Vintage ARP / Solina String Ensemble SE-IV

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.

*In later revisions, a red button was added to the right of the keys to allow disabling the ensemble effect/modulation.  This particular String Ensemble is interesting, because the “Mod Defeat” button is replacing the Trumpet preset.  So it has the modulation defeat feature, but not the trumpet preset.  It appears this was done by the factory and not later as a consumer-made mod.

This synthesizer is fully working and sounds great!  The original particle board case has taken some damage, particularly the end cheeks, and is starting to come apart at the right hand side.  A bit of plastic has broken off the underside of one of the keys, but this isn’t noticeable from typical viewing angles.  Please see photos.

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.