December 6, 2022
Who Knows More About This Detail On The Korg M1?
Hello,
I posted this question on a Dutch synth-forum the other day. The post was visited around a hundred times, but no one commented. That’s helpful (lol)!
So recently, I bought a Korg M1. A couple of days ago, when I saw it in the living room, I noticed the following: in my memory – when I didn’t own one myself – the letters on the rear of the M1 were much larger and more exuberant. I always thought; ‘wow, those letters stand out!’.
On Google I found that there are indeed two different designs for the M1 regarding the letters on the back. Not the font itself, but the size and color (see added photo). The rear of the M1 either has: more grayish and smaller letters (mine), or whiter, larger letters that are closer to the lower end of the panel.
A friend of mine who also owns a Korg M1 (white, larger letters version) thought this may have been an advertising related choice by Korg at the time. The M1 was made between 1988 and 1995 and it seems that – based on what I have found now – the differences in design depend on the serial number. On the internet I noticed that indeed, copies with the serial number 002100 and below have the modest, smaller letters. So far I could see that for example serial number 005560 no longer has this. It could be that all M1’s under either the 005000, 004000, or 003000 have this (former) design.
I wonder if anyone knows more about this. If you own the M1 yourself and you had not noticed this before, it would be both fun and interesting to let me know what design you have.
Thank you for reading and hope all is well.
Devin