Re: [microsound] ARP Odyssey 2800

[ndkent <ndkent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I didn't realize it was on ebay. I wouldn't go past $450-500 for  
> it. It's a
> pretty popular synth with analog fetishists, and as a result  
> usually goes
> for pretty inflated prices. It's known as being good for lead  
> sounds, not so
> great for fat bass sounds (like a moog, for example).
>
> I think there are a few software versions of this synth...can't  
> think of any
> off the top of my head, though.

A little late but I'll chime in because I know the topic.

For what it's worth it's a common though fairly valuable unit. Being  
common they will show up on ebay regularly.

Value - a great place for checking the value on music hardware is  
www.prepal.com. It being listed there also proves that they sell  
fairly often. Of course the price is only an average. Something in  
outstanding condition is going to be more or something not 100%  
functional is less. It's averaging at $581 currently. I wouldn't say  
their estimates are perfect to the dollar but I've found them to  
pretty accurately reflect the current market. The thing that usually  
gets me is if you ask about price in forum, unless someone has been  
shopping for one within the last year, people usually will estimate a  
price based on what they'd pay or wish they could pay for it and of  
course that reflects how badly or indifferently they want one not how  
much they generally sell for right now.

Ebay - first off, think about it, is there any advantage to *not*  
hold off and  bid at the last couple of seconds? (unless you can't be  
online and don't have a program to bid for you) I'd say the answer is  
no. Bidding days before the auction ends just drives the price up,  
Anyone who can sit there and bid accurately in the last few seconds  
can stop someone competing from raising their bid.

Price on ebay: well firstly anyone who often considers buying old  
synthesizers knows that the more popular brands like Moog and to a  
slightly lesser extent Arp tend to go for top prices. If it's not  
going for what you think it's worth (if of course you know) then it's  
probably because of 1 of 3 reasons. One would be the couple people  
interested know there's no advantage not bidding in the last couple  
seconds.  Or it shows some signs of being an ebay scam. Lately for  
instance, while I don't care to count, it seems to me that 2 out of 3  
Arp 2600s are scams (because they are worth $2000+). I was scammed  
for $100 once and last year had a case where I had to spend many  
hours over a dozen days trying to get a slacker to make good (which  
he did after 2 months though by no means went out of his way to do  
so). On the other hand I bought some great stuff on ebay too. Oh, and  
the third reason would be the person misspelled or gave a too minimal  
description of their item to ebay so no one is finding it in the mess  
of all the items on ebay.

Not to overdo the theme but a couple weeks ago a friend was so happy  
that he got a rare synth for less than half the typical going price.  
He couldn't figure out why no one bid against him and I didn't see  
the listing. (or I would have bid - possibly against my friend, then  
again I don't like to hang around on ebay or I might start bidding on  
stuff I don't need ). Anyway 2 days later the person I guess realized  
they sold it for too little said they "dropped and broke it". My  
friend fortunately didn't send money and did not want to file a  
complaint since he figured someone spiteful would just make trouble  
and he didn't lose money. I was thinking though. Maybe a few people  
who don't get any bids might pull their item off auction early to  
avoid someone scooping it up for the minimum at the last minute.  
Obviously what people want is 2 or more people bidding each other up.  
Then again if they don't get what they want they might just as easily  
make a sad excuse to not honor the auction and hope they aren't  
reported.

The synth itself was just called the Odyssey. I looked the exact 2800  
model up in a book (Peter Forrest's "A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers",  
which I might add I contributed some material and helped proofread  
Volume 2, 2nd edition). Arp was kind of odd in that they'd change the  
number when they'd revise the design a bit..  How much? Who knows  
because sometimes changes weren't renumbered and sometimes units went  
back and got updated without a new badge or are hybrids. Anyway the  
2800 is the first version (1972-4) and has the 2-pole filter that  
many find more distinctive. Generally they don't have a control  
voltage connection to plug into another synth, sequencer which today  
would allow interfacing with a MIDI to CV box. You can pay a service  
tech who knows the unit to add one. That's a point too. Certain units  
have more that can go wrong and not be instantly spottable than  
others. Many people just drop them on ebay "as is" because they are  
expensive to fix and many people will buy it blindly if they are  
assured they think it works. They are fixable but it's a hassle  
because not many people can fix them and those that can aren't  
generally local and often have months of backlog from other owners.  
Maybe someone gives you a break but it's frequently $75 an hour +  
parts. Some people spend easily what they paid for it to turn it into  
a semi modular synth by adding jacks and resistors so they can  
interface it with other modulars and audio sources.

Anyway, Arp was Moog's first real commercial rival. They tried to  
improve on Moog in terms of features and accuracy. Some of that they  
got right on the other hand there's been debates ever since over  
which sounds better. I used to not like their sound but now I think  
they are a good counterpoint to someone else's

Computer VST simulation? The main one is the GMedia Oddity. It's  
pretty good http://www.gmediamusic.com/gforce/oddity/oddity.html
It will never sound exactly like a real one (which don't all sound  
the same anyway) - but it is polyphonic so you could play chords and  
store patches and do a kind of neat morph thing between 2 sounds. The  
original has no memory storage and plays one note with 1 or 2 pitches  
at the same time.
There's a demo version.
http://www.gmediamusic.com/gforce/oddity/oddity.html


nicholas d. kent,
whom musicthing teased last week
http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2006/02/friday-caption-competition.html


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