If you fancy owning a piece of synth history, here's your chance. Not only is the Yamaha GX-1 one of the rarest, most coveted synthesizers money can buy, a polyphonic analogue behemoth that marked the company's first entry into the the synth market, but this particular, custom-modded GX-1 happens to have been owned by none other than Aphex Twin.
The predecessor to the iconic Yamaha CS-80, the GX-1 was released in 1973, and fetched $60,000 on launch - close to $450k in today's money. Estimates suggest that fewer than 100 were ever manufactured, and even fewer made it out of Japan. With a triple-tiered keyboard, pedalboard, ribbon controller, and programmer module joined by two speakers and a chrome-plated pedestal, the GX-1 wouldn't look out of place on the deck of the Millennium Falcon.
This particular GX-1 has an unlikely history. Originally owned by British producer Mickey Most - known for his work with the Animals, Donovan and Lulu - the synth was purchased by Richard D. James at some point during the '90s/'00s. After spending some time in his Cornwall studio - and making an appearance in a track from side project The Tuss - James' GX-1 was delivered to Colin Fraser of Sequentix (a company that also happens to manufacture James' hardware sequencer of choice) who was tasked with restoring the vintage synth and installing MIDI functionality.
Described as being in "gorgeous condition", the GX-1 is now in full working order, and has been outfitted with full MIDI control for its polyphonic manuals, while the solo and pedal manuals now have external CV input and the synth's onboard rhythm machine has been equipped with external trigger inputs. The buyer will receive a brochure detailing Fraser's MIDI retrofit.
"There are a lot of further permutations that could be arranged direct with Colin after the auction," reads the listing. "This would depend on the new owner's wishes. For instance one person might want the GX-1 as original as possible, and another might want bells and whistles - Colin has designed and prototyped a programmer for the extended sound capabilities he has envisaged, and if required, could extend the MIDI capabilities to the bass pedals."
Here's the catch, though: the synth is listed at a starting price of £99,950. If you're still interested, the auction ends on April 12th. Head over to VEMIA's website to find out more.
