Interview German Synth Mag Amazona.de: Neben dem Moog Modular System, das nahezu vollständig Snowflakes are Dancing dominierte und später durch das 55er ergänzt wurde, besaß er zu jener Zeit einiges von Roland, etwa die Systeme 700 und 100, Jupiter-4, VP-330 und Strings RS-202. Weitere Instrumente: Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, Korg MS50, Korg Vocoder VC-10, Mellotron M-400, Moog Polymoog, Yamaha CS-80, Yamaha String Ensemble SS-30. Ab den frühen 80ern landete bei ihm dann auch digitales Equipment, darunter das Synclavier, E-mu Systems Emulator, Fairlight CMI III und auf manchen Fotos ist auch der legendäre Yamaha VP1 zu sehen.

"During the process of creating patches for RE-STRINGS Rack Extension, we talked with Billy Currie about his use of String Ensemble keyboards over the years and how the Elka Rhapsody and Yamaha SS-30 contributed to some of Ultravox's classic tracks. "

In this still from the 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' music video, Benny Andersson can be seen using a Yamaha SS30 sitting atop a Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, with an ARP Odyssey mounted above.

Here, Formula talks about the history of his SS30. It can also be seen at various points in this footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g16mJ_omqsw, with the controls clear in shots like the one at 15:31.

A print from an article from 1982 posted on this forum. The Article cannot be found anywhere online. Says he has an SS-30 String Synth. I think this is the synth visible in the original music video for "Turn Me Loose" from 1981.

Quote: Originally posted by eric: I'm looking at the Nov 1982 issue now. There is a photo of Doug playing his rig and this is what he uses:

• Yamaha SS-30 String Synth
• Prophet 5 x 2
• Yamaha CS-50
• Yamaha CP-70
• Roland CE-1 Chorus

There is a part of the interview in which he is asked why he chose the CS-50 over the CS-80. He states that the "...CS-80 is huge and the 50 sits nicely onto my piano. CS-80s are beautiful instruments, but I don't want to have huge piles of keyboards all around."

Regards, Eric You're the man!

In the YouTube documentary titled "The Secret Keyboardist of Robert Plant & Black Sabbath: Jezz Woodroffe" by JCM - Led Zeppelin Stories and more, at 4 minutes and 38 seconds, a visual confirmation is provided showing all the keyboards used on Gerald Woodruffe's solo album "Opposite Directions," which includes the Yamaha SS30.