Sequential Circuits Prophet-5

Released approximately 1978 to enthusiastic keyboard players. Not the first polyphonic synthesizer, but definiately one of the first true commercially successful polys. It was an immediate hit, and has been sought after ever since. Considered to be one of the true classic polyphonic analog vintage synthesizers of all time. Earlier REV 1 and REV 2 versions of the keyboard are traditionally regarded as sounding better, but less stable. The later REV 3's are considered more stable but not as nice sounding. However, your views may differ.

Average Advertised Price:These things have been up ond down in price lately, plus there's 3 different REVs so it's hard to put anything but a wide price average on them. That said, I've seen them anywhere from $750 to $1500.
Jetboy's Humble Opinion Of Worth:Right now I believe $900 for a good unit is fair, but again they vary alot.

Jetboy's Review -Awesome synth, in my top 5 of all time greatest poly synths.

Paul Schilling forwards the following info: I'm on a Prophet-5 hunt right now so: (from http://www.raveanddodger.com/dsmuseum.html) The Prophet-5 was a breakthrough product, first released in early 1978 for $4,595. By being the first completely programmable, polyphonic synthesizer, it defined the modern-day synthesizer. It was also the world's first musical instrument designed with a microprocessor, a Z-80 with a whopping 4 Kbytes of ROM. The Prophet-5 was used by virtually every major keyboard player in the late '70s and '80s, not only in rock music, but also jazz, country, pop, and experimental. 20 years later the P-5 is still used by many musicians for its incredible sound. Over 7,000 Prophet-5s were made. Dave designed the P-5 in 9 months, designing the electronics, writing the firmware for the microprocessor, designing the unique wood and metal enclosure, and even doing all the drafting and laying out of the printed circuit boards. Also Check out a partial list of Prophet-5 users: http://www.raveanddodger.com/prophets.html

Brett Kelley at trayrace@best.com really is an idiot: "Wow was I an idiot! I used to own a Prophet 5 with the Rev 3.2(?) ROMS and MAN O MAN, that synth was a screamer! However, here is where the idiot role comes in: I owned it when I was a starving college kid and let the thing go for only $300.00 (back in 1994) with the anvil case!!! ARRRRRGH!!!! I keep kicking myself in the head every time I hear mention of a Prophet 5! I should have held onto it. It's only weaknesses were the brittle wires used for keyboard triggers- they would break on a regular basis and I was always replacing them; other weakness was that the connectors between the circuit boards needed to be cleaned about once a year to ensure happy playing. In my opinion, this synth gets a 10+ rating on a scale from 1 to 10."

Back to Vintage Synthesizers Image of Pro-One from Synthfool.com.