Oberheim Electronics 4 Voice Analog Synthesizer
Oberheim FVS-1 Four Voice Analog Synthesizer
Custom Built in Black Anodized Metal Case with Matching Keyboard
Built for the guitarist Ronnie Montrose in the late 70's
Sounds Great and In Amazing Condition
The pdf file below has high resolution images so zoom in to see the amazing condition of this Oberheim. See below text for history of this Oberheim.
Oberheim Custom 4 voice with two Sequencers and Patch Panel. This Four Voice Oberheim was custom built for Ronnie Montrose in 1979-1980, and used in the band Gamma and other Ronnie Montrose projects until early 1990's. The keyboard connects with the main unit with large grey cable at bottom left. The main unit is housed in a custom anodized black metal case that matches the keyboard. Stock 4 voice units are called Oberheim FVS-1
History Of this Oberheim 4 Voice
Please email james@siliconbreakdown.com if you have any info or sightings of this synth
1979-1980 Ronnie had this Oberheim 4 voice built in custom anodized black metal case with a black metal keyboard that connected with a custom keyboard extension cable. The original modules are believed to be from an existing Oberheim FVS-1
Age of SEM Modules - SEM 1 has date Oct 17 1977 stamped and no Serial # , other SEMs May 17 1979 SEM 2 serial # 100584 - SEM 3 #100630 -SEM4 #100606. (see pics of serial #'s below)
1982 I believe this Oberheim was used in the Gamma3 recordings. In interviews Froom said he used Oberheim SEM's to fatten up the sound of his other keyboards in the studio. Several reports say Gamma used Oberheim SEM units live but I have found no actual photos to verify this unit used live with Gamma, yet.
1983 Ronnie Montrose and Mitchell Froom played as a duo with Ronnie using this Oberheim 4 voice live at several concerts. Riley Smith saw him use this Oberheim 4 Voice at The Catalyst on May 25, 1983 Some of the other dates of this duo were Cotati (May 20), San Jose (May 30), and San Francisco (July 16).
1983-1984 Gary Hull, who also sees the Catalyst date in Santa Cruz, meets Ronnie Montrose. Gary works with Ronnie to help repair and modify his gear. Ronnie told him his vision for the Oberheim 4 Voice . He wanted to be able to step through the sequencer with a foot switch so he could solo over chord changes programmed into the two Oberheim sequencers. He built several custom sequencer additions and small circuit boards to achieve what Ronnie wanted. Gary said he also replaced several of the original SEM units with newer ones during this time frame.
199? Ronnie gives Oberheim 4 Voice to Gary Hull for payment for studio work. Gary Hull played keyboard on two releases by Ronnie Montrose, The Diva Station (1990) and Mutatis Mutandis (1991) He also played keyboard in two tours with Montrose in early 1990's and 1994
1998 Gary Hull sells Oberheim to James Gideon. James and Gary worked at E-mu Systems most of the 90's and also worked together at Universal Audio in the 2000's, and have been good friends for decades.
1999 Completes disassembly and cleaning, connectors, pots, jacks, etc. Some power Caps replaced
2010 Synth Smith complete tune up. Keyboard restored, bushings replaced, keyboard leveled
2018 Connector for keyboard to main module redesigned and built by Synth Smith
2023 New Jacks and pots with custom circuits by SynthSmith added to panels for control voltage to filters
2026 Restoration of Output and Power Modules. Programmer tested as working but no cabling was ever made to connect all functions. Complete testing and tuning by Synth Smith
The four SEMs. Oberheim Synthesizer Expander Modules