Alex writes from Middlesbrough: "Found this odd homemade looking synth on eBay. With daisywheel printed names for all the knobs, this looks like a bit of a shambles, and therefore intruiguing. Weird... What is this?" It's a brilliant-looking design, with three octaves of toy keyboard, some kind of matrix/button panel, what look like crossfader sliders for the filters, and one of those big vernier dials from a Synthi. It has 'Quasar' written on the back, so it's possible this is a DUY Quasar, a ludicrously rare Spanish-made synth with a built in sequencer. But that seems unlikely. Currently just £53 - let me know if you buy it!
5/11/2005
eBay of the day: Crazy Homemade British Synth
Alex writes from Middlesbrough: "Found this odd homemade looking synth on eBay. With daisywheel printed names for all the knobs, this looks like a bit of a shambles, and therefore intruiguing. Weird... What is this?" It's a brilliant-looking design, with three octaves of toy keyboard, some kind of matrix/button panel, what look like crossfader sliders for the filters, and one of those big vernier dials from a Synthi. It has 'Quasar' written on the back, so it's possible this is a DUY Quasar, a ludicrously rare Spanish-made synth with a built in sequencer. But that seems unlikely. Currently just £53 - let me know if you buy it!
Judging by the switch matrix panel, this synth was asembled from Dewtron modules. These were pre-built synth circuits that could be bought via blurry ads in the back of Practical Electronics in the late sixties. The modules themselves were apparently minimally functional transistor circuits encapsulated in epoxy resin. So I'd advise anyone interested in buying this thing that they may want to replace ALL of the circuitry. That said, I'd love it myself as I used to pore through Dewtron's Samizdat catalogue. Those were heady days - Dewtron, diode ring modulators, and of course, the great Fred Judd!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Hammond Solovox keys
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful/horrible hybrid. I reckon it's the Vernier knobs that make it look so cool. Those were one of the best things about using the VCS3 - you had very quick full range sweeps and incredibly fine detail all easily to-hand. I still don't think a synth is a proper synth without them.
ReplyDeleteI like how an ovtave of the keys were once labled with tape. I hope it goes for over £300.
ReplyDeleteDewtron was the the trademark of the company run solely by Brian Bailey: Design Engineering Wokingham. Brian moved to Ferndown, Dorset, where he started to get messages from aliens which he was very mystified by.
ReplyDeleteThe modules were awful, potted in resin so you could not repair them. The 'Modumatrix' switches were a great idea, but cheaply made. If you got a badly contacting switch in the middle of an assembly, you had to take them all apart to get at the one that was bad.
I think many people bought the modules and like me was disappointed. He claimed to have built a system for Led Zeppelin.