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This new blog hasn't been publicized or 'officially' gone live yet and you've probably got here via another blog page. Currently it's a work in progress and the content is being transferred from my old blog as and when I get the time, which should be by mid-February.
While I have still to decide on the final layout and design - this layout is more of a 'holding page' - it is liable to undergo some changes in appearance and content and may even disappear occasionally. But please bear with me and it will eventually all get sorted.
For some time now, well since I sold all my analogue and modular synths back in 2007-8 - a moment of madness I'm still trying to live down - I've been hankering after another EMS Synthi... specifically a Synthi AKS, or Synthi A. I used to have an EMS Synthi VCS3 back in the mid-late 70s' and I loved it, but had to sell it just before we started TG (that's another story).
But since selling much of my old analogue gear last decade I've been looking to buy a self-contained analogue synth that I could travel with and the Synthi AKS would be ideal for my purposes. I've come across a few over the years, some utterly knackered (technical term), some pristine and some outrageously overpriced but I've always missed out in some way on a sale. The market value of EMS synths has risen exponentially over the last 10 years and some currently go for crazy prices, usually in bidding wars on eBay. Where frankly these things can get totally out of hand in the heat of the moment. Which is typical of most auctions I've attended, virtual or not. When I was in LA a couple of years ago my friend Lustmord mentioned that he was selling his Synthi AKS but at the time I wasn't in a position where I could make a decent offer for what was a really nice unit. As is happened he sold that AKS last year for $7k, on eBay. Like I said, some sell for outrageous prices.
Well I think i've waited long enough now so I'm putting the word out there that I'm 'seriously' looking to buy a Synthi... though I can't go to $7k and I don't really want to bid on eBay but I will consider most sensible proposals for a decent unit. Also I'd rather buy from the UK, or maybe Europe, but no further.
Update: I’m no longer actively looking for an AKS. See this post:
http://chriscarterchemistrylessons.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-little-synthi-aks.html
I recently found some scans of equipment brochures and catalogues from my extensive 30 year old collection. Some of the scans were done about 10 years ago and, to be honest, weren't very good as many were made up of stitched images or suffered moiré effects. The problem I've always found with scanning is that many of my brochures and catalogues don't fit into a standard scanner A4 or 'legal' window.
So yesterday I took some quick shots of a few sales brochures with my DSLR, from above, and the results are quite good.
I've published the first batch up on my Flikr pages but as there are so many (probably well over a hundred) and the process of copying/shooting, then trimming and uploading is quite long-winded I won't be doing any more until the later part of 2010. You could say this is a primer for what is to come...
As I’ve said before, 2009 was extremely busy for us and to be honest we probably took on too much work and too many projects and we have to learn how to say "NO" more often, and mean it. Of course the bills still have to be paid and it may seem odd to be talking about turning work down but ultimately our health comes first, well Cosey's more specifically, particularly with her heart condition, which isn't any worse but is definitely aggravated by stress and overworking.
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