Vince Clarke names Sequential Pro-One his favorite vintage synth

Vince Clarke has never sounded interested in treating vintage gear like jewelry, and his pick for all-time favorite synth makes that plain. As he gets ready for a new release with Doublespeak, Clarke says the Sequential Pro-One wins for the thing collector mythology often ignores: how a machine feels when you actually write and play with it. For Clarke, analogue gear matters because sound starts with touch, not a mouse, and that is a useful corrective in a scene that can get lost chasing badge value.

The detail that cuts through the nostalgia is simple. Clarke bought his own Pro-One in 1984, still owns it, and recently plugged it in to find it was still in tune. That is not just a charming old-synth anecdote. It is the kind of reliability that keeps a monosynth in real circulation for decades, especially when a musician keeps returning to it instead of putting it on a shelf. Plenty of classic instruments are admired from a distance. The Pro-One is still earning its keep.

Clarke’s praise also lands because the Pro-One is not the sort of instrument collectors usually fetishize first. It is compact, direct, and easy to carry, which Clarke contrasts with larger classics such as the Roland JP-4. That portability matters. A synth that can travel, fit into a working setup, and get used without fuss has a different kind of value than a rarer, heavier machine that lives more comfortably in photos than in sessions. In that sense, the Pro-One’s appeal is almost anti-mythic: it is prized because it is practical.

He makes the point even sharper by saying he has a bit of a collector mindset, but would rather see instruments go to someone who will actually use them. That is the right instinct for the vintage-synth world, where too many famous boxes are treated as trophies instead of tools. Clarke also lightly swats away the idea that Eurorack is an irresistible addiction, while still praising the hands-on nature of analogue systems. Taken together, his comments put the emphasis back where it belongs: on instruments that still inspire songs, still survive the road, and still make sense when you plug them in after 42 years.