Casio CZ-101 vintage synth
February 25, 2006 by Andy
Retrothing has an interesting article about the Casio CZ-101 which was Casio’s debut into the world of ‘professional’ synthesis.
It featured 4 octaves of mini keys (argh), 8 note polyphony, 8 oscillators, 4 parts, MIDI, and even clips for a guitar strap for those super-cool(?) synth solos at front of stage!
It just shows that you can’t dismiss old synths - they still have their fans and their uses, and in fact now sell on eBay for almost double their original US$109 price tag.
I bought a Casio CZ-101 in 1985 out of a J&R music catalog for $289. I’m not sure where you found your $109 figure for the original price, but I don’t think they were ever that cheap brand new. I sold mine for $50 15 years later and regret it every day. I only find solace playing my Yamaha P250 gorgeous hunk of stage piano. God bless Japanese electronics companies!
Hi Brian,
The figure came from the original article. I wasn’t into synths then so I just took their word for it.
What was the name (model) of the Yamaha digital piano used in the mid 80’s (Peter Gabriel) mid sized, 2 ft of sound board space behind keys. Sorry so cryptic. Help in identifying would be appreciated. Thanks.