In 1978 Sequential Circuits consisted of Dave Smith, former Moog clinician John Bowen, and businesswoman Barb Fairhurst. They were "a self-funded outfit that started out in the confines of Smith's San Jose, California, garage selling a digital sequencer [Model 800] and a generic synth programmer [model 700 Programmer]." It was that year at the winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show that they introduced their Prophet-5, which was "exactly the kind of instrument, with exactly the kind of sound and features, that musicians needed." "The Prophet-5 rocketed Smith's garage operation to stunning heights.

"Over the next five or six years, Sequential [eventually they shortened their name to just Sequential] would become the largest American manufacturer of Synths." But in 1987, after a long line of bad luck, "Sequential was sold to Yamaha for just over half a million dollars."

[excerpted with permission from the book Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail, copyright Miller Freeman, Inc]