Effects - Pedals, Multi-Effects, and Floor Boxes

[bieke]

for years now ...

there was one on e-bay belgium about a year ago, it was put there by a zero feedback seller, and the auction stayed there for a couple of hours and then it was gone, I offered 800$ but never heard back from the seller, he probably got a better offer and went ahead with the sale ...

I never found another one for sale
Jacques has one, but I doubt if he's selling it, he got it from a friend on permanent loan, which reminds me, I better check if he's not selling it ...

[bieke]

[bieke]

today, I spotted a german synth builder who makes a module that is based on the EMS Synthi HiFli !
I've e-mailed the guy and hoepfully he can make me one

[bieke]

the same builder also has made a clone of the Gerd Schulte Compact A Phaser

[Non-Digital Tom]

Bieke, who is this German synth builder?

[bieke]

Originally posted by Non-Digital Tom
Bieke, who is this German synth builder?

it's Jürgen Haible, a serious DIY synth builder
he also made a clone of the EMS VCS-3




























now don't you all start e-mailing the guy,
I get first dibs on one of those HiFli things!
apparantly, he doesn't sell any of his stuff, I sent him an e-mail trying to convince him to sell one to me anyway.

here's the link

[bieke]

I got a reply from that HiFli clone builder !



























This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE.

Delivery to the recipient has been delayed.

:mad:

[digital]

you didn't offer your body again, did you?... i'll let you know if i should see one...

[bieke]

here's a close-up of that Compact A phaser (a german old school phaser used by Klaus Schulze and Kraftwerk and original ones getting rare and expensive, 500$ for a good one or so, but I hope to find one cheap one day, preferably sitting next to an EMS Synthi HiFli that is thrown in for free, hasn't happened yet)

[bieke]

Originally posted by digital


you didn't offer your body again, did you?... i'll let you know if i should see one...

heheh, no, I never do on a first encounter, for all I know he could be a german gump, after all he did release an album called

[puretube]

I`ll ask the guy that handed me an original (orange) Schulte
for repair, whether he wants to sell it...

[zachary vex]

i hope you find one. Chuck Zwicky once owned a synthi (not hi-fli, tho) and is still sad that he sold it.

[bieke]

Originally posted by puretube
I`ll ask the guy that handed me an original (orange) Schulte
for repair, whether he wants to sell it...

thanks! if it's in good condition, I've seen people pay up to 400€ on e-bay germany, orange is nice, I've also seen 'em in black, blue, white, it's on my wishlist, but it's the HiFli I'm lusting after, you gotta lust after certain things, in my case the HiFli is one of them ...

[puretube]

I`ll make a pic of the phasing these days...

I don`t think Jürgen will build a second HiFli - afaik he only builds one-offs for himself, and does a lot of R&D (besides his daily job),
the results of which he shares with other DIY-synthers...

he happens to live half an hour by bike from my place...

[bieke]

Originally posted by zachary vex
i hope you find one. Chuck Zwicky once owned a synthi (not hi-fli, tho) and is still sad that he sold it.

he should be , these things are so rare nowadays
there were several Synthi models, starting from Synthi A which was 189£ at the time up to the Synthi 100 which was 35.000,- £

the Synthi A


the Synthi 100


up until 1998, it was still possible to buy a Synthi A (1600£) or Synthi VCS3 (1800£) new

here's that VCS3

[Let It Burn...]

so did you ever got one?

[Loobs]

Is this the thing that Floyd used on DSOTM?

[Let It Burn...]

Is this the thing that Floyd used on DSOTM?

Jup.

http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=77

[Hiwatt Bob]

the guy who designed the Hi-Fli, david cockerell??, basically designed the EH Microsynth. i believe the story is that the hi-fli singlehandedly almost bankrupted ems. cockerell later went to work for mike matthews, and at that point technology had advanced to make an affordable/cost-effective version.

i emailed back and forth with a guy who owns one--and he said there's a lot of similiarities betwee the hi-fli and microsynth. i believe the biggest difference is the filter modulation section (which is absent from the EH). anyhow--here's his explaination:

The synthi hi fli is capable of the typical modulation sounds but it has its own twist to it. It was designed by David Cockerell, famed for his designs with Electro Harmonix. The synthi can produce tremelo, phase filter, flange,top boost, ring mod, waa-waa, wah wah, and something called MEOW, octave shift, gated delays, gated everything. The fuzz sounds great , all effects very usuable in my opinion. The effects mentioned can be either be triggered auatomatically or controlled on a foot pedal

There are many knobs that turn clockwise or counter clockwise, sliders, switches:

Summary of controls and effects:left to right on unit.

Top Boost: Provides up to 30 db boost of high frequencies, cimpensated to give constant perceived loudness.

Octave Shift:It drops the pitch by an actave when the slider is up

Buzz Switch:Adds high frequencies overtones to the sub-octave signal.

Ring Mod: This section produces an output an octabe above the input when a sinle note is played, and the characteristic "ring mod" effect when 2 strings are played.

Decay Rate: The rotary control affects the decay time of the ring mod and octave shift signal level.

Sustain Fuzz: In this section special circuits detect the beginning and end of each note, and apply upper harmonics.

Attack Rate: A rotary control varies the rise time of Sustained Fuzz signal. Notes can be sustained even though the original signal has dropped by more than 20db.

Pedal Switches. The switches under the sliders combine the pedal control with the manual sliders. Selections of switches with pre-set slider positions enable the pedal to change treatments instantly.

Solo/Strum: This switch alters the Hi-Fli's sensitivity to signal attacks and should be set to more sensitive for single notes (i.e solo).

Bypass Mix Fader: This central slider controls the mix of the original and treated sound. In the high position only the input pre-amplifier is in-circuit. The bypass footswitch gives instant access to this position. The output from the Octave shitft, Ring Modulator and Fuzz Sustain sections are re-combined and go to the phase filter and modulator section.

Control Modulation Selector: This knoob can be set in 6 positions

Treatment Selector: There are six distinct modes of operation:-- Vibrato, two modes of Phasing, normal WAA-WAA(1 resonant peak) , WAW-WAW (six resonant peaks) a completely new sound, and finally MEOW (two sets of three resonant peaks moving in oppisite directions-really flippin wild!!

Modulation Speed: This slider operates in the first 4 positions of the control modulation selector, proviving a fine frequency control.

Modulation Ramp Time: Operates in positions 3 to 6 of the conrol modulation selector.

Modulation Depth: Controls the depth of modulation applied to the phase filter

Frequency shift: This controls the frequency domain in which the modulation waveform operates, being central for symmetrical modulation.

L.E.D selectors: Two light emitting diodes show the movement of the modulation waveform.

So these are the basis of switches and buttons and what function they perform, its a hard unit to learn and you can leave the switches in the same place with a great f#$%ing sound and turn it on again tomorrow and its doing something different , it really has a mind of its own. Defenately ahead of its time in my honest opinion.

[bieke]

nope, still no HiFli
I spotted a couple on eBay in the past 24 months,
but far too expensive, last one went for 5200$
I want a cheap HiFli, it originally cost 180£ when it was released in 1972-1973
and there were about 350 to 400 made



David Cockerell - who designed the HiFLi- also designed some of the 70's Electro Harmonix classics, including the Talking pedal, Attack Decay, Microsynth, Small Stone, and others

:cool: