Are there any "extinct" synthesizers?

[cornutt]

And actually I can think of one synth that is completey extinct: the Telharmonium. I'm pretty sure all three that were built were totally scrapped. And there are no known recordings either.

[Ashe37]

A lot of old Ensoniqs use Motorola 68k CPUs... but i really have no urge to even start a project for reverse engineering that!

[tim gueguen]

Read the article I mentioned today, and the Mcleveyer Spiegel has apparently won't boot up.

[urgetoplay]

Items like the Ionic performer fall into this category as well; hand made with design decisions that on't last the test of time

[Cybercardinal]

1 left

[Virgule]

If we're talking unique, non mass or limited production units, then Raymond Scott's Electronium certainly applies.

Nobody knows how it works or how to repair it. There were talks of restoration but It's been a little while and I've no clue how far they got.

[Phollop Willing PA]

I don't believe there are 'extinct' synthesizers but there are extinct synth players. Is the RCA 1950s synth extinct, or is it being cared for somewhere? There are a few 'endangered' synths, I think.

[cornutt]

I don't believe there are 'extinct' synthesizers but there are extinct synth players. Is the RCA 1950s synth extinct, or is it being cared for somewhere? There are a few 'endangered' synths, I think.

There were two built; the first one was scrapped some time around 1960, and apparently parts from it were used to repair the second one. The second one still exists at Columbia University, but I've read that it is in very poor shape and only parts of it are still functioning.

[cornutt]

[quote="Cybercardinal"]1 left

The Realizer... I should have thought about that one. I'm not convinced that PPG ever actually finished a working one. There are two demos on Youtube, but in both of them the system appears to only be playing back pre-recorded tracks, and the demonstrator never touches the console.

[Tiger Jackson]

Great post on the prototypes, interesting stuff. But yea i was thinking more about mass produced synths you may not find anymore?

[Automatic Gainsay]

The RCA Mark II is not functioning. It was damaged in a robbery/vandalism years ago, and has not been repaired.

The Telharmonium is definitely extinct!

There were over a thousand Novachords made... there are still a lot of them out there.

The Warbo Formant Orgel is definitely extinct.

I wonder how many Clavivoxs made it to production? If any, they're not very common.

I'd love to know how many Telefunken Trautoniums were made, and how many remain.

[foodeater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANS_synthesizer
Who knows how long this'll be around. Pretty impressive that it's lasted this long.

[cornutt]

Interesting. I'd never heard of the ANS.

I wonder if there is anything surviving from Strider Systems. I take it, from what I've read, that only a handful of DCS I's were built, and the DCS II never made it to production.

[Cybercardinal]

1 left

The Realizer... I should have thought about that one. I'm not convinced that PPG ever actually finished a working one. There are two demos on Youtube, but in both of them the system appears to only be playing back pre-recorded tracks, and the demonstrator never touches the console.

The PPG Realizer is somewhat alive in this Trent Reznor video

[Walter Ego]