Vast home-made strap on synth

Going through the increasingly entertaining Synth Pool on Flickr, I found this picture of the homemade synth played by Nick Collier from Pink Grease. It's huge and flat and very analog, with some kind of ribbon controller instead of a keyboard.

You can see another (very cool) creation here. It seems he was helped out by Pete Hartley, a Sheffield legend who runs a little shop, Hartley Electric Music, that makes and repairs all kinds of stuff. Pete sold synths to Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League, then apparently went on to design the Simmons-based drum kit which Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen used after losing his arm. Several websites also claim he built the guitar amp that Eddie Van Halen used to record the solo on 'Beat It', which seems unlikely. Perhaps they're getting him confused with Hartley Peavey...
UPDATE: Nick Collier now has a whole mountain of crazy new synths, at Nick's World of Sythesisers. (via Deviant Synth)

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

EVH didn't start using Peavey amps until a decade after "Beat it" was recorded.

Listening to "Aint talking bout love" right now. Much love for wacky synths like this.

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:37 am

Holy mother of god, that's somewiring

# posted by

Mikey : 10:29 am

Sorry, offtopic sort of, but what the hell was EVH playing on "Sunday Afternoon in the Park"? It sounds like Alex's kick drum is routed into a synth's aux input which also seems to be triggered from a keyboard. "woooaaaahhhhhnnn"
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# posted by

Anonymous : 3:22 pm

O/T reply. Sunday Afternoon in the Park was performed by EVH on an Electro Harmonix Micro Synthesizer. Interestingly (and maybe just as O/T) the drums on 'Hot for Teacher' are electronics; Simmons, yet!

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:03 am

Got to correct you guys. EVH did use a Hartley Thompson amp for the solo on Beat it. He borrowed it from Alan Holdsworth. By the way, the reason I know this is because Pete is my Dad!

# posted by

James Hartley : 10:17 pm

Where can I find a Hartley-Thompson amp? Do they still exist?

# posted by

Unknown : 8:35 pm

This comment has been removed by the author.

# posted by

Unknown : 8:35 pm

If I remember correctly from the interview I read back in high school (circa 1989), the bass drum's affect on the synth was accidental. Something about its proximity to the device made it "bo bo" sympathetically with the kick.

The Hot For Teacher drums are not electronic. It's just four kick drums with two trigger pedals, one pair overdubbed over the other after the first four measures.

# posted by

Unknown : 4:57 am

It's true Eddie Van Halen also borrowed an amp from Alan Holdsworth in 1977 to record the first Van Halen album. I know because my mother told me. WOW!!!!!!

# posted by

orb : 2:19 pm

Allan Holdsworth did use hartley Thompson amps on the IOU and Road games albums.
He references them directly on one of the credits.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:45 pm