarer. You might not have thought of vintage synths as an obvious source of investment, but EMS VCS3s, for example, are already fetching considerably more this year than two years ago, and can provide a far better annual return than any building society — depending, of course, on their condition. Many vintage instruments also have a 'history' associated with them or their previous owners which can also enhance the value and desirability.
This combination of musical individuality and creativity with financial security is very attractive. But if you're new to this game, where can you acquire collectable vintage synths, and how do you tell the difference between an overpriced, unreliable white elephant and a genuine analogue classic? Even if you do find what you are looking for, how can you be sure that everything works as intended — especially if you are not particularly familiar with the instrument in the first place?
The answers to these questions can be found in Staffordshire, England, in a small town called Alsager, a few minutes from Junction 16 on the M6. This is where FX Music Control is located, a company specialising in the location, acquisition, servicing and supply of a broad range of musical equipment, most notably vintage analogue synths. From the customer's point of view, the main strength of the synth‑sourcing service offered by FX Music Control is the removal of risk in buying second‑hand equipment. These people know how to tell a good example of a vintage synth from a bad one, and what the true worth of a particular instrument is. Also, as they service and warranty everything they sell, buyers can be assured that an instrument works exactly as the manufacturer intended — the company claim that every control is checked for perfect performance before an instrument leaves the building. They also claim to maintain the highest possible standards of appearance in all equipment they refurbish and sell, and this was backed up by the instruments I saw on my recent visit there (see the pictures accompanying this article). Apparently they prefer to retain a machine and use it for spares rather than sell on a poor example, which is particularly important given the investment aspect of these instruments. And despite the recent onslaught of digital synths, virtual analogues and, more recently, software synths, the investment side evidently remains important to many buyers; the staff at FX Music Control claim that their business has so far remained completely unaffected by the arrival of these newcomers.
A list of the company's clients reads like a Who's Who of the music industry. Recent 'name' customers have included Radiohead (a Vox Continental organ for their current tour), Jamiroquai (lots of analogue synths, as seen in the recent interview in these pages — see SOS December 2000 or https://web.archive.org/web/2015..." target="mainframe), Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Johnny Douglas (Producer of George Michael and All Saints), Portishead, The Prodigy, Super Furry Animals, Embrace, The Charlatans, Bush, Björk, The Chemical Brothers, The Human League, Vince Clarke, and Genesis.
Expert Knowledge
In the demo room at FX Music Control: Chris with Emma Brown and (from top) a Korg MS20, OSC OSCar, and the recently refurbished sycamore‑cased Minimoog seen later in this article.
This is a relatively small company where every member of staff is an expert in their own particular field, and staff turnover is very low. Emma Brown is responsible for the sales side of the business, and was my tour guide during my visit, along with Chris Simpson who is the analogue synth sales specialist. Together they form part of the youthful but knowledgeable, enthusiastic and committed team.
The company's origins go back over a decade, when a professional musician, John Young, started Music Control as a sideline to keep himself busy when he wasn't touring with the likes of Asia, Brand X and other major‑league bands of that time. However, ownership of the company passed to hire company FX Rentals a few years ago. Since then, FX Music Control has continued to operate autonomously, while benefiting from FX Rentals' financial backing.
Currently, FX Music Control occupies a couple of adjacent offices on the first and second floors of a small, modern shopping annexe in the centre of Alsager. Facilities include offices, workshops and a small demonstration room, but there is no 'shop' element in the usual sense, and the company has no 'passing trade' as such. In fact, the place would be hard to find without a map, and so business is almost entirely through reputation and word‑of‑mouth — ie. satisfied customers passing on recommendations. Most business is conducted on the telephone and the staff spend a great deal of time giving advice to potential and previous clients on which vintage synths are right for them.
Storage space is limited in the current premises, so only rare equipment, which can be difficult to find, tends to be carried in stock. According to Chris and Emma, most other common analogue synths can be sourced to order, serviced and dispatched within a week.
Search & Rescue
Service Engineer James Walker putting a Roland TR808 drum machine back together after repairing some broken switches.
Products that pass through the doors include everything from simple Roland SH101 mono‑synths to hernia‑inducing Yamaha CS80 polysynths, with virtually everything in between. The small, hand‑held Suzuki Omnichord auto‑chord backing device from the early '80s is apparently a popular request at the moment, and both Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Black Box Recorder have bought one recently. Apparently this peculiar machine was very popular with Gospel choirs and FX Music Control have often sourced them from convents!
Locating good‑quality vintage analogue musical equipment is never easy, so FX Music Control have built up a phenomenal database of rare and sought‑after equipment. Just keeping this up to date is a task in itself — there are currently over 17,000 entries! The Internet is used extensively to locate required instruments and equipment, and much of it comes from abroad — even from as far away as Australia and New Zealand. However, changing exchange rates have had a significant influence; whereas FX Music Control were sourcing much equipment from the USA a few years ago, they are now selling a lot of it to the States instead. Often, the equipment is going to specialist collectors there where the 'nostalgia element' is very strong.
Renovation, Requests & Delivery
One corner of the demo room at FX Music Control with (left) a EDP Wasp, Korg Polysix, and Roland Jupiter 8. An ARP Odyssey can be seen on the stand on the right, with an Oberheim Four‑Voice underneath.
When instruments arrive at FX Music Control, the first stop is in the engineering workshop where Service Engineer James Walker overhauls them and realigns everything to the original factory specifications (see the 'Workshop Of The World' box). Not only is equipment repaired internally, but the cosmetics are also addressed where necessary to restore the machine as closely as possible to a 'showroom' condition. An impressive example on display while I visited the shop was a fully restored Minimoog in an unusual sycamore wood case (see below). The woodwork had been stripped and re‑polished by a local cabinet maker with stunning results, and the machine itself was in excellent condition.
Some of the requests FX Music Control receive daily seem virtually impossible — for example a chart act called once demanding to buy a mint Minimoog for delivery the very next day! Nevertheless, a suitable instrument was located, acquired, serviced and supplied in time. Another bizarre request accommodated with apparent ease was for no fewer than seven Stylophones for a Japanese company's launch party! It doesn't bear thinking about, does it?
According to Chris and Emma, Minimoogs remain popular and always 'fly out of the door' as soon as FX Music Control have acquired them. Roland's Space Echo SE201, 301 and 501 tape delays are also consistently good sellers, as are well‑known mighty analogue classics like the Roland Jupiter 8 and the Yamaha CS80. But the popularity of some other synths is much harder to predict — the Korg MS20 was not a bestseller until recently, when suddenly six were sold in a week without apparent explanation!
Despite their success at finding ever‑popular favourites, the list of rarities FX Music Control is asked to source is getting longer, and as time goes by, the requests are getting harder to fulfil as the instruments themselves become scarcer. For example, Wurlitzer EP200, Fender Stage 73 and Suitcase 88 electric pianos are now extremely rare — the company currently has over 70 requests in their database for Fender Rhodes pianos.
Many of the refurbished analogue synths can be shipped direct to buyers along with a copy of the user manual; nothing more is needed. However, ever since a Roland Jupiter 8 arrived at a customer's studio with an irreparable bend in its chassis courtesy of the delivery company, Chris does prefer to hand‑deliver the rarer and more delicate analogue synths himself, such as the EMS VCS3s and other valuable examples.
Into Gear
The beautifully restored sycamore‑cased Minimoog.
As the pictures accompanying this article show, the vintage equipment that passes through FX Music Control is all in fine condition by the time it leaves. The refurbished Minimoog was fantastic and I would have happily walked away with a Jupiter 8 under my arm had it not already been sold to a customer! I couldn't help envying the FX Music Control staff their day jobs; their enthusiasm and depth of knowledge were very apparent. And it's no wonder — the place really is a vintage gear enthusiast's heaven.
Workshop Of The World — FX Music Control's Repair Department
A large modular Moog 3C system with dual step‑sequencer modules at FX Music Control, awaiting delivery to a customer following its final checks.Given the age of the kit they deal with, perhaps it's unsurprising that over 90 percent of the instruments acquired by FX Music Control have to be repaired in some way. Fortunately, the company has access to most spare parts, including the knobs, switches and buttons used on a wide range of vintage keyboards, as well as an extensive documentation library — currently well over 500 user manuals and 200 service manuals. Of these, around half are originals, while the rest are paper or PDF copies. FX Music Control are currently working on their web site (www.musiccontrol.co.uk) which, when finished, should incorporate a large number of these owner's manuals on‑line, as well as other resources, including an up‑to‑date stock‑list.
In some cases, there are sufficient sources of original parts to allow total rebuilds — a completely authentic Minimoog can apparently be rebuilt from scratch, for example! However, a lot of analogue synthesizers employed large numbers of custom integrated circuits — Curtis synth chips, for example, as used in many '80s polysynths, or Yamaha's own custom devices. These are no longer generally available, but FX Music Control have amassed an impressive stock of most of these hard‑to‑find components. Also, instruments that are beyond repair themselves are sometimes acquired purely to cannibalise them for spare parts to aid the repair of others.
When it comes to servicing, FX Music Control engineer James Walker always starts by checking the fundamental electrical safety issues. Virtually everything that comes through the door has the wrong fuse fitted — typically a 13A fuse instead of the correct 3A rating! Disconnected earth wires are another very common danger, closely followed by reversed live and neutral wiring — particularly on some of the older Japanese equipment, which used grey and white wires in the mains lead instead of brown and blue.
Once gear has been made safe, a lot of James' time is spent removing dubious user modifications from equipment before the main business of overhauling and realignment can begin. Possibly the worst example of a home modification he has encountered was a keyboard where a previous owner had tried wiring mains directly to its LCD panel because the backlight had failed — needless to say, it didn't work too well! In this example, as well as many others, the external condition of the instrument was no indication of the standard of the internal electronics. Sometimes instruments can look fine from the outside and turn out to be beyond repair internally, but happily the reverse can also be true, especially when a keyboard has been heavily gigged — it may then exhibit all the signs of a hard life on the road but still perform extremely well.
For James, the worst vintage keyboard to service is the Vox Continental organ. Although very simple, it uses stiff wires to link the keyboard contacts with the electronics and these break with frustrating regularity! The Korg MS20 is also difficult, whereas most Moogs, the ARP 2600 and the EMS VCS3s are personal favourites as they are all straightforward and pleasant to service. The gargantuan Yamaha CS80 is another nice machine from the engineering point of view, although its sheer scale means that a thorough overhaul and realignment can take several days. James maintains, however, that the joy of hearing a sequence of big chords played on it when repairs are complete is extremely rewarding. As a former owner, I have to agree!
Obviously, many of FX Music Control's vintage synths predate the introduction of MIDI, and they generally prefer to restore instruments to their original spec wherever possible, rather than modify a potentially valuable original synth. However, if requested, they do recommend suitable external converter units such as Kenton's MIDI‑to‑CV or MIDI‑to‑DCB units (the latter being used with Roland's Jupiter 8 and Juno 60 keyboards) to handle the MIDI side of things.