The Oberheim OB-X is a synthesizer played by Prince in the the early 1980s. It was the first in the OB series that included the OB-SX, OB-Xa and OB-8. The OB series would be come a key component of Prince’s sound (also known as the “Minneapolis Sound”) where the bright, brassy Oberheim would take the place of the traditional R&B horn section.
That was definitely the Farfisa new wave sound that was happening at the time. We were pretty much using Oberheim OB-Xs to do that.
The OB-X first appeared on the Dirty Mind album. The main riff from “When You Were Mine” was played on an OB-X. It was also Prince’s main synthesizer on Controversy and it is likely that it appears on 1999,and Purple Rain too. It was later phased out in favor of newer synthesizers, but was still in use in 1985, when it appeared on “A Couple of Miles”.
It was also played live by Dr Fink and Lisa Coleman.
