“Up for sale is my Obie four voice FVS-1 polyphonic synth ca.1976. I’ve owned this for about eight years, and it was serviced in 2011:
Keybed was completely disassembled, cleaned, keys polished out, new bushings and leveled. This is the silkiest Pratt-Read you will ever lay hands on!
Power supply recapped, and all tantalum decoupling caps throughout were replaced with high quality electrolytics
All open frame pots, jacks and trimmers cleaned
Entire unit cleaned inside and out, and tolex was touched up (lid is a bit rough, but lived in storage; still some scuffs visible on base, but very presentable overall)
Several chip replacements. Some preemptive (LM324 CV buffers in the programmer) and some to resolve faults (CMOS in keyboard controller). Quality machined pin sockets were installed
Amber LEDs installed throughout (just because…)
It had two holes in the top rail of the case, and I repurposed those with mini toggles to control routing of s/h and filter mod from external MS-1a (not included). One hole on rear patch panel was plugged
All functions work great, with only exception being the patch memories – VCO tuning across the SEMs is not consistent when a patch is recalled (tuning is fine under manual operation). I never got this addressed, as I tend to not use the patch storage. The memory is pretty useless on the FVS anyway, as modulation/switch settings cannot be stored with the patch. All other functions of the programmer work perfectly (e.g. global envelopes, global quantized VCO tuning, global filter controls, LFO, etc.; the real value of the programmer module IMO). The master volume pot is a bit scratchy (sealed pot; could not clean). A few of the plastic caps on the VCO fine tuners are missing, as are two mounting screws on SEM #4’s front panel.
The good news is that other than the minor nit-picks above, the synth sounds and plays outstanding! Having four SEMs under polyphonic control is a mind blower. I will miss this synth dearly, and I’m sure I will kick myself later. I just don’t have the time to give this the use it deserves these days, and hope to find it a good home.”
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