jeffo_dup1 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 hi guys, a while ago there was a 1974 YAMAHA GX 1 up for auction and here is the link for info, http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=18;t=010212 can someone please tell me how much it sold for and what condition it was in,or was that the final price at end of link,as i cant find any info about it. the reason i am asking is i have a GX-1 which is in excellent original condition having spent almost its entire life in home use only. i will be selling it in the near future and am not sure what is the best way to sell to gain maximum exposure and best price,so am curious as to what the auction one sold for to compare to mine and get some idea as to what there currently worth. any advice/info on best way to sell and/or who to contact for a possible sale will be much appreciated,thanks jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 You may wish to consider contacting Gordon Reid, who writes for Sound On Sound magazine in the UK. A few years ago, he wrote a two-part piece about discovering a mint GX-1 in Melbourne and getting it shipped to the UK: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb00/articles/yamahagx1.htm?session=e4f3474bdfd9927fedede29c6b768935 That being said, he may be one of the world's experts on the value of a GX-1, and may also know of people looking to purchase one (not too mention how to ship it from Down Under). Now would you please post a picture of your GX-1? A bigger problem than paying for it would be where to put it......!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 You may need to look into a high profile auction like Vemia to get the publicity you need for a choice item like that. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffo_dup1 Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 heres a couple of photos. http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jeffiseverywhere/hereitis1.JPG http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jeffiseverywhere/hereitis2.JPG was toying up with ebaying it before posting these questions as i thought ebay would get the most worldwide exposure,and best possible price will look into Vemia first though,and probably contact that gordon guy,thanks for the info. just had a quick look at vemia,thats the site that had the last GX-1 for auction ,but when i put key words in for past sales,cant find anything about it would love to find out more about that GX-1 auction which brought me to this site in the first place though, thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Jeffo- nice pics!! I have sent you a private message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegerardi Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Jeff: Two things- 1- The last bid on the GX1 (IIRC) was 20,000 pounds, or about $37,000. 2- I mean this in the nicest way, but: MAY YOU ROT IN HELL FOREVER, SUFFERING A PLAGUE OF BOILS AND ITCHY ZITS ON YOUR BACK THAT ARE JUST OUT OF REACH! (Jealousy mode off.) ..Joe Ahem. Sorry about that... PS: Gorgeous instrument. Setup: Korg Kronos 61, Roland XV-88, Korg Triton-Rack, Motif-Rack, Korg N1r, Alesis QSR, Roland M-GS64 Yamaha KX-88, KX76, Roland Super-JX, E-Mu Longboard 61, Kawai K1II, Kawai K4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I'd like to take this moment in time to say.... Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squids Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Are there two versions of this keyboard? For instance, does this actually say GX-1 on it? What does it say on the left there? Is it a special "organ" version of it with the speakers? I've seen versions that looked different than this which is why I ask. Aka: Dave from Sonic Reality http://www.sonicreality.com http://www.esoundz.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Yeah, there's a "home" (!) version of the GX-1 with a different name... I think they're basically the same instrument, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Isn't the home version an EL-1 (or something like that?) I remember one on E-bay a little while ago. It looks very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffo_dup1 Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 it doesnt actually say GX-1 anywhere that can be seen easily,there are a couple of decals/plates at the lower rear of keyboard and on seat assembley that have the words "MODEL GX-1" stamped in them. that wording on the left of keyboard says ELECTONE thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Hey Jeffo Would you mind giving us a little bit of history about your instrument? How long have you had it, who owned it previously, how did you come into possession, etc.? Consensus is that Yamaha made approximately 50 of them, and less than half of those ever made it into private (Keith Emerson, John Paul Jones, Stevie Wonder, etc.) hands, and the ones still in existence have had interesting stories! If only my house was about 3X larger...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Fuzz Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 /drool...... drfuzz "I'm just here to regulate the funkiness" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Here's a good resource for the different Electone models. http://www.xs4all.nl/~wkoopman/electone/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Is it just me, or does that thing look like it came straight from the set of "A Clockwork Orange"? Welly welly welly well! A pretty synth tool, my droogs! I'd take one in the yarbles for a chance to play my fuzzy warbles on it, yes! - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milos Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by Jeff Da Weasel: Is it just me, or does that thing look like it came straight from the set of "A Clockwork Orange"? Welly welly welly well! A pretty synth tool, my droogs! I'd take one in the yarbles for a chance to play my fuzzy warbles on it, yes! - JeffNo, Wendy Carlos composed Clockwork Orange on Moog Modular only. I think the better choice is cs 80.Much cheaper and will do the work.GX1 costs too much because its raritet ,and not because of its sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by Milos: No, Wendy Carlos composed Clockwork Orange on Moog Modular only. I think Jeff was referring to the movie's set designing, not the music... I think the better choice is cs 80.Much cheaper and will do the work.GX1 costs too much because its raritet ,and not because of its sound. To me, it's one of the most desirable analog synths, regardless of price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthetic Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I think there is only one version, at least that's all that is mentioned in the Peter Forrest A-Z. Maybe you're thinking of Emo's "chopped" version without the pedals and bench. I dig those giant speakers, with tube amps right? If you still have the GX-1 programmer then it's worth even more. The Gordon Reid article is really good, I just read it last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffo_dup1 Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 was having a bit of a chuckle to myself when reading joegerardi,s response , thinking imagine what he would say if he knew how i came about owning it. brief story is i have only owned it for about a month,dont know anything about keyboards or how to play them. i collect pinball machines and arcade games and have a wanted advert in the local paper. the people that owned this synth rang me about something else,i went into the house to look at what else they had, seen the GX-1 and was absolutely floored by its beauty,it does have a prescence about it,anyway because im not a musician , and didnt have much money i didnt take it any further but have a friend who used to run a recording studio. i tried contacting him for nearly 2 weeks to pass it on to him but he wouldnt answer his phone so gave up and forgot all about it. got a call a couple of weeks later from the same family about something else,so i asked if the still had the GX-1 they said yes and i had just came into a bit of money the day before so i asked how much (not saying,sorry),looked on the net and seen that auction link for what the last one sold for and raced around and grabbed it(figuretively speaking,this thing is massive). so basically i picked it up from a garage sale as the result of a deceased estate clearance. the son told me the father paid $50,000 for it new,he also said it was the demo model for YAMAHA and was supposed to go back to japan when finished being shown around australia but the father bought it instead,he also knew it was very rare and told me there was only 7 made as he got the info off net. i said to the family more than once you should advertise it (along with the other rare stuff they had) and get the best price,but they were just finalizing the estate and didnt want the hassle of moving the GX-1 across the country as they had lived interstate for years and just wanted to go back home,and said to me its probably worth more than what we want but we just want it out of here,so sold it to me instead. original owner was a prominent businessman not short of cash and just liked it so he bought it,apparentley he didnt even know how to play it that well. also its been in the house almost the whole time ,and hadnt been plugged in for 10 years when i seen it. now i am not loaded with cash by any stretch of the imagination so hopefully you guys will all forgive me for trying to get the best possible price as i dont think i could get this lucky twice,thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Wow. You have experienced an incredible opportunity to be in the right place at the right time. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squids Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Yeah, sounds like you got a good deal on a very rare piece. It's soooo huge though. I am actually in the process of having Keith Emerson's GX-1 sampled for an add on to something I am working on. I've played it before too and I don't remember it having all of the bass pedals, bench and speakers which is why I asked. However, so incredibly ironic (because there probably ARE only 7 of those Electone GX-1s) is that I was helping out a freakin' local dentist once who was trying to load our samples into his Triton and when I went to his studio (in his dental office!!!!) he actually had the exact same thing as your picture in his office! I sat down and played it and it was awesome. The little keyboard with side to side vibrato and the CS80-like sound to it through the big speakers is majestic. I was going to see if it he'd sell it to me but it was really SOOOOO big! I don't know where I'd put it. But, if someone has the room and can afford it they should definitely pick yours up. It's a vintage work of art and does look like Kubrick's set for Clockwork. What are you going to ask for it? Don't tell me. Maybe I'll go try to pick up the other one and even though there is only seven you'll actually have some competition on ebay! Just kidding of course. I think you're all alone in selling that thing! Good luck! Aka: Dave from Sonic Reality http://www.sonicreality.com http://www.esoundz.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyb Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 I am by no means the be-all end-all expert on these but there were definitely more than 7 GX-1s made. I've heard many numbers, some as high as 50. Here's some people that have had them: Keith Emerson Jurgen Fritz of Triumvirat John Paul Jones ABBA - I forget which one of the guys Stevie Wonder Take those 5, the one mentioned in the SOS article and the one being sold here and that's 7. I know I've heard of other keyboardists being original owners but I don't recall any other names right now. There are no stupid questions but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffo_dup1 Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 hey man, im no expert on these things either,got the number of 7 from here http://www.synthmuseum.com/yamaha/yamgx101.html did a bit of searching on the net when i first got it and from what i could gather there were approximately 50 made but most went back to japan as they were too expensive for people to buy or whatever else,hence a lot less than 50 survived to begin with. not sure what price to sell at but it will probably be pretty large as its not going to happen to me twice,so aim high i guess, would prefer to auction at this stage unless i get a ridiculous offer from someone with way too much money. will post a link should i auction or if/when its sells . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 "I seek the Grail - or a GX-1 in fine working order!" http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Images/arthur.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electone Zone Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 The GX-1 is indeed an "Electone." This is Yamaha's trademark brand for all their electronic organ instruments. Back in those days Yamaha released all their new keyboard technology as part of new Electone "Stage Model" instruments. These were futuristic concept instruments meant to impress visually as well as musically. The GX-1 was the first organ instrument to use true polyphonic synthesizer technology. The velocity sensitive keyboards allow true expression of the voices, a concept never before imagined in electronic organs. The smaller solo keyboard is pressure sensitive. To my knowledge the GX-1 was never released as two different home or studio models. It was always just the GX-1. But many have been confused about the Electone branding. Over the years there have been many other Stage Model Electone instruments. While they appear similar to the GX-1 in futuristic design concepts, they aren't related in sound structure. The next closest stage model relatives would be the EX-1 and EX-2 . But they were not at all as programmable and sounded quite different. You can read more about the GX-1 at Electone Zone\'s GX-1 Museum Page . The Museum shows the historic timeline of almost all the Yamaha Electone instruments. Those are some great pictures, by the way! Any chance I can use them in the museum? Louis Ewens Founder, Electone Zone http://www.electone.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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