Novation Is Giving Away A Classic OSCar Synthesizer

Novation_OSCarNovation is launching a summer-long celebration of its 35+ year heritage with a giveaway of one of the most rare and beloved classic synthesizers, the OSCar.

The celebration also honors Novation’s longtime synthesizer designer, Chris Huggett, who, along with the OSCar programmable monosynth (1983), is also the designer responsible for the WASP monosynth (1978), the single-oscillator Gnat (1981), monophonic analogue Bass Station (1994), analogue-modelling polyphonic Supernova (1998) and others.


Novation_OSCar_giveawayNovation calls Huggett “a true synth legend. He is also our synth designer. Every Novation synth has been conceived, shaped and refined by his passion and expertise, which spans five decades.”

To celebrate Huggett’s legacy, Novation is giving away an OSCar, one of the most advanced programmable monosynths of its time. An instrument of choice for Orbital, BT, Jean-Michel Jarre, Asia, Ultravox, Stevie Wonder, Sneaker Pimps, Keith Emerson, and Underworld, only 2000 OSCars were ever produced.

Nick from Novation tells us that the giveaway OSCar “sounds absolutely amazing and is being given a full loving restoration in-house by hand to original spec. It’s valued at over £5000. We will be taking it with us to Sonar for people to play with before we give it away: we’re running a hands-on interactive synth exhibit of all the original synths (and some other slices of our history). Folks should come check it out.”

To enter the Novation OSCar giveaway, entrants have to have bought any Novation synth before 31st of August this year (serial number required), and answer a simple question (the answer to which is found in this article, and on the web page for the giveaway).

For more information on Novation’s heritage synthesizers, and for details of the OSCar giveaway, go to the Novation website.

23 thoughts on “Novation Is Giving Away A Classic OSCar Synthesizer

  1. The secret to winning contests is to enter with the winning entry to begin with, instead of submitting one of those losing entries, and then sitting around for months hoping you win. Why bother?

    The hard part will be waiting for my tracking number! Yes, you can come play it.

    What a great and strange synth. It looks like a cosmonaut control panel with those raised knob-protecors.

    You can totally hear the OSCar’s CMOS filter DNA in the Bass Station II. Wish you could offset the cutoff peaks across the 12db filter series on the BSII!

    1. Sadly for you my friend, I already entered the winning entry.

      Infact, it’s already here and i’m playing with it right now..

      Sounds amazing….. So much analog..

    2. “The secret to winning contests is to enter with the winning entry to begin with.”

      Truer words were never spoken. Likewise, an important secret to life success which I’ll share with my close circle here, is to be attractive, and to don’t be unattractive. Follow these guidelines on contests and life, and you will do well!

  2. I was once offered an OSCar as a part trade in for my old Nord Modular rack. I turned them down and asked for just cash. Now I wish I hadnt!

  3. i had no idea that pedigree was behind Novation. too bad most of their recent kit (exception being bassstation II) is so naff. Supernova III or bust!!!!!

    (id also take a v-station with all the filter types from the powercore version – basically a supernova)

    1. The Bass Station II is a great little synth. I think people would be freaking out about it, if there wasn’t such great competition at the low end from Arturia.

      I like the MiniNova, too. It was the best minisynth you could get for a couple of years, but the JD-Xi is bringing some serious competition.

      The UltraNova is their one keyboard that seems like it’s getting a little long in the tooth.

      The idea of a new SuperNova seems kind of ‘meh’ to me – there’s already a glut of decent virtual analogs. What I’d like to see them do is an analog SuperNova style synth.

      1. for sure, my supernova III comment was more intended of the “big beast with lots of knobs and sliders on it” vein… i’d take a real analog supernova any day of the week 😀

  4. The Novation banner on the side of the site should read “This is *not* your chance to win an Oscar, because only Novation owners can enter.”

    1. Go buy a dirt-cheap Bass Station II. Then register it and enter the contest. You won’t win the contest, but you will win at life because you will have a Bass Station II. You won’t regret it.

  5. these things are bad ass

    i remember when they were going for less than $1k on the used market back in the late 90s… saw one go as low as 650 once, was thinking “yeh i might pick one of those up someday” … haha yeh

  6. Oh, you have to buy a Novation product to be eligible to win the OSCar. Why don’t they say that in the title of the article (or at least in the first paragraph)?

  7. You guys brought up some critical points. This sort of private lottery that requires buying something is strictly illegal in the US. Yes, you can have lotto tickets and casinos, but those are special exceptions that are sponsored by the state. This contest is legal in the UK, where the contest is being held, so there is nothing untoward or dodgy here. However, notice that the terms say “Entrants may only submit a single entry for each registered Novation synthesiser and the Competition is void in all countries where prohibited or restricted by law.” This means that if you enter this contest and you are in the US, you will not be allowed to win, because contests with these terms are both prohibited and restricted in the US. Also note that the selected winner has to prove, according to the rules, their identity using legal documents such as their passport and utility bills, so you won’t be able to just say you live in some other country.

    1. In the US, contests have boilerplate legal stipulations – “No purchase necessary, must be 18 or older to win, void where prohibited,” etc. So even if it’s a “check under the bottlecap to see if you’ve won a free Coke,” there’s a PO box you can send a postcard to get a chance. (Which no one does, and probably no one has ever won anything from doing that.)

      But I’m not convinced Novation won’t honor a winning entry from the US. (Although national pride might encourage them to keep it in the UK). I’m fairly certain a company can give something away if they want to.

      I think that legal stuff is what lawyers insist companies post, in the microscopic chance of a nuisance lawsuit by some crazy grandpa who thinks he can get rich by exploiting the loopholes in a ice cream coupon.

      1. Since US-based Synthtopia is now running enormous banner ads promoting this contest, maybe someone from the site could weigh in here and clarify for us definitively whether or not US citizens are eligible to win.

        I’m not filling out the entry form and giving them any personal info if they’re just going to throw away my entry and restrict eligibility to the UK.

    2. US contest rules govern US contests – not contests held in other countries.

      By entering the contest, you agree to the contest being governed by UK law.

      1. Companies marketing and making offers to US residents need to do so in accordance with US law. They are free to not do business in the US, however that is absolutely not the case, their products are certainly available here via a large number of retailers.

        This contest requires what is called consideration, in that it is not open to everyone, only to those who own one of the companies products can enter. It also has a prize, which is anything of value awarded to a winner. In the US such contests that offer prizes and require consideration are classified as lotteries. It is a serious crime to hold one outside a small set of exceptions, such as by state governments. This lottery is illegal in the US. That is not a problem though as long as they do not make the offer to US residents. If they do, they are committing a crime.

        However, they do not because their rules say their contest is void in all countries where prohibited or restricted by law. This contest is absolutely and clearly prohibited in the US.

        If a US resident wins the prize and they give the prize to the resident, they are committing a crime in the US which subjects them to serious penalties. Fortunately they have already noted that the contest is void where prohibited. They will have to honor this stipulation. If they change their mind and award the prize to someone who is in a legal jurisdiction where this contest is prohibited, they are committing a criminal act in both the US and in the UK since they are not honoring their own contract terms regarding their contest, which is not allowed in the UK. These sorts of contests can be held in the UK but such contests are required to follow the rules the company lays out. Under UK law these lotteries are also illegal, but there are exceptions for games of skill, which is why they ask the question about finding the instrument. That requires modest skill. UK law also permits private lotteries that are restricted only to members of a workplace, and lotteries restricted only to customers of a business. This contest has obviously been constructed to try to aim for that exception. However they have provided for it incorrectly as the UK Gambling Act only allows it in cases where the customers are on the business’ physical premises and the contest is not advertised. The law’s exception was intended for in store drawings and the like. This contest clearly does not meet that criteria and is of borderline legality in the UK. In the US there is no such exception at all.

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