Korg Poly800/EX800 Users

i've seen auctions go both ways even when items have
been exactly the same, so it's hard to really get a
fix on what's likely to be more profitable - ebay is a
fickle mistress...  but if i was in your situation,
i'd be inclined to mod it, especially if you can do it
in a way that preserves the original functionality
(i.e. leave the trimpots in there somewhere and make
it switchable, as i think atom smasher suggested at
some point).  if the synth is in good condition and
you mod it neatly, all you're doing is adding extra
features, which you can then rant about in your
auction listing.  that never hurts.

as an example, i can point to a couple of auctions
i've seen on ebay australia over the last few months. 
both were for korg ms-10s in pretty much the same
condition.  the only difference between them was that
one had been modded with blue leds instead of whatever
the standard colour is, whereas the other hadn't been
touched.  the guy with the modded one made it very
clear that he had done it himself and he just liked
blue leds - and made sure he had a picture with the
leds looking nice and blue.  from memory, the highest
bid on the modded one was about AUD$1800 (about
US$900), and the untouched one was about AUD$1200
(US$600).  power to the mod.  go figure. ;)

fwiw, my poly's a rev-keys mk1 in pretty good
condition, currently un-modded except for a backup
battery.  before i got my hands on it, it had been
collecting dust for about 10 years - there was no
backup battery, so all the sounds had been wiped, and
i think the previous owner thought he was selling a
dead synth, but it's cleaned up okay.  i plan to do
the full moog-slayer as soon as i have time, along
with a pot for noise - i know rev-keys are rareish and
more likely to be collectible, but i'm not planning to
sell the synth...  if it was mint it might be a
different story - but basically, if you use decent
quality knobs and pots, and you make the mod look
nice, it can only add to the value, imho.

disclaimer - i like modded stuff; it suits my music
and mental state.  so i guess i'm biased..  but if
you're doing it purely for the $$$, a look at the
prices of circuit-bent casios on ebay will show that
this sort of thing can be pretty financially viable
all on its own.

-gareth

ps - i've been lurking for a little while, but i think
this is my first post.  hello.  some days i'm a
disturbed australian university student, other days
i'm a trained data-entry monkey, and at most other
times i play with experimental(?)
rhythmic/ambient/emotive noise/electronic music.  of a
sort.


>    Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 18:31:18 -0500
>    From: GoodTimeTribe <pulse8@...>
> Subject: korg poly800 : before sell, to modify or
> not to modify
> 
> I've got a korg poly-800 MK1 in good condition that
> I'm about to sell, but 
> was wondering if I should modify it first (add the
> backup battery, add 
> knobs for resonance/cutoff/noise). I think I could
> do an alright job since 
> these mods are relatively easy, but I was wondering
> if I would benefit 
> monetarily from doing the mods before selling or if
> I should leave it in an 
> as is condition, as otherwise I have my hands full
> with plenty of other 
> projects. Plan to sell it on the eBayne and from
> doing a little research, 
> it looks like it sometimes goes one way or the
> other, however I don't see 
> many of these units that are sold in a modified
> condition. Has anyone 
> bought one that was already modified?
> 
> Thanks,
> Joshua
> 
> Pulse 8 / nKode / cacofone [aim:goodtimetribe]
> http://www.goodtimetribe.com
> --- "You're growing up. And rain sort-of remains on
> the branches of a tree 
> that will someday rule the Earth and it's good that
> there's rain. It clears 
> the month of your sorry rainbow expressions, and it
> clears the streets of 
> the silent armies...so we can dance." ---- Jim
> Carroll
> 


=====
gareth davies
gklitschprizm mod\
(beware the gklitschkitty)
<[hyphen x 0.5]>

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