Ten Of The Best: New Analogue Mono Synths

Korg MS-20

£1,295

You can almost ignore the ‘kit’ aspect of Korg’s Korg MS-20 Kit. In practice, the DIY element of this 70s reissue is only slightly more difficult than the average Lego kit: piecing together the neatly designed parts should take a couple of hours at the very most.

The kit version has two big advantages over the cheaper and more widely available Korg MS-20 Mini. Firstly, it’s built to the original scale rather than being miniaturised. That means full-sized keys (which turn out to be surprisingly convenient for those of us blessed with full-sized hands). Secondly, it includes both the original filter circuit and the revised version introduced later in the Korg MS-20’s original run. The filter can be selected using a switch inside the unit, giving you the option of either sound.

The advantages of the Korg MS-20 Kit are fairly substantial, even if you do pay a price premium over the Korg MS-20 Mini (as is often the case with Korg products, don’t expect to pay full price – expect most dealers to knock 15-25% off the RRP).

Stocks of the limited-edition Korg MS-20 Kit are already running low at most retailers, but if you’re interested in the do-it-yourself approach then the good news is there’s another Korg kit on the way to keep you going: the MS-20M kit is a desktop module with a slightly more advanced synth architecture and the bonus of an accompanying SQ-1 step sequencer. It’ll be available very soon with an RRP just over £1,000 and a street price around £850.