Welcome!

If you’re visiting for the first time and wondering who/what Smartbomb Design is, check out the About page. All will be revealed. OK, maybe not all, but at least it will be somewhat less mysterious.

What’s Happening?

I have said that I would not be making regular updates, but it has turned out to be even less regular than expected. It turns out that being “retired” does not necessarily mean you will suddenly have lots of free time. On the contrary, I have been quite busy, mainly with home improvement projects.

This is not without its benefits. I designed and built this cool workbench, of which I am inordinately proud.

The downside is that I now have one less excuse to not work on the Pro Soloist, the Taurus pedals, the TTSH, etc.

Reactions and Requests

Thank you to those of you who took the time to send kind words about the Prophet-6 and OB-6 pieces. I genuinely appreciate it.

There have also been some specific requests for more. Walter asked if I could write about the Prophet-5/10 rev 4 and OB-X8, but I’m not sure I have anything terribly interesting to relate about the development of either of those instruments. I like them, but they’re essentially reissues so, as a product designer, there wasn’t much of a challenge there for me. He also asked about the Pioneer AS-1. I do think there are some potentially interesting things to say about that instrument, including a design that few people outside the company—if any—have ever seen. (Ooooh. Ahhhh.)

Lewis asked about Take 5. The idea for, and overall design of, that instrument came mainly from me and I have a great deal of affection for it. I would even go so far as to say that, in my opinion, the user interface design philosophy we had been pushing toward reached its peak (for now) in Take 5. So yes, I will be happy to write about that at some point.

My Big Noggin Talks About Me

I was honored to be interviewed for the NAMM Oral History Program. Thanks to interviewer Mark Vail, videographer/photographer Mike Martin, and NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino.

My Thoughts on the Prophet-6 and OB-6 Ten Years Later

The Dave Smith Instruments Prophet-6 and OB-6 each turned 10 in 2025 and 2026, respectively. I have thought a lot about the time spent developing them and wanted to document some of it. These synths delivered a one-two punch that elevated our little company to a new level of success and growth that continued with the Prophet Rev2 in 2017.

Here is Is It Vintage Yet? Celebrating 10 Years of a Modern Workhorse: The Sequential Prophet-6. I’ve also written a shorter-but-not-short companion piece, A Recollection of the OB-6 10 Years On.

In general, I made the assumption that if you’re here you’re probably at least somewhat synthesizer literate. If not, it could be a tough slog. I imagine that even some of you who are interested may still find it TL;DR.

Andrew McGowan
June 25, 2026