the UPS guy just left my house, and i have just taken possession of a brand-spankin'-new Monomachine SFX-60 MKII.
my birthday was back in early August. to celebrate my 28 years on this planet, i felt a couple new synthesizers were in order (don't we all get that feeling?).
i'd been eager to try out that "303 sound" in some of my tracks, and felt the FR Revolution was probably the most cost-effective and interesting way to do that. i actually bought JSRockit's Revo, and it's great. i'm not sure if i'll keep it, or if it "fits in" with my stuff, but i'm gonna really put it thru its paces before deciding.
in addition, i had always been interested in Elektron's Monomachine (SFX-60), and have almost bought one 2 or 3 times over the past few years. considering what a fiend i am for the Electribe series, i always ended up figuring that the MM would be too redundant, despite it's varied and bizarre synth engines. the more i listened and looked, however, the more i changed my mind, and eventually i convinced myself that it was a must-have. also, i'd been wanting to add a SID-sound to my music, but the SidStation has been discontinued for some time, and as luck would have it, the MM has a decent SID software emulation included.
after doing a little snooping and private messaging here on VSE (thanks again, JSR!), i decided to go with Nova Musik as my seller of choice. of course, as is my luck in these things, Nova Musik had recently sold out. that's okay, Analogue Haven had this in-stock the day before, so i head there. beautiful: they're sold out as well. i try a few other, lesser-known (to me) sellers, who also are all sold out. things are looking grim, and i'm tired of searching (and that includes Ebay, which also has no listings at that point).
i head back to Nova Musik's site, and after tracking down their phone number, i give them a call. a nice guy named Eric answers, and says he can put me down for a preorder, putting me first in line when the MM comes back in-stock. in addition, he offers me a nice price for my trouble. how could i refuse? i give him my info, and place the preorder. i am told that new units will likely come in within a week or two.
four months go by.
i don't want this to sound like it was NM's fault, 'cause it wasn't. pretty much everyone was sold out. the first month went by agonizingly slow. i called NM about once a week to check status on the MM, but was always told the same reply: they had no idea what was taking so long, and even less of an idea when they were going to receive more units. about six weeks into my wait, NM e-mails me and tells me that Elektron is unsure when more units will ship at all, and would i like to cancel my preorder? well, they don't charge 'til they ship, right? so i tell them to leave it intact and i'll contact them if i change my mind.
flash-forward to Monday of this week (the 3rd). i receive an e-mail from UPS' automated tracking thingy that i am to receive a package on Friday (today). mind you, i have a few outstanding orders with various online retailers, for Christmas gifts and such, so at first, i don't pay much mind. after a moment's thought, it occurs to me that none of these expected orders are arriving UPS, so what the heck is this thing? i scroll up and down the e-mail, at first unable to find the shipper. then my eyes zero in, and i see "Nova Musik LLC". my heart skips a beat as an image of a crispy-new SFX-60 flashes before my eyes. i have my preorder number written down on a notepad nearby, and after remembering, i confirm the order number in the e-mail.
to be honest, i had forgotten the MM entirely. what with the holidays upon us, and an alarmingly tall stack of just-bought video games currently occupying my time and attention, it might've been another month or two before i even gave it another thought.
taking a moment to chat with JSRockit about the FR Revolution, i briefly added that i was to finally receive my Monomachine, and after only 4 months. he congratulated me, and pointed out that i should be happy that i waited, as i'll likely be receiving the new MKII machine. huh?! there's a MKII? as you are all likely aware, the long wait for a fresh MM shipment was due to Elektron's producing a newer version. i had no clue until JSR mentioned it. a short e-mail to NM later, and it was confirmed that i would indeed be receiving the updated unit, and, get this -- at the originally agreed-upon price! NM didn't have to do that, and i think it's really awesome that they did. i spent the next few days absorbing every bit of info i could find about the MKII, and eagerly awaiting its arrival.
anyway, it's just arrived, so here's a handful of pics of my new time burglar. if you managed to read thru my long-winded and rambling post in its entirety, you have my many thanks... and apologies. i'm so excited, i just had to get my thoughts down, even if it's just for me.
lastly, i've been playing with it for an hour or so, and it's incredible! nothing like my 'tribes, but every bit as fun. i can see this thing is actually going to take a long time to master. i know these have been in folks' hands for a week or two now, but if anyone has any questions (keeping in mind i'm new to this machine), please ask and i'll be glad to answer. hope everyone has as great a weekend as i will!
If you had called AH on a saturday then I wish you would have called them on a thursday. As far as I know I got their last sfx-60. 
