Feature | Hack your Studio!
Second-hand synths can cost an absolute fortune, with some particularly rare models commanding high six-figure sums. However, there are still bargains to be had if you know where to look. Here are six of the best…
WHAT YOU CAN’T AFFORD:
Roland TB-303
An original Novation Bass Station
1 You don’t need us to tell you how important the Roland TB-303 Bass Line was/is. It helped define and launch dance music at the end of the ’80s, largely down to a rejection of its intended use as a bass accompaniment tool. This success has seen prices of the original top £3000 – only 10,000 were originally made. Fear not, though, as there are many copies and remakes, like Roland’s Boutique
TB-03. But perhaps the best clone and still a great second-hand bargain, is the Novation Bass Station, an instrument designed to purely emulate the 303 when it started to get pricey during the 1990s. Novation’s version was the cheap, UK alternative and sounds remarkably 303-like. Plus you can get an original Bass Station for £200 or less, or a rack version (for even more presets!).
WHAT YOU CAN’T AFFORD:
Yamaha CS-80
Yamaha Reface CS or classic SY synth
2 So rare is the original Yamaha CS-80 that you might pay £50k+ for this particular classic synth. And what you’d get is a particularly cumbersome synth whose characteristic sound can actually be found in a lot of other instruments. Yamaha have always realised what the CS-80 was all about – yes, essentially it’s that Blade Runner sound – so have often shoe-horned that lovely pad sound into other synths since the original’s release in the late ’70s. Yamaha’s Reface CS does a surprisingly good job for something so compact and can still be bought new (for around £300). Much older and often cheaper, the company’s SY range of synths can go all out on the CS-80 tip without even trying. Amazingly, these synths can be picked up for as little as £150.
WHAT YOU CAN’T AFFORD:
Roland D-50
Any Roland D-range synth since
3 With sales of well into six figures, the original 1987 Roland D-50 is one of the most successful synths of all time. With so many in existence, you’d think its secondhand value would be low, but far from it: its current secondhand price starts at £500. Roland’s more recent D-05 ‘re-imagining’ is the obvious alternative but has enjoyed a limited run release so prices for that are soaring too. But fear not! There were several follow ups that cashed in on the D-50’s success and these are w
