Theo Verelst Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Except my self built one, and stuff at school, the Casiotone 701 was the first commercial keyboard, which I played for many hours in the early 80s. I played good pianos and decent organs, too, but this one I used at home at the time, and I learned from it: [video:youtube] Those rhythms are fun, and it's possible to touch a metal bar on the left front of the keyboard, so the drumcomputer/accompaniment machine plays a drum fill. The sine waves are well made, music can be played on this for the time extensive keyboard, probably the later well known Casios had it and the Yamaha FM synths as example. There are LEDs above the keys, and there's a "light-pen" which could read bar-codes from a special music book, which would load example songs in volatile memory. Imagine that! I worked on modding it, so the rhythm computer would sound saperate from the organ, and could be volume controlled, and there was now a quality stereo output, for external amplification. I built an analog Bucket-Brigade-Delay based "Leslie" for it, which actually worked. Then a little later I made an actually working compander circuit around that, to reduce noise. Next of course, I went into synthesizers. There were some pretty nifty Yamaha keyboards available at the time, but this one was good fun. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorgatron Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 [video:youtube] besides the family M-3/DR-20 in the living room (which I never got all that far with, to be honest) my first keyboard was an RMI 368X. I'm willing to bet that far more people will come in here and complain about RMIs than Casios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 There's nothing fun about an RMI. This early keyboard, OTOH... http://www.novachord.co.uk/images/novachord_frontS.jpg Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie_Chicago Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 I had one of these as my first keyboard, spent hours on this thing, until I got my first synth, an sh 101, knowing how much both of these are worth now, I should have kept them. http://www.combo-organ.com/Farfisa/VIP/VIP600a.jpg "Ive been playing Hammond since long before anybody paid me to play one, I didn't do it to be cool, I didnt do it to make a statement......I just liked it " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 [video:youtube] besides the family M-3/DR-20 in the living room (which I never got all that far with, to be honest) my first keyboard was an RMI 368X. I'm willing to bet that far more people will come in here and complain about RMIs than Casios. http://t.qkme.me/3umbn6.jpg "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 My first electronic keyboard was one of these. It is still at parents house. http://soundandcircuit.webs.com/farfisa_combo_compact_lg.jpg "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 [video:youtube] A Casiotone model similar to this one was donated to our church's yard sale this past summer. It sold before the event started. I was quite surprised. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Some really cool Yamaha Electones can be had for little money. Some of them like the D-85 has it's roots in the GX-1. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Had these in my early pres-Hammond days: http://www.combo-organ.com/Doric/61TT2a.jpg http://farfisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/farfisa-compact-combo-header.jpg http://www.combo-organ.com/Gibson/G101a.jpg http://www.combo-organ.com/Farfisa/Professional/Professional%2033d.jpg Always wanted one of these: http://www.combo-organ.com/Yamaha/YC-45D.jpg Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Have to post my favorite... A Mellotron M300 in my studio.. http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/hammonddave/image_zpsc2ab2afa.jpg '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agitato Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 I had/played gigs with a yamaha yc30 organ along with a leslie 860 back in the day, that was fun, sounded great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 My first electronic keyboard was one of these. http://www.combo-organ.com/Teisco/Checkmate.jpg It made me appreciate my Gulbransen upright. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Sorry, one of these bad boys instead!! http://chpn.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/organ.jpg "I cried when I wrote this song Sue me if I play too long" Walter Becker Donald Fagan 1977 Deacon Blues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t9cstudio Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 http://www.combo-organ.com/Farfisa/Compact/Minis3.jpg This one. Paid $75 for it and Baldwin Supersonic with my paper route in 1967. Still, it was a pile of money for me back then! Kurzweil PC4, NS3-88, Kronos 2-61, QSC K8.2's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDP Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Moe, The Doric looks exactly like mine (we must have had the only 2 in America)...My first keyboard with a Fender Pro Reverb. Played it literally to death! It actually was OK thru a 147 though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I played my Doric thru a Jordan amp with a D130 in it. All the G notes would go out at once and I would have to smack the top to get them back. The Farfisa was a big step up. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 http://www.combo-organ.com/Farfisa/Compact/Minis3.jpg This one. Paid $75 for it and Baldwin Supersonic with my paper route in 1967. Still, it was a pile of money for me back then! The first organ I ever owned... At 13 years old... '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tweed Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 My first electronic keyboard was one of these. It is still at parents house. http://soundandcircuit.webs.com/farfisa_combo_compact_lg.jpg My first keyboard in 1967 was one of these, except with the one with the grey 2nd octave. There were fiddly little links under the keys, of which at least one would detach itself each gig, so I was forever popping the hood to fix it. The best night it ever had was when we supported a true Australian legend, Brian Cadd, whose own gear (probably an L100) didn't make it and so he used mine. I traded it in on an L122 after about a year, and have never owned a red keyboard since. John Legend Soul 261, Leslie 251, Yamaha UX1, CP4, CK61, Hammond SK1, Ventilator, Privia PX3, Behringer 2600, Korg Triton LE, various guitars and woodwinds, drum kits … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resigned Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 http://www.combo-organ.com/Farfisa/Compact/Minis3.jpg This one. Paid $75 for it and Baldwin Supersonic with my paper route in 1967. Still, it was a pile of money for me back then! The first organ I ever owned... At 13 years old... Me too! At the age of 14 I was in the most popular teen band in town and I made real $$$ with this organ. Paid $150 for it and the matching Farfisa combo amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Of course what I'd have wanted was expensive: a Prophet-5... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 The RMI was built like a tank. Very solid. As everyone knows, RMI (Rocky Mount Instruments in Rocky Mount, North Carolina), was a subsidiary of the Allen Organ Company. Their church organs were the best in the business, according to many. My church was considering one, but some money changed hands and we had a custom pipe organ built instead. The problem with the RMI wasn't so much the quality of its sounds. But rather the fact that it didn't have velocity sensitivity. It was one of the first of its kind and velocity sensitivity just wasn't available at the time. For organs, this wasn't a problem. But to try to emulate an acoustic piano with a keyboard that played every note a maximum volume meant that every grace note, or wrong note, I hit sounded every bit as loud as the right notes that I sometimes hit. It didn't take me long to get a Wurlitzer EP. When I got to college I sold my RMI for a used Fender Rhodes. Then I traded that one and got a new one... still a Fender Rhodes. That was around 1974 / 1975 before it was simply "Rhodes". Kurzweil has some RMI samples in my PC2X. Although I don't use those voices much, they play a LOT better with the Kurzweil velocity-sensitive keyboard than the original. So consider the RMI Electra-Piano for what it was - a well-built keyboard that was one of the first of its kind on the market trying to emulate an acoustic piano before velocity-sensitive keys were available. Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I stomped my feet and begged mommy and daddy for one of these in the toy store http://www.disquiet.com/images/2007.10-toy.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resigned Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 The keyboard I was in lust for in my early teens was the Kustom Combo Organ. It looked cool and had a loud built-in amp... however I finally played one and found that it had terrible sound and action so my lust for it went away. But when I think back of cool/fun early keyboards, this comes to mind. Check the price in the ad: $1595! That was a fortune in 1970. http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix1205/1136_Kustom_organ_1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Ya know? That Tuck and Roll look just never goes out of style... Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjosko Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Elka Rhapsody 610 was my first keyboard. Wikipedia It was a very common keyboard in my part of Europe in mid-70' A elpiano without sustain, great for rockabilly and the string was not that bad. I bought a Crumar Performer when the Elka gave up its life, but was very disappointed with the string-sound. Drop it in the dumpster 10 years ago - still working... ouch, this days people are paying lots of money for them /Bjørn - old gearjunkie, still with lot of GAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I thought the Oddesey was a lot of fun. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Heslop Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 My first keyboard was a clavinet that only worked for about a week. I took it to a shop that gave me an Ace Tone Top 5 as a loner while they repaired the clav. after a year and a half they called to get the Ace tone back. We asked for the clav back and they said oh we had to send it away, it will be back next week. They then closed the doors and moved out of town. The Acetone was fun though. My next two was Rolands first electronic piano, the EP10, which I put a strap on and played ala Edger Winter....albeit I was about 12 years old. Then I got a Rheem combo organ. Pretty cool machine actually. I ran it through a fuzz-wah as well. My first synth was a Roland sh1000 which I loved. There is one up on ebay right now, but a new vintage synth is not in my budget at the moment. Stage: Korg Krome 88. Home: Korg Kross 61, Yamaha reface CS, Korg SP250, Korg mono/poly Kawai ep 608, Korg m1, Yamaha KX-5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDP Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Wow, a Rheem combo organ...rare beast for sure.....Rheem also made water heaters back in the day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I remember back when I was about 10, a friend of mine had one of these. We thought it was cool. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-t37QJkgP08/SjERNX3iqaI/AAAAAAAAAIA/meokxRIhaCA/s400/2635069744_b972954a44.jpg When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I remember back when I was about 10, a friend of mine had one of these. We thought it was cool. Ummmm... that's because you were 10! "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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