“For auction is a vintage Yamaha SK20 analogue synthesiser. It’s one of the combined organ/synth/string machines characteristic of the mid to late 70s. A full description appears on the Vintage Synth Explorer Site and there are a couple of demos on YouTube. It’s similar to but different from, synths like the ARP Omni, Roland RS 505 etc. etc. and somewhat rare these days.
It includes a very effective (for its time) Leslie simulation and ensemble effect which produces the classic string synth sound. Limitations of 70s technology however mean the Leslie and ensemble effects can’t be run simultaneously but there’s nothing to stop use of external processing (I suggest an external Leslie pedal on the organ output such as a Korg G4 so you can use the ensemble effect on the strings and synth). There is also a rear output for connection to a real Leslie speaker but I’ve never been able to test this as I have no access to a cabinet.
Everything else works fine, but please bear in mind it’s over 40 years old. These synths are capable of producing some very haunting sounds when run through external effects and sound nothing like modern instruments. I found it works particularly well with the new Boss Dimension C pedal left on its ‘D’ setting.
The synth section is rudimentary compared to what’s available today and it’s paraphonic as opposed to truly polyphonic. It’s very useable however and as is typical of these keyboards, shines when the different layers are combined. The organ section is excellent in my opinion, particularly given its age.
This is a Japanese model and therefore operates on 100V. It runs quite happily off a small step-down auto-transformer which I’ll include.” Click here to visit listing on eBay