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Casio CZ-101

Korg DW6000 was my first. Alesis QS6.1 was second. Now I have a Kronos 2 73!

My first synth was a home built PAIA string machine. But if you're limiting yourself to the manufacturers on the list, it was a Yamaha DX-7.

But earlier I had access to various synths. My dad composed electronic music back when you cut up and re-spliced tapes, so he really embraced synths. Generally he home built modular synths, but we had a Polymoog and some sort of small Korg around the house. We also got an Arp Odyssey that some band had tossed around the stage, which ended up with a stuck key. They gave it to my Dad, who took it apart and added patch points and a divider circuit. Sold that sucker to some local community college.

First was First Austria MC-6A for 100$, and then Farfisa toy keyboard and then Casio CtK-671.))

http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/Fujitone_6a.html



This cheap FM keyboard comes with different branding names, mine was First Austria.. I also have found some undocumented feature of this keyboard, allowing to go beyond presets and synthesize many different sounds - when dual mode is on, first and second sounds produce dual sound as expected, but if you select third it FM modulates the previous selected sound producing unexpected results.

My first gear was a Roland MC 303, but I guess this doesn't count as a real synth. Then my first synth was a Virus A.

Yamaha DX7.

Let's not count the PAIA String Ensemble I built, or the keyboards that my father owned, some of which he built. This is the first one I paid for and owned without adding solder burns to my clothing.

ARP Axxe! I really loved the sound and ease of programming that baby. I could do my whole gig changing sounds on the fly with no problems. It came (due to a promotion) with a free Anvil road case. Plus it was more affordable than the minimoog , which I lusted after to this day lol.

An MS-20 in 1988. I was 15 and got it through a trade with a friend. That and a copy of Burnt Weeny Sandwich for a small amount of pot. He had been given both recently and thought the synth was broken as he couldn't make it play a note. He also didn't like Frank Zappa and I did. Got the synth playing a tune a short time while still at my friend's house. He was a bit annoyed but said that since I made it work and I like "Pink Floyd and all that 70's stuff" I should have it really. I have both still, but dunno what happened to my mate. He was last seen in a drum circle....

I then got an M1 three years later and promptly sent it thought the MS-20's external processor, heheh. I hated the M1's drums and they could only be assigned to the main outputs, so I ended up creating an instrument patch that was a drumkit so I could assign it to outs 3/4. Then I could run them into the MS-20 and have something that sounded bit like the M1's drums but good! At that stage I also had a friends Akai sampler with these two sliders for start and end points that was dirty as. Spent a bit of time pretending I was Art Of Noise. Fun times making do with what I had.

Poly-800. I still have it.

arp 2600 was mine....
state of the art small when they first came out....
the next one i built from scratch parts. modular.

iowagold wrote:arp 2600 was mine....
state of the art small when they first came out....
the next one i built from scratch parts. modular.

Did you use it to communicate with an alien mothership?

Moog Prodigy
Great little 2 oscillator synth, with that moog sound.
Sorry, I ever parted with it.
Shouldn't have took notice of the drummer, complaining I was taking to long changing patches, between songs.
Resulted in trading it in for a yamaha DX21. At that time I was using a yamaha Cp30 stage piano and a yamaha SS30 string machine.

Swapped the CP30 for a Yamaha Pf15.

Sold the lot, for a Roland A90EX.
Sold the Roland, for a Yamaha motif XS8.
Sold the above, for a Korg Kronos 88.

Happy with the kronos, apart from the weight.

Just thought, my very first stage piano was the Crumar Roadrunner.
Nice to see Crumar making a comeback in 2018.

runningman67 wrote:The 'how old are you' poll seemed to bring some nostalgia out in some ofus. Especially the 'middle aged ones like me

I put 'OTHER' in but ran out of lines
Hope you don't mind this new poll.

You can put the actual synth model in a thread. Up to you.

Cheers.

Roland XP50 and I've still got it. Beaten about, bits falling off, but there's some cracking sounds on it!.....Not as good as my Kronos though!

I had a Roland Sh-1000 that sat atop my Roland Pianet T that kicked everything off. But the Summer I got out of High School, I bought 2 Prodigies, a Hammond M-3, Arp Omni2, a Pianet Clavinet Duo, And by the end of the Summer......a BIROTRON. Yes, one of less than 30 ever made. Subject of phone calls and emails from none other than Rick Wakeman. Turned out to be the one he liked the most, but was pretty much tossed out by Klaus Schulze and I wound up with it. Wound up with my name on Wikipedia even. (It's in Arizona now, in a keyboard museum)

casio, baby