Yamaha SS30

Yamaha SS30 Image

This fully wood-cased beast is a classic String-Synth of the seventies from Yamaha. It is "multi-phonic" as it uses a divide-down, electric organ type of architechture for its tone generation. There are two tones for each note so it's probably fair to say it's dual-oscillator, and it can create some really lush timbres. It's richer sounding than the ARP Solina String Synth. It has an individual VCA envelope for each key. The four-octave keyboard is not velocity sensitive, and the synth offers just a few controls above the keyboard for choosing preset sounds, and modest tweaking (no filters, LFOs, etc). It has been used by Utravox & Midge Ure.

14 Visitor comments
synthisist
June 5, 2009 @ 4:31 am
Is this possibly one of the best string synths of all time?
Looks fantastic in wood! Sounds great!
Mezzo
April 30, 2009 @ 3:07 pm
I would love to purchase one. The detune function as well as the orchestra (ensemble) function add to the thickness. Eg for each key. Just missing a VCF. A little external chorusing and it crushes the Omni. Plus its a Yamaha so short of dropping it off a building these should hold up.
Micke
February 2, 2009 @ 9:03 am
The SS-30 has also been used by Rick Wakeman, Tomita, ABBA, Loverboy, Images In Vogue, Simple Minds, Hideki Matsutake (Logic system) , Visage and Magazine.
planetplayer
January 12, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
It sounds as good as it looks. I tried it early 1980's.
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - yamaha ss30 rare string synth

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - Full 49 voices
  • Oscillators - 2 Osc. per voice
  • LFO - None
  • Filter - None
  • Effects - Chorus & Vibrato
  • Keyboard - 4-Octave (49 keys)
  • Memory - None
  • Control - None
  • Date Produced - 1977
  • Resources & Credits
  • Thanks to Don Thomson and Steven Norgate for submitting info.

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