EMS DK1

We are Brokering this very good condition DK1 for a UK customer.

Came into stock: September 2019.

Restoration Status: KSR has already fully serviced this DK1 so it’s ready for sale now.

Remarks: The (David Cockerell designed) EMS DK1, aka ‘The Cricklewood,’ analogue keyboard controller was made to pair with the EMS Synthi & VCS3. The manufacturing date for this controller will be from between 1969 to 1972, so at least 47 years old. The serial for is #2118, so Robin at EMS might have the manufacturing date for this in his archive.

This DK1 has just been subjected to complete service by Kent at KSR, so is certified 100% fully operational. No deeper restoration has been applied to it other than some cleaning, so the wood and tolex has not been stripped or replaced, although it was not needed anyway as the overall presentation is very good.

You will notice that there has been a small slide-switch added to the control panel (between the input change toggle switches). Our client, the owner, did not have this implemented, and has no knowledge of it, but Kent at KSR has told us that is serves no purpose and had no circuitry to it, so it’s a legacy mod that had some function for the keyboard in the last 40+ years, but no longer does anything. The switch is non-functional, so does not interfere with the normal operation of the DK1.

Cosmetically speaking, the modification mention above could be removed and the whole panel restored to look standard, and if this was our own DK1 we might have invested into having that work carried out. However, what we decided to do when discussing the with our client was to leave it as-is and price the DK1 accordingly, to reflect the effect the switch has to the presentation. There is also a chrome cliff-knob cap missing.

The DK1 has two independent channels of CV, these can set to different modes, and the keyboard has its own built-in VCO for modulation options, plus as “Dynamic Channel’ output and a VCA. You would connect the DK1 to the Synthi or VCS3 via the Cinch-Jones keyboard interconnect cable, and optionally, a second 1/4 inch jack cable for the ‘input ch2’ into the synthesizer.

The ‘Dynamic Channel’, can be used to operate the DK1s 37 note velocity-sensitive keyboard. This means the velocity action sends a separate control voltage. This would commonly be used for loudness control, providing you set the matrix-patch on your Synthi or VCS3 to operate that way. The ‘Dynamic Channel’ can actually be set to control almost any facility on the Synthi or VCS3…which is what these amazing synths are all about really.

If you need it, We are able to supply the Cinch-Jones keyboard interconnect cable to run the DK1 into either a Synthi or VCS3, price upon request.

Sold with a full 3-month warranty.

Price: £1290 GBP.

Availability: This DK1 is now SOLD as at 31st October 2019.

Click on the thumbnails for a high-resolution photo of the actual DK1 for sale.