Roland SH-3

[otto]

I've a chance to pick up a Roland SH-3. It's missing the lid and the noise circuit isn't working. I've heard the 3 is quite rare due to having a lawsuit moog filter. Anyone have any details or a guess at the value?

[wiss]

your postive its a Roland SH-3 and not the 3A. Only about 40 SH-3 were made and released as the Ace Tone.

[otto]

Not sure where you info comes from but it says SH3 on it, not SH3A as SH3A's do. If you do a google or flickr image search you can see pictures of both. I haven't heard about the acetone thing. There are also conflicting reports about how many were made. Yours is the lowest number I've read/heard yet. I've seen anywhere from 100-500 were made. The 500 number comes from a service manual that said something to the effect of serial number 1-500 (these aren't the real serial numbers). However, the service manual may have been written before they were produced so it may not be correct. They have come up on ebay from time to time so I have my doubts that they are super-super rare but they do appear to at least be moderately rare. Do you have any more info on your story?

[whiteyhouston]

I was playing the SH3 today at the studio.
I have no idea what they are worth or how many were made.
judging from from the fact that it's still a rudimentary synth I personally wouldn't pay more than $500 for one. (actually, I wouldn't even pay that..)

I bet other people might though. (i.e. $2200 303's)

despite lifting the ladder design, the filter doesn't sound very moog.

[whiteyhouston]

and, yeah.. ours is not labelled Acetone.. it's an sh3 straight up

[wiss]

the A-Z of Analogue....

a few weeks ago I posted in the ebay thread of an ACE TONE that looked the same as the ROLAND SH-3A.



rumours that there were only 40 made...I never said it was fact just paraphrasing.

[otto]

Maybe only 40 were made that were packaged as an acetone?

[justinvm]

I saw one go for sale on ebay in Australia about 2-3months ago. It was listed for $800 and I don't think the seller got much more than a $1000 for it.

I own an SH-3A (about to be sold). The sh-3 was released under roland.
Acetone's were released abit later from my understanding, but have the same circuit layout as the sh3a. One of these sold in australia for around $85 just recently. It was in terrible shape though.

Theres a demo of the sh-3 on ebay. And it doesnt sound too much different to be honest. The diode ladder filer isnt amazing, but it does the job. It still sounds as warm as the moog filter but doesnt have the creamy tonal qualities, it's a bit harsher.

The sh-3/sh3a are quite a flexible synth, and im selling mine regretably. I'm sure the noise circuit can be fixed easily, so if it is selling for a reasonable price it would be worth buying.

I wouldn't buy it if you were after something like the minimoog sound, it won't sound like a minimoog even with the transitor ladder filter. However, it's probably a good investment given the rarity.

- J

[Automatic Gainsay]

I have seen at least 3 SH3s on eBay over my years of looking.

Someone here has one and posted samples of it at some point... or sent me samples of it.

There was a seller of an SH3 a year or two ago who plainly figured its rarity and the Moog-copy aspect meant that it was worth a very great deal. He consistently had high BINs ($1000+?) that no one took.
Eventually, his price dropped down into the range I thought an SH-3a should go for. I don't know if it ever sold.
My SH-3a went for a lot less than I expected!

People seem reticent about the SH3/a model. I don't know why... it has unique functionality and a great vintage sound.

[otto]

Well I picked it up. I figured $250 was a fair enough price for any vintage analog mono. It's in really nice shape and no scratchy pots or anything like that just the noise circuit doesn't do anything.

[OriginalJambo]

As you said, for $250 any analogue mono is good.

[otto]

As you said, for $250 any analogue mono is good.

The sound is very lovely - better than I expected (I don't know what I expected). I much prefer it to the sound of say Yamaha CS synths. It's much more organic and (don't say it!) fat/round/vintage sounding. This is my first SH I may have to try some others out. It also has some unique features that make it a lot of fun and open creative avenues not on other synths. This just might be a keeper. My only wish is that it had CV of some sort. If I decide to keep it I will probably install one of those synhouse midijacks.

[Automatic Gainsay]

As you said, for $250 any analogue mono is good.

The sound is very lovely - better than I expected (I don't know what I expected). I much prefer it to the sound of say Yamaha CS synths. It's much more organic and (don't say it!) fat/round/vintage sounding. This is my first SH I may have to try some others out. It also has some unique features that make it a lot of fun and open creative avenues not on other synths. This just might be a keeper. My only wish is that it had CV of some sort. If I decide to keep it I will probably install one of those synhouse midijacks.

Butcher!
It's a rare synth with a great sound... you will diminish its value with a modifcation like that. It is worth at least twice what you paid for it right now.

[OriginalJambo]

C'mon AG - surely you generally aren't gonna diminish the value of a synth by adding MIDI or CV? Both are useful and shouldn't have any impact on the sound of the synth or inhibit the functionality in any way, well as long as a good job has been made of it.

Next thing you'll be telling us getting our boards serviced is a bad idea.

[hfinn]

AG is right. In a lot of cases it will diminish the value, but thats usually if the synth is something more rare (such as a SH-3). I once had a Two Voice with all the patch points brought out. Couldn't get for it what you would've thought. There are a few exceptions to this rule. CS-80 with midi, JP8, PS-3xxx etc...