Here's the only known picture of my very first monophonic analogue synthesizer. It was designed and built by entirely by me in 1976 during my "spare time" during my first year at Southampton University in England. I called it the "Stereo Sound Synthesizer Mk. 1". If you look closely, you can see this name in white legend on the bottom left hand corner of the front panel. Click on any of the pictures to see them in full resolution (warning, some are nearly 5MB!). This synthesizer provided many hours of fun and enjoyment. It had two VCO's with sample/hold and portamento (no sync though), an LFO, a noise source, a ring modulator, a 24dB/octave LP/BP/HP filter (much like a MiniMoog's), a patch panel, and two ADSR's, one for the filter sweep and one for the dual VCA's that fed a built-in stereo mixer (for other instruments). The keyboard was a 49 note deal from Maplin Electronics with homemade dual-contact switches (phosphor bronze wire and lots of epoxy glue!). The front panel was handmade (it took me days to drill and file it out!), painted black and give a white legend using Letraset and then sprayed with poly varnish to seal it. The case was basically all wood - some cheap teak veneered particle board with iron-on edging. Click on the picture to see it in full resolution.

I dismantled this synth in late 1979 to use the parts for another synth I was going to build, however, before I got around to it (I was working in the Sultanate of Oman for a couple of years), Electronics and Music Maker Magazine (E&MM) together with Maplin Electronic Supplies (of Southend, Essex, UK) came out with a neat kit-form monophonic analog synth called the Spectrum Synthesizer. So, in 1983 (I think), I swooped for a kit rather than go through all the hassle of designing, building and debugging another homebrew synth. I built the Spectrum in a big flat style case - I wanted it to look like the Prophet 5 which was the hot machine of the day. I had to flatten out the front panel to do this! I purchased two front panels just in case I ever decided to re-build the Spectrum in its intended form later. I still have the Spectrum and the spare front panel and may find the time to re-build it smaller (so it fits on top of my Hammond BV?). Here are some photos of my Spectrum Synthesizer which I just dragged down from my attic, so excuse the dust! Click on any of the pictures to see them in full resolution.

I still have all the documentation for the Spectrum Synthesizer - if anyone would like a copy, or if you have any questions about this classic synth kit, please contact me. I will be recording some tracks with this synth sometime in the near future. I'll post them on the Jardini homepage when they are ready.