Decoding vintage synth seller lingo: a user guide

Happy new year folks!

New year, new me? Nope. In fact, for my first post of 2025, I thought I would dredge up a 5-year-old thread I made on a forum that I no longer frequent. The contents of the post are still accurate, the only real (a very real) difference is that not long afterward vintage synth prices went skyhigh during the COVID pandemic thanks to homebound investors with nowhere else to put their money . Prices have come down somewhat since and there's still plenty of good vintage synths to get for decent prices but forget about every buying some things for less than multiple 10s of Ks. Anyway, on with the post: 


Decoding vintage synth seller lingo: a user guide

Given how increasingly difficult it is to navigate the vintage synth market these days, particularly for first time buyers, I thought it would be helpful to provide an extensive, if not exhaustive, list of terms used by sellers that one might run across in places like eBay or Reverb, and their actual meaning. Enjoy!

Cosmetic condition:

Mint = not mint

Minty = definitely not mint

Rare = common

Looks good for its age = looks crap

"Player’s" machine = looks crap and you'll probably need a pen cap to use one of the switches

Came from a collection = looks great, doesn’t work

Storage unit find = will cost at least $500 in repairs to get it to turn on

Visible rust on chassis/bloated laminate wood side panels = sat in a damp basement for 10 years and after a very expensive and long repair job will continue to break indefinitely

Includes “extras” (e.g., power cable, photocopied manual, and CD-ROM with 1,000 patches) = not fully tested

No description beyond brand and model = 90% chance it needs repair

Used in church = in dusty but otherwise good condition because no one knew how to use it

One of a kind = contains numerous broken and undocumented mods that your tech will curse you for 


Testing:

Tested to the best of my abilities = turns on, makes sound

Makes great space/Hawkwind/Pink Floyd sounds = turns on, makes sound; probably broken

I’m not a keyboard player = doesn’t work 100%

Previous owner said it worked = needs repair

Untested = definitely doesn’t work 100%

Don’t have right equipment to test = tested, doesn’t work

Needs simple calibration = needs full power supply re-cap, at minimum

My tech told me this would be a $200 repair job = $1000 repair job with prolonged troubleshooting

A few knobs are missing = was opened and destroyed by an unqualified "tech"/used as a stage prop by a "band"/suffered unspeakable abuse from drug addict “owner” (= avoid)

Handyman's special = for someone who values repairing synths more than playing them


Taken to a repair shop:

Looked over = turns on, makes sound

Serviced at local music store = battery was replaced/boring factory patches loaded, nothing else done

Serviced by local TV/stereo repair guy = in worse condition than before it was serviced; will cost an extra $300 just to fix their mistakes

Future-proofed = serviced by an expensive tech; you're paying for the repairs/seller's name brand


Pricing:

Priced to sell = needs repair + overpriced, won’t budge

Prices on these will only go up = See “Priced to sell”

Would be worth X more in fully-working condition = See “Priced to sell”

These are selling for much higher on Reverb/eBay = See "Priced to sell"

Low serial = see "Priced to sell" (with a collector's frail ego to boot)

Famous previous owner = owner may have been famous but was never known for using that synth (think a Roland D-50 from the drummer in Chicago or Danny Elfman's SCI P-2002+), also sat in storage for 25 years; will need extensive repairs

If you're reading this you know what this is = works 100% except for all the parts that don't work

I'm really going to miss this = C.R.E.A.M.

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