Roland SH-2

Someone in Boise actually dropped a Roland SH-2 in the pawn shop. Should I go for it or just leave it well enough alone?

The SH-2 is a lovely synth. You should go for it. They are much in demand and you will get rid of it easily. It is similar to a jupiter, the basic sound is nice but you cannot do much with it.

well i think anyone in boise reading this may go buy it

before you, assuming boise doesn't have a lot of pwn shops.

get it

Its pretty nice...I've always wanted one.

I'd get it...especially if it was less than $500...

It'll be the deepest bass tones in your studio.

Get it.

If you want one of the best bass synths ever, go and get it.

cheers,

Ian

The Price is $400 as is and it needs some work. He does all the tech work but can't say what the new price would be as it would depend on the materials needed.

Depends on what is wrong with it I guess. $400 would be a steal if all it needed was cleaning (those sliders can get scratchy). Typical price on Ebay for one in good condition is $700 - $800, so if you spend $300 to fix it, you're no longer getting such a deal.

From what I can tell, it needs some cleaning, two new key contacts, and a spring. Didn't get a gander at the electronics.

Haggle!

They don't use key contacts, they use a buss bar system. Each key has a wire that hits a buss bar that goes the length of the keyboard. This is how my SH-1 worked anyway, i'm sure it's the same.

That sounds even more expensive to repair if it's a buss bar.

Wires are no biggie. Do you know the gauge of wire?

I don't. You generally don't need to repair them unless the wires themselves are broken. The buss bar is usually the culprit, just being dirty. A good cleaning of that usually sets things straight. Have you gotten a chance to play it? If all the controls work, buy it. Cleaning the buss bar isn't that big an ordeal. If you're freaked about opening it and cleaning it yourself, it shouldn't take a competent tech long at all to get it done. So it should be a fairly inexpensive job. A lot of times, scratchy sliders can be fixed just by repeated movements, to get the dirt and dust off the contacts.

I doodled with it a bit. That's how I noticed the problem with the keys. He agreed to hold it for me while I decide. It's not like these things go flying off shelves here in Idaho. Everybody interested in music here wants to DJ or play guitar for the most part.

I'd offer him $300 as is, and I wouldn't let him do any repairs. Ask around here for a reputable repair shop in your area.

Okay, so I find myself regretting the fact that I don't live in Boise, Idaho.

Synths can make you go mad. No joke.

There's no reason for regrets IMHO. This place is SO conservative that it's easier to buy a Grand Piano than a synthesizer. No kidding!

Guitar Center here is a C Store so it pretty much has nothing but guitars and it is the only place you can buy, or more often than not, order a modern synthesizer in the whole state.

Very rarely does something pop up in the way of synths and they are usually really beat to hell.

I know how that can be. I've lived in a couple of very, very similar places. The good thing about it is that when something like a 303 or Minimoog shows up, nobody knows what the heck it is and so you actuallly have a shot at getting a very sweet deal.

...and for precisely the same reason, I wouldn't let the pawn shop guy do any repairs.

Unless he turns out to be Bob Moog's weird nephew or something.

...and for precisely the same reason, I wouldn't let the pawn shop guy do any repairs. Unless he turns out to be Bob Moog's weird nephew or something.

He's a retired musician himself. He's got a good amount of vintage gear that he sells off from time to time. Since full time musicians don't have a retirement plan, he kept all the old gear and maintained it for when he needs some money.

I think he's pretty competent there. He's got a good ole DX7 in his shop, a Mirage, and a Korg DW-6000 out on the floor. He said some kid recently grabbed a restored Juno 6 for his garage band.