BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

Thought I'd upload this one for fun...yes, I know about the You Tube demos.. I actually know David Mohr--he's a great player, but this is a setting that wasn't used(the combinations are sometimes mind-numbing), and is still just a taste of what this beast can do.

Did this one about a year or two ago...just plugged straight into the Hi Fli(no mods) and into my amp(Matchless SC-30), flat EQ--added analog delay through the FX loop. The filter sounds are FAT!! Enjoy!

Hey, for whoever has checked this out, just to clarify, this isn't a keyboard synthesizer, it's a guitar synthesizer(really technically a brilliantly voiced multi-processor), that needs no special pick up..just plug-in any guitar and have at it.

Gilmour, Hackett, are the most note-able users...here's a description I wrote for an Ebay auction of one I sold (that was shamelessly nicked by Matrixsynth ), but it gives you an idea of how deep this box is.

http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2008/11 ... i-fli.html

Very nice demo man! The ridiculously rare and elusive EMS Synthi Hi Fli. What a powerhouse! Am I to understand you have had more than one? If that is true, it is amazing. That is coming from a person who has owned 2 Ludwig Phase II synthesizers(at once), 2 Maestro Rovers, a Mutron Bi-Phase(with both pedals and overlays) and many more so I know how difficult those are to find. They take years to locate and if you find one you also need big $$ ready to immediately roll. Either way, thanks for the demo.

Great clip ! I enjoyed listening to it.
I make the new re-release Synthi Hi-FLi (http://www.synthi.co.uk) and certainly in the year I took to design the new circuit boards and understand how each circuit worked and tweak them to give the exact sounds of the original, I learned a lot about how deep this unit is. I agree that none of the well known users have really dug deep enough to uncover whats 'down' there.. I have spend hours just playing with it and keep discovering new sounds. In this sense its very much like the Synthi A or VCS3 synthesizer (from the same genius designer of course..).. its hypnotic to use.. you just never ever get bored with it and its the ultimate creative/experimentalist tool for those who persevere..just follow the white rabbit..

digitana_electronics wrote:Great clip ! I enjoyed listening to it.
I make the new re-release Synthi Hi-FLi (http://www.synthi.co.uk) and certainly in the year I took to design the new circuit boards and understand how each circuit worked and tweak them to give the exact sounds of the original, I learned a lot about how deep this unit is. I agree that none of the well known users have really dug deep enough to uncover whats 'down' there.. I have spend hours just playing with it and keep discovering new sounds. In this sense its very much like the Synthi A or VCS3 synthesizer (from the same genius designer of course..).. its hypnotic to use.. you just never ever get bored with it and its the ultimate creative/experimentalist tool for those who persevere..just follow the white rabbit..

Hi Mate,
I'm very glad you enjoyed that clip. That was all off the cuff spontaneous improv, and funny after posting nearly a year ago, that a couple of people at least can appreciate it...I know Bjorn did when I sent him the link way back when...

(and thank you Colortones as well...yes, I've bought/sold/owned nearly everything uber rare vintage pedal-wise under the sun...Ludwig Phase II's...I still have the first one I bought after going through 4 others, and had three at one time...Hi FLi's---have had four at once as well...yeah, Chrome Dipthonizers, Vocalizers, Wah Supremos, USS-1 synths, Attack Decays, Bi-phases, Mutron Flangers,perf board Tri-knob Big Muffs, Stramp Synchangers, Frogg Compusounds, Foxx Guitar Synths, vintage Tone Benders of all sorts, you name it, etc, etc)...a lot of luck, timing, and tenacity.

I will say unequivocally that at the end of the day, the Hi Fli still "wins", and few know and appreciate it's depth, conception, interactivity, and sheer brilliance(except of course someone like you who is re-issuing them).

Yes, David Cockerell is a genius, and to have Carte blanche at that time to be able to develop something like this, AND to go overboard with it, was the perfect early 70's sonic storm....you are very right, HYPNOTIC, is the key word. I had written in an Ebay ad from one I sold a while back, that because of it's incredible interactive nature, design, execution, and utter musicality, that the only limitation is the user.

From the first one I got years ago, when it arrived(and it wasn't even working 100% at the time), I was lost in the rabbit hole for 4 hours, and have logged in much time since.

I'm glad you are making them again(Robin Wood is a great guy, always friendly and helpful), and your price-point is very reasonable, especially for what you are getting...I certainly know a 4 pedal Cornish order can equal or exceed that quite easily, and with the Hi Fli you are getting something that is like comparing a one car garage, to the the last scene storage area of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" depth-wise...there's like most of the 70's Electro Harmonix line(no surprise David Cockerell as you know designed most of their stuff, and it was because of the Hi Fli that Mike Mathews gladly hired him when he came to the States) and some of the later Colorsound pedals as well, "stuffed" in there...and better versions of those pedals to boot.

I don't post anymore(thankfully),as I'm too busy writing and playing, but I made this exception because of my large enthusiasm for the Hi Fli and because of the positive replies. I will be using it to great effect when I finish recording my latest material, without question.

Here are some pix of the beasts: