Buying Theremins for noobs

Hey, I'm new to the Theremin world and I was looking to buy one, I found these two very different Theremins on e-bay and I was wondering if the 99.95 dollar one was even worth the time and money


http://cgi.ebay.com/Great-sounding-THEREMIN-at-a-Great-Price-WITH-SPEAKER_W0QQitemZ320049531846QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1287QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Moog-Cherry-Etherwave-Theremin-theramin-sale_W0QQitemZ290051698790QQihZ019QQcategoryZ1287QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Any help/suggestions would be great

Hi Andy,

You might like to glance at this thread (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=2108&F=1) from someone asking about a Capt. Theremin (AKA Dan Burns) theremin.

Hope that helps.

Gordon

it depends on what you want to do with the theremin.

the first one does not have a volume antenna from what i can see.

the second one can be redily bought in black rather than the cherry color with free shipping for 379.00 just about everywhere.

From what I've seen the cheeper ones never have a volume antenna, how important are they, can I get by with a cheap one with no volume antenna?

again, it depende on what you want to do with it.

this is my opinion.
if you want special effects you dont need a volume antenna.
if you want to make music, you will need a volume antenna

Thanks for all your help! I have a 2nd question, do Theremins have a built in speaker or will I need an amp?

You should look at the individual model you select to purchase. Most Theremins don't have an amp and speaker built in, but a few do. The Moog models do not, the Kees does not, and the Theremax does not, so you would need an amp for any of them.

Do not buy a guitar amp. Let me repeat that, because it's important: [b]Do not buy a guitar amp.[/b] The average Theremin's output is much too strong (loud) for a guitar amp and will ruin the amp, and it won't sound good either, and you'll get lousy volume control. Buy a keyboard amp, or the Moog Theremin amp. (I hear the Moog amp isn't really all that great, but I think we can feel fairly comfortable that it'll do the job, and it's fairly cheap as amps go.)