After almost 10 years of development, the Shear Electronics Relic is finally ready. This Oberheim OB-X remake looks great but will anyone be able to afford it?
Shear Electronics RelicShear Electronics RelicShear Electronics Relic-6 – Oberheim OB-X reimaginedRelic-6More Information
Shear Electronics Relic
Way back in 2017, we told you about the Shear Electronics Relic, a desktop recreation of the Oberheim OB-X. It sounded great and looked, well, cool but different. The other interesting part was that the developer, Jacob Brashears, was only 18 when he first showed it at NAMM. Now, almost 10 years later, it’s finally ready to go, he’s announced at Superbooth.
Shear Electronics Relic · Source: Rob PuricelliShear Electronics Relic · Source: Rob PuricelliShear Electronics Relic · Source: Rob PuricelliShear Electronics Relic · Source: Rob Puricelli
The Relic has what you’d expect from an OB-X clone, including six voices, two VCOs and a 12dB, 2-pole LPF. What you won’t be expecting, though, is the case, which looks more like an Xpander than an OB-X.
Although he originally hoped to make it available for $3500, it’s now up to $14,000. That’s a hefty sum, but it could be worth it to the right buyer. Visit the Shear Electronics website to preorder.
Shear Electronics homepage
Shear Electronics Relic-6 – Oberheim OB-X reimagined
[23 January 2026 written by Robin Vincent] Shear Electronics were at NAMM with an hours-old prototype of their potential new product, the Relic-6.
Relic-6
Designed by 18-year-old Jacob Brashears his OB-X remake has taken 3 years to get to this point. It’s based completely upon a schematic of the OB-X but with a very modern digital control front-end. It has 6 voices, with 2 VCO’s and 12dB, 2-pole LPF. He’s only had time to build a couple of presets but in the video it sounds rather fabulous (if you like Van Halen) and, of course, very Oberheimy.
The physicality is quite interesting. The raked, wooden cheeked, desktop format with a lot of touch-sensitive knobs and a large LED display. One feature is that running across the middle of the synth, from left to right, is a glowing indication of parameter value. Whatever knob you touch the value is displayed in colour. It’s slightly bonkers but I get the feeling that Jacob is all about embracing the crazy.
Jacob says that they are heading for a price of around $3500 and hope to have some actual product by the summer. The website is currently a bit weird and they really need to slap a picture of the Relic-6 on there somewhere. Otherwise, it gives you lots of detail of what they’ve done to re-create the OB-X. He has a remarkable passion for this old synth and I expect to see this project on Kickstarter before too long.
More information on the Shear Electronics website.
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