Kees Enkelaar Theremin

hi, i am looking to buy a theremin and have seen a Kees Enkelaar theremin on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=280207317933&Category=38071

could anyone tell me whether this is a good theremin for someone new and eager to play?
i know they are not being being made at the moment so should i bid on this 1 before its too late?

If you're just starting out, I'd go with the Ether the Moog Etherwave standard, or, if you're not sure you want to plunk down 400 dollars just yet to try a theremin, the B3 is a challenging, but reliable theremin. It's a small one, and that's why it's challenging, but I have one, and take it with me on gigs as a backup. Sometimes I evin perform with the B3.

If you think you're seriouse about it, go with the Etherwave Standard.

I have heared good things about the Kees, that has a nice tonal charactor, but there is usually a long wait time to get a new one, and I have no idea how long it takes to service if you have to ship it back.

thanks for the info, i will bear it all in mind when deciding what to do

I own both a Kees Enkelaar theremin and a Moog Etherwave theremin, which I bought about a year after the Kees. I have kept my Kees as a stand-in and because it offers a timbre not available on the Etherwave.

The Kees offers two fixed timbres, the primary one being a very sine-wavey, soft, flutey tone that is very forgiving of off-pitch playing - a definite plus point for the novice player. The other timbre is a harsh bee-in-a-jam-jar tone that is not very pleasant by itself, but is very rich in harmonics, so probably good for further manipulation.

It has a larger pitch range than the etherwave (which is able to reach the top notes of a piano,) verging towards the hypersonic. The playable range - where the notes are more or less evenly spaced - is about the same as the etherwave, but a bit less stable over time.

The volume field is adjustable in as much as one can determine the height above the loop at which it becomes audible, but not the distance between silent and full volume, which is very short. It is hard to play slow crescendos. Staccato notes sound blippy, at least for me.

There is roughly the same distance between the pitch rod and the volume loop as the etherwave, which is right for comfortable playing.

The Kees takes quite a long time to warm up - the time taken for the instrument to become sufficiently stable to play - say fifteen minutes, whereas the etherwave is pretty much stable from the get-go. (Precision thereminists may take issue with this - presumably as they are more sensitive to pitch variations than I.) Additionally the Kees is more sensitive to environmental factors - extremes of temperature and humidity can knock it well out of whack.

(This was why I bought the etherwave - my first gig was in a partially enclosed space outside in a gale at night, and the band on before me unwittingly yanked out my power cable. Fortunately there was an etherwave to hand (who'd have thunk it) but the event did startle me somewhat. To be fair, they were extreme circumstances.)

Two minor advantages of the kees over the etherwave are that it can be powered by a standard 9 volt battery - no need for car starters and inverters as mentioned in the recent busking thread - and it has a volume knob to attenuate the output, meaning it can be used with a guitar amplifier without modification or additional equipment - when I got my etherwave I also got a suitable volume pedal so I didn't need to replace my guitar amp.

My advice is by all means bid for the kees - I know of half a dozen players who are very happy with the instrument, including such luminaries as Kip Rosser and Howard Mossman, and the similaritiy of the pitch field to the etherwave will make transferring your skills to an etherwave easy should you choose to buy one later. But don't get carried away and pay over the odds. I paid about half the price of an etherwave for a new kees, and I consider that to be a fair price.

Don't forget that you will also require an amp - at a pinch you can use the aux-in of your hifi (check the documents first - it needs to accept line levels - most do,) a microphone stand and a cable with quarter inch mono audio jacks.

thank you very much for all the info you have given me, it has helped me understand the dfferences between different theremins, i am a novice and so will watch the kees as well as considering other types.

The nice advice from Gordon! Great response!
Good Luck!
teslatheremin

I have a Kees Enkelaar that I would like to sell.  It is in excellent condition.  Would you or anyone else out there be interested?  I live in Seattle, WA but could ship it as needed.

Thanks,

Dana

 

 

Hello danab,

Last week from Seattle it was a Big Briar 91 and now it is a Kees Enkelaar which is no longer made. That is a very nice theremin and I have seen it go for as much as $1000 used. If you knew how tight the theremin community is you would have posted a picture. I am excited!!!

What is your asking price? 

T

Pictures would be good. Kees changed the design at least once - the more recent model has a knob on the back, near the power socket to facilitate the sort of pitch adjustment that requires opening up an etherwave. Given the instrument's sensitivity to environmental factors (mine is a later model but nonetheless it doesn't work in cold or humid conditions) this is a good thing.

A thousand dollars? That's news to me, but I don't track theremin prices to know otherwise. I do find it surprising though for a budget instrument - I paid £125 for mine when he was still selling them. It was about half the price of an etherwave.

Hi Gordon,

There is a lack of theremin interest currently so it is a buyers market. A plague of one or more individuals is trying to scam or ruin the theremin culture, why? It should be obvious from the two RCA's that were offered a month ago. Active members know what happened there; which now directs my responses in order to fish out the motive of a seller. A scam artist would respond improperly to the info I present, the theremin community should recognize what sounds like a stretch. I am more of an investor so it is important to know why a seller is reluctant to reveal any information, like does his device even work?

I have a novelty shop I have been adding theremins too, a working RCA was my first purchase, but it could use a tune up. The shop is in a very popular tourist district that reflects the Old West. Also I am competing against another collector on this board who lives near the bottom edge of tornado alley, (hope he is safe) he knows who I am talking about when he reads this. (-'

T