You probably think of turntables when you think of Technics, but the Japanese company had an entire line of high-end audio products, including this SY-1010 analog synthesizer. It debuted in 1979 and was only available in the Technics showrooms in Japan in limited supply.
The SY-1010, a 32-key monosynth, was originally designed by Matsushita (known later as Panasonic). It features a single sawtooth oscillator, a low-pass filter, a noise generator, an ADSR envelope, and an LFO. All controls are laid out on a clear and concise panel with a block diagram showing the signal path.
Despite its simplistic design, the single sawtooth oscillator gives this keyboard a rich sound that can be modified with the low pass filter to create warmer tones—perfect for any kind of music. There’s also a tuning oscillator that plays a perfect 440 Hz A note. You can use this to tune the oscillator and play it paraphonically. If you want to add some movement to your sound, the LFO can be applied to both the oscillator and the filter, which makes up for the lack of a pitch bend and mod wheel.
This vintage synth is a rare classic in very good shape—with its all-plastic build, some discoloration is expected, but this looks excellent for its age. Keep in mind that this synthesizer is old, so there is no MIDI, and the outputs are mono RCA outputs.
You can snag this rare synth for only $399 plus shipping at the highly reputable Music Sound Tokyo. In addition to this sweet deal, they currently have several other listings of classic, tough-to-come-by gear.
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