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I bought one of these a few weeks ago for 200 quid off a desperate friend of a friend. A good price nowadays (I see they usually make 300) especially as it had been serviced by me last year and the keyboard sticker replaced. I really wanted a wasp after falling in love with that synth last month. The prices are mad. One went for 820 quid on ebay. Owners ask and get what they want for one. How long till the first 1000 quid wasp, if it hasn't already happend. So, the gnat is what I went for.
Now, first it is important to say that it is half a wasp, so don't believe the web blah about it being equally as fat(or phat). It isn't. It is a nice meaty little bass/lead synth with which you can make some good sounds. It is smaller and retains the fun colour scheme. I think these 'non-special' versions are the best of the bunch. The delux versions with shoddy wooden cases and mains leads miss the point. The charm of the gnat/ wasp was that it was portable and ran on batteries. If you want a bid wooden synth, get a pro 1.
The pwm depth is really god and boosts the 1 oscillator right up. It is easy to midi through the 7 pin plug, so you can bypass the touch sensitive key pad, which I personally like. Mine had a few cracks to the case. To stop these creeping, I opened it up and ran some flexible epoxy resin inside. It has stabalised the cracks. You can barely see them from the outside. Be careful, though. Also, be careful not to over tighten the self tapping scews. It cracks the casing or strips the thread.
This synth is great fun and a nice one to have in your collection. No eprom melt down and soldered batteries so they should remain reliable if treated with respect. I've never seen one that has been. That's the problem.
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