Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:27 am Post subject: Cheap Synth Suggestions?
I just got some coin from selling my old trumpet and was thinking of buying some music gear. I looked at multi-effects pedals but old shortscale threads say they aren't worthwhile. I would like to get a decent synthesizer as well, but within a $100 price limit. Any good analog ones that are easy to find? Also, would I be able to hook it up to my twin reverb or would I need another amp? _________________ [zune]tuffghost33[/zune]
You're certainly not going to get a real analog synth for less than 100 dollars. A "decent" synth for 100 is also pretty unlikely. Decent, cheap, popular synths are the Korg MicroKorg and the Alesis Micron. Both run about 350 new. I got my Microkorg for 250 used. Both are digital and both are pretty powerful little suckers for the price.
Check out Vintage Synth Explorer if you're interested in learning more about real synths.
Edit:
Guitar amps are voiced to have a frequency range that is narrower than what keyboards and synths produce. You could run it through your twin and honestly it would sound alright for most applications, it would just have a very pronounced midrange and attenuated highs and lows. Also most keyboards have a much louder output than guitars, so you'd want to keep the keyboard volume quiet to avoid overdriving the preamp and then adjust the volume on the amp to the desired level.
You're certainly not going to get a real analog synth for less than 100 dollars. A "decent" synth for 100 is also pretty unlikely. Decent, cheap, popular synths are the Korg MicroKorg and the Alesis Micron. Both run about 350 new. I got my Microkorg for 250 used. Both are digital and both are pretty powerful little suckers for the price.
Check out Vintage Synth Explorer if you're interested in learning more about real synths.
Thanks, I think I'll just save up and buy a microkorg or equivalent. I was thinking of going for a lo-fi sound recently and my blues driver is good for some of this but it gets too harsh too fast. I was thinking of something like the radio dept. but their sound might be due to the fact that they use a 4 track to record their stuff. _________________ [zune]tuffghost33[/zune]
There's not nearly enough stuff on there. There's only two tracks, but you can get an awful lot of sounds from a DS. I need to finish off what I start. _________________
A quick google search says they have at one time or another used a Roland Juno-60 and some sort of Nord, probably one from the Lead series. The Juno-60 can be had in the range of $600. Nords are in the $1000 range.
A Microkorg isn't really the same caliber of instrument, but it'll get you part of the way there and teach you a lot about how to operate a synthesizer. Plus, there is a pretty strong used market for them if you want to upgrade later. I think that's probably the way to go.
Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet (brain is overloading with history paper) but will inform if I make a purchase. _________________ [zune]tuffghost33[/zune]
I have one that I got in the 80s when I was a kid and have held on to it all this time because it's so awesome. it's the first keyboard/synth Casio ever made. It's a combination monophonic synth/calculator. It has a 100-step sequencer and a programmable ADSR mode. and best of all they're still pretty cheap. last time I checked you could find them for $20 - $40 on eBay. _________________ cogito ergo sum...thing or other...
Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 651 Location: Norfolk, Virginia
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:30 am Post subject:
Radiohead and Grizzly bear both use a Casio SK-1 Sampling keyboard, they can be found a thrift stores for a few bucks and ebay for about $40.
also if you have an iphone or ipod touch i HIGHLY suggest getting nlog, it's a legit synth. and it's FREE! or you can pay $5 and you can save presets. that's the ONLY difference between the free version and the $5 version. This thing SOUNDS AMAZING
I second the Korg DS-10 it can make some fantastic noises. And it has a build it sequencer for those ‘heart of glass’ style moments _________________ "Stop fucking about and get an SD-1"
Joined: 28 Jan 2010 Posts: 187 Location: Central Scotland
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:32 am Post subject:
Nords are utterly phenomenal synths, but as you said, well over the 1000 mark.
I would highly recommend the Microkorg, its relatively cheap and has a great range of sounds. Plus the vocoder and the arpeggiator provide days worth of dicking about.
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 1522 Location: Netherlands
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:40 am Post subject:
I was cheking cheap synths some time ago and I landed on the MicroKorg,but it was too expensive for me at the time
I just really want lo-fi simple noises. ( square wave and see-saw)
Novation make some nice stuff...You can pick up some of their older lines 2nd hand for stupidly-low prices these days. I have a K-Station & whilst the presets are not to my tastes, it's easy to edit (knobs & sliders for most of the commonly-used parameters) and you can get some great noises out of them with a bit of perseverance.
Joined: 22 Oct 2009 Posts: 250 Location: Birmingham
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:34 pm Post subject:
microkorgs are really good value theres always 1 or 2 used on evil bay between 200 an 220 sterling
that korg monotron looks hot man!cant wait till may!
have you thought about a controller and some soft synths?
can be cheaper but it depends on how good your computer is, how computer literate you are
and what you want out of it.if you get fed up with your sounds you can always download somemore vst's.
I don't really have a good laptop to lug around, but I am computer savvy. I found a Casio CT-460 locally and might check it out. _________________ [zune]tuffghost33[/zune]
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