What are the most iconic "looking" (not sounding) keyboards?

[lsj]

11 hours ago, Artomas said:

It was iconic enough that people gutted them so they could tour with other keyboards inside the shell:

^Cordovox/Moog White Elephant

 

Here's a relatively recent but still iconic piano, just due to sheer ridiculousness:

^Klavins 470i

 

Even though it's already been mentioned... for me, nothing says "keyboard synth" like a Minimoog. There are today keyboards that everyone instantly recognizes, like "Nord red" or Keystep, but whatever. Luckily, there isn't a single keytar that stands out as iconic. 

can't believe I am seeing the CDX.  I had one with pedals that I played for years.

[Motif88]

[AnotherScott]

13 hours ago, drawback said:

At the time, everything else was sharp edged and angled. Korg design changed the game. Their industrial design teams lead the industry, as far as I’m concerned.

 

So they are to blame for the keyboards that have rounded edges that make them unnecessarily more difficult to pick up from any angle...

[CyberGene]

Not sure if the Minimoog first introduced the hinged control panel above the keyboard but to me it’s the most beautiful/iconic looking synth.

 

And an honorable mention. I really love the military design of the Soviet Polivoks:

 

[Dave Number Four]

I like this one (visually at least) as a more recent classic 

[Motif88]

[Finale]

Oh and if you have an extra empty basement to fill...

 

 

 

Very cute in night mode as well.

 

[RABid]

I always thought the Synclavier II with those round buttons was always iconic. Believe it or not I almost bought one, It cost as much as a nice car or a small house, but I was young and stupid and making good money working at a coal company. Ended up with a Chroma, MemoryMoog, and a few other items to complete my keyboard setup instead.

[RABid]

1 hour ago, Motif88 said:

I remember watching The Tubes on TV playing one of these. I think that was my first GAS attack.

[The Piano Man]

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

 

So they are to blame for the keyboards that have rounded edges that make them unnecessarily more difficult to pick up from any angle...

I’ve heard the SV1 described as like trying to pick up a greased piglet. I’ve not attempted to pick up either!

 

On the other hand, Korg did put a handle on the X50.

[Moonglow]

During the 1970's it was nearly impossible to see a band that didn't have one of these.

 

[hurricane hugo]

[cassdad]

Gee…. as far as iconic, I can’t believe no one’s thrown in the Wurly!

[Konnector]

Some good ones posted so far.

Hard to pick just one.  

For the old, "industrial steam engine" look, I'll throw in the Roland SH-5. 

 

 

[felis]

https://www.matrixsynth.com/2022/08/vintage-oberheim-xpander-synthesizer.html

 

 

 

 

https://www.vintagesynth.com/oberheim/matrix-12

 

 

[Finale]

Most surprising synth I ever saw in a music store in the 1980s was one like below. "Painting on the wall" variation with big knobs, possibly used to teach synthesis. Wish I had money to buy it back then as they are extremely rare, I would have sold it for a little fortune.

 

[Shamanzarek]

 My favorite for left-hand bass. Came in a variety of colors especially in the early 60s. Gold or silver tops have the iconic look.

 

The successor to the CS-80. Lacks poly aftertouch/wood keys, velocity, and ribbon but has split, memory, and mono aftertouch. Synth architecture is nearly identical to CS-80 at somewhat smaller size and weight.

[mate stubb]

[mate stubb]

[Floyd Tatum]

16 hours ago, Artomas said:

Here's a relatively recent but still iconic piano, just due to sheer ridiculousness:

^ Klavins 470i

 

It's kinda like a weak, skinny upright piano that had sand kicked in its face by some grand piano bullies.

So it went off on its own, and did bodybuilding, and took muscle-building supplements, and an insane amount of steroids, and worked and worked and worked.

Then it comes back to the beach as this hulking, muscle-bound monster, where the grand pianos are hanging around, with pretty bikini-clad girls all around them.    And it kicks sand in the faces of all those Steinways and Yamaha CFX's, and steals their girls.   And shows them who's boss.

 

[Dockeys]

Im not really into synths but I always thought the Arturia MatrixBrute was a lovely looking machine. 

[Motif88]

Still a few more good ones…

 

 

One more…

[Polychrest]

The original Korg CX3 Hammond clone.  Purists may have turned up their noses, but organ players who humped their own gear (and their chiropractors) loved the look of the thing.

[Tusker]

In the Dallas Symphony Hall, the organ is perched above the orchestra and interacts beautifully with it.

 

 

 

 

[Irena]

4 hours ago, K K said:

Most surprising synth I ever saw in a music store in the 1980s was one like below. "Painting on the wall" variation with big knobs, possibly used to teach synthesis. Wish I had money to buy it back then as they are extremely rare, I would have sold it for a little fortune.

 

Ha, my brain went straight to the "Giant MS-20" as well when I saw the topic title. You are exactly right about it being developed as a teaching tool. Alex Ball did a great feature on it recently that's a fun watch, and offers the tantalizing revelation that Korg occasionally produced upon request the even bigger and rarer Giant Giant MS-20!  

 

 

[Finale]

2 hours ago, Irena said:

 

Ha, my brain went straight to the "Giant MS-20" as well when I saw the topic title. You are exactly right about it being developed as a teaching tool. Alex Ball did a great feature on it recently that's a fun watch, and offers the tantalizing revelation that Korg occasionally produced upon request the even bigger and rarer Giant Giant MS-20!  

 

 

 

Wow, thanks so much to share this video. If it's true that Korg only made 30 of the big blackboard ones and less than 5 of the gigantic ones, I guess I was very lucky to see one of the "smaller" at a local store here. This store doesn't exist anymore since decades, but it had the largest collection of keyboards to sell in the city. That same store also had the CS-70M mentioned earlier aside a CS-80. When nobody looked so I don't get lectured to dare touch the most expensive keyboards (I was like 18 at the time with no money), I very gently lifted up the little door on the CS-80's left side to discover the two "memory banks", actually two sets of all the controls of the synth in tiny size. That to me was like "whoa, that is so cool !". They also had lots more and also guitars, basses, drums, percussion, brass, etc. Great memories. I remember their big blackboard MS-20 had yellow letters as on the pic and video.

[Floyd Tatum]

4 hours ago, Polychrest said:

The original Korg CX3 Hammond clone.  Purists may have turned up their noses, but organ players who humped their own gear (and their chiropractors) loved the look of the thing.

I think the original Korg CX3 was the first "clonewheel", wasn't it?   Sure, there were electric  organs before the CX3, but I believe this was the first one to try and sound "almost exactly like" a Hammond tonewheel.....    wasn't it?

And back to this thread, it had a great look.

 

[Floyd Tatum]

11 hours ago, Moonglow said:

It's a beautiful thing.    She had great legs.

I don't know about you guys, but one of things I did along the way (after a couple of years), was take the legs to a metalwork shop, and had them weld the screw things into the top of all four legs.    They never broke after that.

🙂

I took good care of my Mark I (i.e., not the suitcase model for you kids 🙂).   When I sold it (2004? can't remember), it still had all the pieces, including that black plastic roll-up thing that held the legs and the pedal pole (can't remember the proper name for that).

Oh, wait, I'm lying - I think the front legs had rubber tips at the floor end.   They regularly got lost, or cracked.  Music stores used to sell them at the front counter for many years.   Mine was missing those.

 

(IDLE SPECULATION, NOT PARTICULARLY GERMANE - NOT REQUESTING AN ANSWER)

    I wonder how many stage Rhodes-es still have the original front leg rubber tips.

[Finale]

8 minutes ago, Floyd Tatum said:

I think the original Korg CX3 was the first "clonewheel", wasn't it?   Sure, there were electric  organs before the CX3, but I believe this was the first one to try and sound "almost exactly like" a Hammond tonewheel.....    wasn't it?

And back to this thread, it had a great look.

 

 

Yes, I had an used one for some years in the early 1990s and I remember it sounded just fine but I especially loved how incredibly light it was. Sold the 450 lbs C3 a few years later. 

[D. Gauss]