The Wild and Wacky World of
Collectible
Effects
Still Flyin’ Hi
From Analog Man’s Guide to Vintage Effects
Guitar effects pedals are one of my greatest obsessions. I love them all: vintage,
boutique, and everything in-between. I
have in fact made an entire career of it,
having worked several years for “Analog
Man” Mike Piera, who mentored me and
bestowed the nickname Analog Tom. With
Mike’s invaluable technical assistance, I
went on to write Analog Man’s Guide To
Vintage Effects, and the rest is history. It’s
been nearly four years since the book was
published, and my knowledge and awareness of all things stomp-related has expanded enough to consider writing a revised,
expanded edition of the book. I now
have collector friends and knowledgeable
experts all over the world who have given
me new insights and
info, tons of pictures,
and tidbits of pedal
minutia that I didn’t
have access to when
I did my original
research.
tion from many more collectors and experts
around the world, in addition to my contin-
ued research, that would lead me to change
some of the original content of that chap-
ter. There are several pieces I found to be
not quite as rare as I originally thought—
among them are Tycobrahe pedals (the
ParaPedal, PedalFlanger, and Octavia), the
Ampeg Scrambler, the Gray Vox Wah, and
Tri-Stereo Chorus. Don’t get me wrong, all
of these are rare and definitely desirable
to many collectors, but they’re not exceed-
ingly scarce. It’s also been brought to my
attention that there are at least a few items
that were apparently so rare that their
existence managed to escape my aware-
ness—the Condor GMS Guitar Synth, for
example (thanks
Marty!). It seems
the stompbox uni-
verse is more vast
and deep than any
of us imagined.
“Formerly known as the Sound Freak, the
Synthi Hi-Fli represents the pinnacle of rare,
collectible vintage pieces. For people in this
business, there is none higher—it is the Holy
Grail. Most people in the know have heard of
it, but it’s hard to find someone who’s actually seen one, making it somewhat akin to a
Sasquatch sighting… Analog Mike has one of
the most extensive vintage effects collections
known to man, yet the Synthi Hi-Fli eludes
him. Whenever it is mentioned, he ruefully
expresses the unlikelihood of ever acquiring
one… The closest thing I ever came up with
was when I found a dealer who had a rubber
foot that apparently had come from the bottom of the stand in which the original unit was
housed. He wanted twenty dollars for it. After
much agonizing, I had to decline. I couldn’t
stand the thought of taking it from some poor
guy out there who might be suffering with a
wobbly Hi-Fli.
So, you may be won-
dering, what pedals
from the original
Since a new version
of the book isn’t currently in the works,
I thought this would
be a good opportunity to update and
expand upon a few
aspects of this subject, specifically the current market for rare
and collectible effects. While there have
always been certain highly sought-after vintage effects pedals, over the last few years
the market has skyrocketed. And despite
the recent dip in vintage guitars, vintage
effects continue to climb. I’ve gotten my
share of disdainful correspondence from
disgruntled longtime collectors who were
not happy with the attention Analog Man’s
Guide brought to the subject, holding me
at least partly responsible for driving up
the price of many pieces still missing from
their collections. Believe it or not, I’ve even
had my own words come back to haunt me
when trying to negotiate the purchase of
certain desirable pedals.
So, you may be
wondering, what
pedals from the
original list have
proven to be
truly rare? At this
moment my list
would include the
original Interfax
Harmonic Percolator, the Pluto Dual Filter,
Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround, Castle Phaser,
A/DA Harmony Synthesizer, and the
Astrotone Fuzz. But the one that topped
the list in Analog Man’s Guide is still my
number one pick today—the EMS Synthi Hi-Fli (see sidebar).
list have proven to
be truly rare?
The EMS Synthi Hi-Fli is known for having
been used by David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s
Dark Side of the Moon… Steve Hackett
used the Hi-Fli extensively with Genesis on
albums such as The Lamb Lies Down on
Broadway (featured prominently on the solo
to “Counting Out Time”). Steve told us, “The
Synthi Hi-Fli was also useful for achieving an
almost backwards sound—specifically on the
middle section of ‘Ripples’ on Trick of the
Tail.” Ah, but what exactly is a Synthi Hi-Fli,
you may be wondering? The best description
comes from the original nineteen-page owners
manual, titled Hi-Fli Explained:
eBay and the Pricing Conundrum
One of the most frequently asked questions
we’ve had since the book was released
is: when are you guys going to do a price
guide for effects? On the surface, this
seems like an appealing idea, but in my
view it’s a futile endeavor. First of all, I’ve
never been a fan of that concept to begin
with. I know it’s very popular with guitars
and other instruments, and there’s no doubt
they do serve some useful purposes, but it
seems to be a very subjective thing, based
on the opinions of a handful of individuals
who ostensibly have some expertise in the
field. And if the experts in ques
‘The Synthi Hi-Fli combines many well-known
processes in a single package, such as tone
control, fuzz, octave dropping, modulation,
phasing, waw-waw, vibrato, etc. The weighting
of these effects is ostensibly at the control of
the operator and can be manually set and/or
be controlled by a dual foot pedal and in
some cases can be effected by a transient
generator which, in turn, is triggered by the
operator. The purpose of this machine is to
process musical signals, in particular, guitars.’
Well said.”
In Analog Man’s Guide, I wrote a chapter
called “Hen’s Teeth” where I listed the
rarest and most collectible of all vintage
effects. Since the time the book was published, I’ve received a great deal of informa-
Little has changed in the time since the above
was written. The fabulous Hi-Fli is still number one, and Analog Mike still does not have
one. A fine example was procured, however,
by yours truly for an absolutely embarrassing
sum that I would be ashamed to disclose. Hey
Mike! Are you reading? I got me a Hi-Fli!
