Japan's first, Roland's first and my first ever synthesizer - the rather unique SH-1000. Looking back it probably wasn't the best buy in the world.  At the time I got hold of it there really wasn't a lot of other options. Moogs were prohibitivly expensive and ARP and Yamaha were yet to come.

"Reginald" (He came to be named) was purchased back in 1973 from Rushworths in Liverpool.  The store had placed him in the 'Home Organ" dept, as the whole machine exudes more of a Happy Hammond feel than any kind of techno ambiance.

I recall catching the train over to Liverpool from the Wirral, accompanied by a good friend called 'Toad'. We bought the thing, then carried it, almost coffin like, through the streets of the City before getting back on the train.  The advertising blurb that described it as "light" in weight was definitely misleading, The case it came in (lined with fur we described as "Sooty Skin") , had a particular unforgettable odor; the whole thing had an almost luxurious feel to it.

In retrospect, I may have fared better to wait a year or two before spending a whole lot of money on something that later models would show to be pretty limited.  An SH-1000 has it's own unique sounds.  It won't do long filter sweeps - so much in vogue ever since.  It can't be linked to another instrument. The presets on it are hardly life like - yet have a peculiar quality all of their own. The tuba certainly has "OOMPH" - the trumpet has bite (but sounds nothing like a trumpet), whilst the flute is just pretty!

For a few extra bucks you could purchase a stand and a foot pedal, but these were not essentials as the whole thing looked like it was designed to perch on top of other things.

Soundwise though it could do some unique things. The "Random Note Generator" in connection with the "Glide" and "Vibrato" functions could produce strange, long lasting, effects.

The only way to remember these sounds was to scribble down on a chart the settings that you had made.  These were then given names like "Random Sphagettis" or "Cheeses falling on a policeman's head" The instrument came with a few ready made suggestions to get you going .. Such as 'Blowing Wind" or "Twittering Birds". (The "Vibraphone" I remember as being most excellent!)

Sometime after purchasing it I started to play in a band called 'Pegasus' whose guitarist was in possession of a Watkins CopiCat echo machine. Putting it through the CopiCat and a phase pedal or Waw pedal, transformed Reginald into a sound generator of weird possibilities.

Reginald still lives in the basement.  He served me well during numerous band transformations and now, as befits a product of distinctive vintage, is only asked to perform on special occasions.  The most versatile synthesizer in the world, he was not.  Certainly unique though!

What other people say; (Form Sonic News Mag)

YodaSong a professional user from USA writes:

I bought the SH-1000 twice. First back in the mid seventies (not too long after it came out), and again several years ago, after having woefully traded it in the mid eighties.
Thing is, yes... it has but one voice (no polyphony), and is a one oscillator device. But the singing filter will self-ocillate, the white & pink noise will wail, and if you do some creative use of random glissando self-oscillation, you come up with such a sweet chirp that I wound up having to have it again! And did I get LUCKY! I found one in pristine condition WITH a Roland hard shell case (who knew?) for $100.00!! I laughed gleefully all the way home. Now, when I have one of those occasions when I need something utterly unique and warm that involves manual real-time tweaking of a synth going through something like my old MXR-Digital Delay (which *also* does crazy things with realtime tweaking), I am in aural heaven.
Half of it is presets. They are quite unreal or unauthentic compared to what you can get now, but a couple of them have been very usable for me... they being flute (which is obviously meant to be a flute, though also obviously analog synthesized... but oh, so warmly and playably) and oboe (same story as flute). Well, hey... tuba, too. There's no doubt what it is emulating at all. This is a nitch synth, and if like flexibility in your sound arsenal, this sucker will top you off very nicely when it comes to its nitch.
The filter sliders on my old one got noisey (OK on the "new one"), but dust isn't good for it, so keeping it covered when not in use isn't a bad idea.

Frank de Jong (NARecordings) a professional user from The Netherlands writes:

Oh man.. I LOVE this synthesizer.. it really really really rox  I have never ever ever heard anything that gives such phat azz sounds as this baby.. I am buying it right now from a friend of mine ir has a bit of a f***ked up cutoff knob, but that should be easy to fix (50K B pot)... the SH1000 is noisy as hell, and looks like a dorky organ you usually find at old people retirement homes * grin *
BUt when you start messing with the synth part.. oh man its is GOD * grin * Hook it up to an old audio mixer ( I send it thru an old Phonix mixer, (it has an EQ , and I put it on the PHONO in hehehe superdistortion ) and once you put it thrue the PHONO in, for great distorted stuff, even the TB303 eats moth-pussy compared to this beast the only great drawback is the fact that it is not midi, nor has any way to implement midi on it.. if anybody has any schematics or external stuff which will enable me to use midi on this thingg, PLEASE let me know. SH1000.. what can I say.. it is holy IO rate it 5 out of 5, coz tweaking the cutoff/resonance knobs so much it starts screaming.. its almost as if the SH1000 is having sex with me * rotfl *

delabelle gregory a professional user from belgium writes:

i've bought this synth 2 years ago ,and we're working on it to puton an cv-gate input. when this will be done i'll have a totally contralable swelly bass synth. i'm actually thinking of putting a filter input on it. but still ,it's fun working with.

kingD 0 a professional user from sweden writes:

probably the best synth on moon. well, if you want to get away from reality or get an o.k. substitute for drugs this motherf***er is the choice. the strange noises will "tear your soul apart" (pinhed, hellraiser).

TECH STATS

Years manufactured: 73-81
List price: $ 1095.00
Keys: 37
Monophonic
Memory: 10 presets
Connection jacks: Audio Out,
Phones Out, CV/Gate Out,
CV/Gate In, External In
Users: Human League, Jethro Tull.

OSCILLATORS
The one and only oscillator on this synth has Sawtooth/Ramp, Square and PWM.
Range is 2´ to 32´. The pulse width is controlled by either a slider, the LFO or ENV. There are white and pink noise options as well.
MODULATION
The LFO has square and sine waveforms, with delay and freq controls.
FILTER
The filter on the SH-1000 has one "freq" and one "cut-off" slider. Also, three of the
colored tabs are dedicated to the filter, controling a wah-effect, a growl-effect and
whether or not the filter should be affected by the envelope.
ENVELOPES
The envelope generator is of the standard ADSR type. It controls volume and/or the
filter.
OTHER
There is no pitch bender on the SH-1000. The VCA can be switched between hold and
envelope mode. It also has percussion, slow attack and staccato options. The
SH-1000 has a preset glide control and a portamento knob.