RAREST OF THE RARE 360 Systems Digital Keyboard 1980's Synth Synthesizer Sampler

Description: Wow!This is as rare as they come. The rarest of the rare of synths/keyboards. The 360 Systems Digital Keyboard This is literally the first sample based synth/keyboard ever made. It paved the way to all of what we have today and was the first of its kind. I've said it before- I'll say it again- these are rare. Less than 200 of these were ever produced. This is the third to ever hit the market, and the finest and most clean example to ever be offered for sale. It is in excellent condition and comes with the original manual. It is Serial #A-201. I am not sure what serial number they started with but I believe it to be very early 1982. The manual is the second edition printed in 1984 but also states on the title page the manual goes to units Serial Number B-300 and above. So the keyboard is older than the manual. And given if 200 were made, mine is serial 201, and in 1984 they were on B-300. This may be one of the first, if not the earliest unit made. There is very little known about these units and I did my best to learn and research it. I do not believe it has preloaded the grand piano sound but has numerous other sounds. There is a photo to see the ROM chips installed with their sounds, and also labels were placed on the buttons for the sound/preset a couple labels are missing. I am not sure if these labels came from the factory or not. And I know that these units varied with what sounds/patches/chips they came with. Some didn't even have all 16 sounds there are buttons for. The unit also does not have MIDI in's or outs labeled "COMPUTER INTERFACE" on the back of the unit - which makes me believe it was early- or they just varied with presets/sounds/features between the units produced. Given the labels are hand written on the chips, and there's no MIDI this could be an early early prototype. I believe it has 13 sounds installed and has room for 2 more sound chips. Every key and button works fine. Every feature works just fine... vibrato/pitchbend, all the knobs without issue. I don't want to call the condition mint- but for its age - it's as clean as it could be. Wood is in absolutely excellent condition, the metal is also, screen printing/labeling/badging all clean. The inside of the keyboard is clean as a whistle- no dust- no dirt. It's the cleanest/finest to ever hit the market. Some light wear on the back, and the back hinge but still - I'd put this 8.5/9 out of 10. Will ship in most cases same day item is bought/paid for.We require immediate payment, and only accept ebay managed paymentsWe will most likely ship via FedEx Ground However - Depending on location - For example, Southern California, Nevada, Arizona- we may hand deliver it for a $500 non refundable deposit and cash payment for the difference. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Also- if you know more about this unit, can tell me something I don't know or give me any further information- please contact us and let us know- we would greatly appreciate your knowledge and information! ----Here's some specs and more information copied from the interweb:----The 360 Systems Digital Keyboard was used in recording studios in Los Angeles and NYC in the mid 80s and can be found in many popular recordings. Besides the Mellotron strings and flutes, the unit has Bosendorfer Grand piano, vibraphone, two different guitars, fretless bass, slap bass, various brass and woodwinds like trumpet, saxophone, bassoon, clarinet and other original stock sounds. It also includes the rare 16 piece string orchestra chip that cost $860 itself. Each sampled sound has its own integrated circuit chip that plugs into ziff sockets on one of the 3 internal PC boards. The keyboard can be split so you can have two sounds on different keys at the same time, one on the left/right with an adjustable threshold. You can also combine two sounds at the same time on all the keys in unison. There is a double effect that makes the unit much more sensitive. The keyboard is polyphonic.Less than two hundred 360 Systems Keyboards were produced total between 1982 and 1984. It is known as the world's first synthesizer to feature sampled sounds on IC chips. Its' sounds are comparable to that of a Mellotron, Chamberlin or Orchestron but has higher fidelity and the 360 has more parameters and options. ----Technical SpecificationsType: DigitalSynthesis: ROMOscillatorsOscillators: 1Waveforms: ROMOsc Modulation: Keyboard, Mod Wheel, Pitch WheelFiltersFilters: 1Filter Modulation: Keyboard, KnobPolyphony & TuningPolyphony: 8Timbrality: 2Tuning: StandardModes: PolyphonicPatchesPatches RAM: 1Patches ROM: 32Storage: InternalCaseCase: KeyboardKeyboard: 49 keysControls: Buttons, Knobs, Mod - Wheel, Pitch -Wheel, Modulation 1/8" Jacks, Pedal - Filter, Pedal - VolumeConnectionsAudio Output Connections: 1/4" Phone Jack, Stereo MainAudio Output Count: 2ProductionYear Released: 1982Year Discontinued: 1984Units Made: 200PricingMSRP List Price: $3,900 - convertUsed Price: $1,000-$2,700 - convert----------To re-cap, the 360 Systems is a four-octave digital keyboard which can reproduce the sounds of real instruments stored in banks of EPROMs within its circuitry. Up to 32 different voices may be installed in the instrument at any one time, and the keyboard may be split so that two voices can be played simultaneously. The system is eight-note polyphonic, and Moog-style performance wheels allow some degree of expression to be imparted to appropriate voices. Likewise, these controls allow you to do outlandish things such as pitch-bending a grand piano, an effect that is normally impossible without hydraulic jacks and a sympathetic insurance company.ConstructionThe 360 is an unremarkable looking machine, having a simple wooden case and a row of rather unimpressive controls. Appearances can be deceptive, however, and the inside reveals a veritable sea of chips.When we looked at the original - prototype - 360 last year, the circuitry ran rather hot, and a cooling fan has now been fitted to alleviate this situation. A lot of the internal space is taken up by voice cards, and the most impressive of these contains the piano samples, amounting to about 50 EPROMs in all. The reason for using so many memory chips is that each voice is built up from several samples, so that no note is transposed by more than a tone either way from its original pitch.Output of the 360 is in stereo and, where appropriate for a particular instrument, the sampled sounds are split where the original instrument has a natural range less than the keyboard span. A good example of this is the saxophone setting which has baritone, alto and tenor samples to cover a four-octave range.The bass guitar sound uses a similar trick, whereby pulled notes are available to the right of the keyboard and slapped notes are to the left, and in the hands of a sympathetic player, the 360 can make an excellent impersonation of a funk bassist.On the rear panel there is provision to connect a sustain pedal, a foot pedal for control of dynamics or brightness, and of course the stereo output.The 360 weighs 43 lbs and measures 5¼" x 32" x 22".-----

Price: 10000 USD

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

End Time: 2024-10-17T05:45:48.000Z

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