Product Description
EMS Synthi Hi-Fli for sale complete with double foot pedal.
This was found, covered in a couple of decades' dust with no knobs or sliders. But when we opened it up to see what was smashed up inside it turned out the noise was a neat bag of all the missing hardware. It was also all original and in clean condition internally, so once this has been restored by EMS Cornwall it's gong to be a superb example.
Number one in Analogman Tom's list of rare guitar effects from his excellent book.
Features heavily in Tony's Monster Mutilators Article for Premier Guitar.
Used by David Gilmour - see this Gilmourish blog for further details - he bought a prototype in 1972 and from what he recalls it was “very, very expensive”; Gilmourish suggest it was used during the recording of Dark Side Of The Moon though DG's long time tech, Phil Taylor, told us he thinks it wasn't.
In a way it is immaterial whether or not it was used on DSOTM: the Hi-Fli is your route to creating Gilmour style sounds and effects - nothing else sounds quite like it. I'd keep mine just for the two phaser and three vocal wah settings called Waa, Waw and Meow. And it's not just for guitarists - running keys/synths and drum machines through it can be a shortcut to vintage sonic nirvana.
Top Boost: Provides up to 30 db treble boost.
Octave Shift: Drops the pitch by an octave.
Buzz Switch: Adds high frequencies overtones to the sub-octave signal.
Ring Mod: Produce an octave higher when a single note is played and the typical ring modulation when two or more strings are played.
Decay Rate: A rotary control controls the decay time of the ring mod and octave shift signal level.
Sustain Fuzz: Special circuits detect the beginning and end of each note and apply upper harmonics.
Attack Rate: A rotary control varies the rise time of Sustained Fuzz signal. Notes can be sustained even though the original signal has dropped by more than 20db.
Pedal Switches: The switches under the sliders combine the pedal control with the manual sliders. Selections of switches with pre-set slider positions enable the pedal to change treatments instantly.
Solo/Strum: This switch alters the Hi-Fli’s sensitivity to signal attacks and should be set to more sensitive for single notes (i.e solo).
Bypass Mix Fader: This central slider controls the mix of the original and treated sound. In the high position only the input pre-amplifier is in-circuit. The bypass footswitch gives instant access to this position. The output from the Octave shitft, Ring Modulator and Fuzz Sustain sections are re-combined and go to the phase filter and modulator section.
Control Modulation Selector: 6 position control knob.
Treatment Selector: There are six distinct modes of operation – Vibrato, two modes of Phasing, normal WAA-WAA (1 resonant peak), WAW-WAW (six resonant peaks) a completely new sound, and finally MEOW (two sets of three resonant peaks moving in oppisite directions.
Modulation Speed: This slider operates in the first 4 positions of the control modulation selector, providing a fine frequency control.
Modulation Ramp Time: Operates in positions 3 to 6 of the conrol modulation selector.
Modulation Depth: Controls the depth of the Phaser.
Frequency shift: This controls the frequency domain in which the modulation waveform operates, being central for symmetrical modulation.
L.E.D selectors: Two light emitting diodes show the movement of the modulation waveform.
ems-synthi.demon.co.uk,
“AnalogMan’s Guide to Vintage Effects” by Tom Hughes
and the David Gilmour Gear Forum.
This was found, covered in a couple of decades' dust with no knobs or sliders. But when we opened it up to see what was smashed up inside it turned out the noise was a neat bag of all the missing hardware. It was also all original and in clean condition internally, so once this has been restored by EMS Cornwall it's gong to be a superb example.
Why Hi-Fli?
Number one in Analogman Tom's list of rare guitar effects from his excellent book.
Features heavily in Tony's Monster Mutilators Article for Premier Guitar.
Used by David Gilmour - see this Gilmourish blog for further details - he bought a prototype in 1972 and from what he recalls it was “very, very expensive”; Gilmourish suggest it was used during the recording of Dark Side Of The Moon though DG's long time tech, Phil Taylor, told us he thinks it wasn't.
In a way it is immaterial whether or not it was used on DSOTM: the Hi-Fli is your route to creating Gilmour style sounds and effects - nothing else sounds quite like it. I'd keep mine just for the two phaser and three vocal wah settings called Waa, Waw and Meow. And it's not just for guitarists - running keys/synths and drum machines through it can be a shortcut to vintage sonic nirvana.
Designed by David Cockerell in 1971 for EMS: with only 350 units originally produced, the Hi-Fli was actually referred to as a synthesizer in the original ad, but it’s basically an analog multi-effect processor, which can be used on vocals, guitars, organs, synths etc. It has two footpedals, which could be routed as control voltages/expression pedal to any of the slider functions. It’s got no memory to bank up settings, – everything is in real-time, so one had to manually tweak the sliders for each tone change. You'll suddenly hit upon an amazing combination while tweaking the knobs - be sure to hit record as repeating it can prove elusive.
Product photos include a shot of David in his home studio in 1972 with a prototype of the Hi-Fli.
HiFli Controls:
Top Boost: Provides up to 30 db treble boost.
Octave Shift: Drops the pitch by an octave.
Buzz Switch: Adds high frequencies overtones to the sub-octave signal.
Ring Mod: Produce an octave higher when a single note is played and the typical ring modulation when two or more strings are played.
Decay Rate: A rotary control controls the decay time of the ring mod and octave shift signal level.
Sustain Fuzz: Special circuits detect the beginning and end of each note and apply upper harmonics.
Attack Rate: A rotary control varies the rise time of Sustained Fuzz signal. Notes can be sustained even though the original signal has dropped by more than 20db.
Pedal Switches: The switches under the sliders combine the pedal control with the manual sliders. Selections of switches with pre-set slider positions enable the pedal to change treatments instantly.
Solo/Strum: This switch alters the Hi-Fli’s sensitivity to signal attacks and should be set to more sensitive for single notes (i.e solo).
Bypass Mix Fader: This central slider controls the mix of the original and treated sound. In the high position only the input pre-amplifier is in-circuit. The bypass footswitch gives instant access to this position. The output from the Octave shitft, Ring Modulator and Fuzz Sustain sections are re-combined and go to the phase filter and modulator section.
Control Modulation Selector: 6 position control knob.
Treatment Selector: There are six distinct modes of operation – Vibrato, two modes of Phasing, normal WAA-WAA (1 resonant peak), WAW-WAW (six resonant peaks) a completely new sound, and finally MEOW (two sets of three resonant peaks moving in oppisite directions.
Modulation Speed: This slider operates in the first 4 positions of the control modulation selector, providing a fine frequency control.
Modulation Ramp Time: Operates in positions 3 to 6 of the conrol modulation selector.
Modulation Depth: Controls the depth of the Phaser.
Frequency shift: This controls the frequency domain in which the modulation waveform operates, being central for symmetrical modulation.
L.E.D selectors: Two light emitting diodes show the movement of the modulation waveform.
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For more Hi-Fli:
ems-synthi.demon.co.uk,
“AnalogMan’s Guide to Vintage Effects” by Tom Hughes
and the David Gilmour Gear Forum.