Description
This SPX90 has been refurbished, the case repainted and the power supply – the achilles heel of most old fx units – has been recapped. Tested & working 100%. Photos show the SPX 90 II for sale
This is an SPX 90 Mk II, an the updated version of the original with longer maximum delay times – 2 seconds rather than 500 mS. There are no other changes. The rest of this description is the same as for the SPX90
The Yamaha SPX90 is the first rackmount FX unit to achieve world dominance. Prior to the SPX90, racks contained nothing but expensive gear that did one or two effects but, post-SPX, everyone could afford a multi-fx unit – so everyone bought one
The SPX was, and still is, a great little fx unit. It has a selection of very usable plates & halls plus gated reverb, early reflection reverb programs and delays. It also has a number of fairly basic pitch change presets plus panning, vibrato, parametric EQ and a compressor. Of these, the reverbs (halls, plates, rooms) are the most useful. But the best bit of the SPX90 is the wide selection of chorus / flanger / phaser effects on offer, particularly Symphonic
Symphonic is a great, deep chorus effect like a Dimension D on steroids. It can be subtle, like a Dimension D, or tweaked to create an over-the-top chorus with lots of pitch changing. It’s great for widening synth basses, warming up the low end of tracks, adding movement to a Rhodes patch or thickening acoustic guitars
If you don’t like Symphonic, there are Phaser, Flanger, Tremelo and other time-based effects, all of which are easily editable
Firing up an SPX90 some thirty years later it’s intriguing to find that it sounds as good as ever, with a warm, wide sound full of character. Early outboard gear and effects are much in demand at the moment and – on the evidence of the SPX90 – it’s easy to see why
This one is a later-model SPX90 II. The unit has very minor rack rash and some case scratches but is in very good condition for a vintage unit
Q “Where can I hear a Yamaha SPX 90 ???”
A “The SPX 90 sounds like the 80s…”
“The magic of the SPX is the “symphonic” program. It’s like a super duper widening, detuning chorus kind of effect”
“I bought a unit for pitch shift c algorithm………. (and yes i also own the h3000se). This preset alone is worth the little bit of $$$ imo”
“I have three. But I only use them for Pitch Shift C, -8/+ 8 cents. My favorite chorus. It’s my guitar chorus”
“Amazing little boxes. Almost 15 or 20 years old [more like 30 now…] & all that 12-bit glory has NEVER been duplicated exactly”
