Re: OT: Earliest Music Gear I Went Ga-Ga Over

[improv@peak.org]

For me, the first piece of gear I got truly obsessed with was the
Minimoog. In 6th grade, our band director, who played keys in a local rock
band and was the coolest guy in eastern Oregon (yeah, I know, not much
competition) brought his in to demonstrate to the class. I was hooked. A
few years later, the local music store had a new one in stock for a long
time. The store was a few blocks from the Jr. High, and I spent a lot of
lunches playing with it. I think they wanted $2000 for it, which was an
unbelievably unattainable sum for me at the time. I eventually got a Moog
Satellite in High School, and a bit later, an ARP Axxe. Still have the
Axxe, though it needs a bunch of work. A few years ago, after a
particularly grueling but lucrative gig, I rewarded myself with a
Minimoog. It really is one of the most playable synths ever. Whenever
anyone comes into the studio, it's inevitable the instrument they are
first drawn  to.

> Following loosely along with the comments about earlier instruments
> purchased at 60's/70's/et al prices, I remember two pieces of gear I fell
> in
> love with in the display window of Lomakin's Music in Pittsburgh, PA: a
> Vox
> guitar-organ and an original Maestro Echoplex. I ended up getting a bogus
> echoplex (don't remember the brand) but it worked okay for its day. I
> think
> my nephew still has it (along with my first guitar, a Harmony electric). 
>I
> used to power the ax with a Bogen Challenger power amp through a speaker
> that was either blown or defective but made a distorted sound similar to
> Eric Braun's from the Iron Butterfly.
>
> The Kahuna
>
>
>