and is very fun to play. It has a lo-fi sound to it and is
perfect for creating strange pads or nice electro bass
patches. It’s definitely one of my favorite synths, and I’m
not totally sure why. It’s not that amazing, but I still find
myself going back to it for ideas and for using in overdubs
in other projects. This synth was heavily used on our cd
‘stratosphere control’.
mentioned, it’s got a fun joystick for controlling the
pitch/modulation/filter. Also, the famous guitar pegs on
the side so that you can attach a guitar strap and where
it like chick corea.
On eBay they fetch around $90-$200 or so depending on the
seller. I got my first one for $130, but then it was damaged by water
(don’t ask). I wound up buying another one for $120 a year later
cause I wanted to play it again.
later model, the poly 800 mkII, which substituted the
original ‘chorus’ function with ‘digital delay’. While I loved
the build in digital delay, I still missed the fx that the chorus
added to the patches…..it definitely made it sound Italian
accordion or something (as legowelt would say).
modification I can add to it, which definitely
sounds interesting. But, unfortunately I’m not
savvy at all in working with those kinds of tools
necessary for modifying the synth. I have seen
some moded one’s being sold online so maybe
one day I’ll take the easy way out and just get
one. Whatever……
The ‘bitrman’ (a distortion/ring modulation/comb filter/dual phaser/etc) and
the ‘phlngr’ (a very cool flanger with many options including bpm tap tempo).
These fx really help make playing the Poly 800 more fun when it get’s a little to lo-fi.
Also, I run the fx output into a mixer with built in reverb, so it’s also got the ability to
punch in some nice hall reverb.
being played live, with the alesis boxes.
The melodies are not quite that amazing because I
was trying to turn the alesis knobs at the same time.