ebg31 wrote:To MC (and anyone else who'll read this), do any of you think that there'll be another period like the 80's, when the analogs fall back out of favour?
Eric.
It could happen again if
- Musicians start complaining that analog doesn't sound like a piano or a rhodes
Someone introduces the next "DX7" or cheap "sampler" that gives these frustrated analog users the sounds they want
They dump their analogs to fund purchases for their new toy
I can't see that being repeated.
There is also this scenario: if VA or softsynths get good enough you can't tell the difference from real analog, then folks will start dumping them because vintage analog is expensive to keep running (repairs, obsolete parts, etc). Judging from the proliferation of vintage guitar amps over modeling amps and the achilles heel of softsynths/VAs (the filters), that's a long shot.
Look what happened to the vintage Minimoog market when the Voyager came out. They peaked at $2500 at the Voyager release (late 2002), now they're averaging $1500. The vintage value was driven down by the availability of a new equivalent with modern features like MIDI and patch storage.
I think the best chance of seeing better vintage prices are reissues using modern parts and features, but reissuing a P-5, an OB-X, or a MM would require more R&D than it would be worth.
An eight voice OB-X listed for $5995 in 1979 dollars and doesn't have MIDI or multitimbrality; a sixteen voice Andromeda lists for $3495 in 2004. The bar keeps going lower and lower as the years progress and musicians expect more features for less money. It's a cutthroat market.
Building a reliable good sounding polysynth at an attractive price is really really hard. Monosynths are a lot easier, witness the growing offerings in the market in the last five years. The closest thing to any of the the vintage polysynths is the Omega-8 and Andromeda, and these aren't exactly selling in huge numbers. As fat as the Omega-8 sounds, the biggest gripe I hear about is the price.
a bunch of money and had to sell off an OBXa 8 voice, Mini Moog, CP70b, CP80b, JBL loaded PA cabinets, EV S18-3's, a full rack case, and my beloved B3 and Leslie. The B3 and Leslie were never moved from the front of my music room from when I bought them brand new from A Hammond dealer back in the early seventies. I got practically nothing for the stuff by today's standards. They were the only assets I had that I could turn into cash to get rid of G-men. bleep. 
The Volt per Octaves 
