Here are a few tips and guidelines in case you ever find yourself buying used synthesizers (or general music gear):<\/p>\n
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1. Beware of the tell tale dodgy synth seller signs. If he\/she says \u201cI\u2019m selling this for a friend so I don\u2019t know much about it\u201d \u2013 stay away. If the \u2018buy it now\u2019 price is suspiciously low \u2013 stay away. Likewise, remember all the standard seller checks \u2013 such as feedback and payment options (in the case of eBay), and check the seller out by searching for his username on the net, and asking around for his reputation.<\/p>\n
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2. Get to know the seller before hand. Ask him questions such as how long he\u2019s had it, what does he think of it, where did it come from. Ask him to post photo\u2019s if he hasn\u2019t already (actual photos that is \u2013 standard promo pictures are not useful), ask him to post sound samples, even ask him to post a video of it in action \u2013 this is a practice more and more synth sellers are doing due to the advent of technology such as YouTube.<\/p>\n
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3. Watch out for all the usual technical problems with old analogue synths. Time is not kind to synthesizers, and many synths have been gigged around and passed between hands many times. Dodgy soldering and clumsy work on the circuit boards are common problems, as well as the knobs and buttons on keyboards becoming rusty or filled with dust and dirt causing them to be sticky or unresponsive. Likewise, the keybed can be damaged \u2013 which is often an expensive repair job. If you\u2019re buying new gear, make sure it has the manufacturer\u2019s warranty still covering it for a while.<\/p>\n
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4. Know the reputation of the specific gear you\u2019re buying. Juno 106\u2019s are well known to actually be Juno 105\u2019s when you get them, as one of the voice chips in them has a good chance of failing. Likewise, the Korg Polysix tends to have \u2018leaky battery syndrome\u2019 which can destroy the PCB and render the synth useless. Always check these common problems related to your synth before buying \u2013 ask the seller direct questions.<\/p>\n
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5. If the synth is local, always go and try it out. Sellers are happy to have a potential buyer come over and try it out \u2013 and if they\u2019re not then don\u2019t buy from them. Trying out the synth means you\u2019ll know it works just fine (or not), it allows you to pick it up and take it home easily if you do decide to buy it, and you\u2019ll make a new friend and probably get a free cup of coffee too.<\/p>\n
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6. Some synths just aren\u2019t practical to mail around. The size of certain keyboards such as the Prophet T8 and Yamaha CS-80 or DX-1 are simply too big to safely mail halfway around the world. Don\u2019t take risks with your money just because you want the synth now \u2013 wait however long it takes and find one local \u2013 rent a large van or truck if you want to be extra safe it reaches you safely.<\/p>\n
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7. Gear should be packaged properly. Too many times sellers fail to insulate the synth in the box with some sort of padding. This can be anything \u2013 old magazines and paper, foam, bubble wrap, just make sure it fits nicely so it won\u2019t move about in the box. Don\u2019t forget that your poor little synthesizer will be thrown in and out trucks and depots with extreme force by the delivery guys, and the last thing you want is it being broken while in transit.<\/p>\n
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8. When you receive the package, it\u2019s a good idea to take the synthesizer out of the box before the delivery person leaves, so if it\u2019s damaged you can write it on the delivery form or even refuse delivery. If this isn\u2019t possible, check the \u2018unchecked\u2019 box on the form \u2013 if there isn\u2019t one there to tick, just write it on the sheet.<\/p>\n
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Bearing all this in mind, it can seem scary to plunge into the world of second-hand synths. Do not fear though, as most of the sellers you will encounter are generally honest, genuine, pleasant folk who do care about making the transaction as smooth as possible. With time and experience you will soon be able to sniff out scams and bad sellers before its too late, providing you with many years of happy synth buying!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here are a few tips and guidelines in case you ever find yourself buying used synthesizers (or general music gear): 1. Beware of the tell tale dodgy synth seller signs. If he\/she says \u201cI\u2019m selling this for a friend so I don\u2019t know much about it\u201d \u2013 stay away. If the \u2018buy it now\u2019 price […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovativesynthesis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}