ARP / Solina String Ensemble With New Walnut Case

Description

The ARP String Ensemble was manufactured by the Eminent Organ company in Holland as the Solina String Ensemble, and rebranded for sale in the US by ARP as the ARP String Ensemble SE-IV.  This was the quintessential string synthesizer of the 1970’s, appearing on countless albums of all genres from Disco to Progressive Rock.  The String Ensemble offers 4 polyphonic  preset voices (violin, viola, trumpet, and horn) and 2 monophonic bass voices (cello and contrabass).  The String Ensemble offers crescendo and sustain controls, as well as a volume control to mix in the bass voices.  The String Ensemble is often copied, but never replicated due to the vintage analog BBD delay chips that give the synth its lush phasing sound.  This is the 1st revision of the String Ensemble, without the switch to the right of the 49 key keybed that allows you to disable this modulation.

This one was not rebadged by ARP, this is an OG Solina String Ensemble that I imported from Europe and converted from 220V to 110V operation.  The synthesizer is fully working and in good physical condition.  The synthesizer is housed in a brand new, custom CNC milled walnut enclosure (the original ones were particle board with fake wood veneer).  The power supply components have been recapped and power resistors upgraded.  The power lamp is out, and there is a bit of a noise floor that is common on these early Solinas.  Please see the video for specifics.

Please see the attached video for a demonstration of this particular keyboard that is for sale:

Prospective buyers are welcome to come try it out before purchasing. Local pickup is welcome and encouraged. If being shipped, the instrument will be packed well and insured for the full purchase price, but this is a vintage electronic item, so all sales will be as-is and final.  Shipping is more expensive on this item because it is very heavy and needs to be packed extra well to get to you safely.