Vintage CASIO CZ - 1 Phase Distortion Digital Synth - - Retro Tones
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:26275017 | Brand: Casio |
| Type: Keyboard Synthesizer | Number of Keys: 61 |
| Analog/Digital: Digital | Model: cz-1 |
Beautiful CASIO CZ-1, the most advanced synth in CASIO's entire CZ line -- a really serious, flexible piece of professional-grade musical equipment back in the late 1980s. It has a sound that's very distinctive to that particular era -- think Michael Jackson, Flock of Seagulls, Cutting Crew etc -- but it's wonderfully flexible and also a sporty, throwback MIDI controller with a great vintage feel.
I played this in quite a few bands and recording sessions a decade or two ago and ...was surprised to find it still living in my parents' garage this week. I'm hoping it finds a new home where someone can have some fun noodling around on it or do some great production or performance work with it. Honestly, it could also be a beautiful piece of interior decor if you mounted it to the wall.
I tested every instrument in the soundbank and they all sound perfect. All the controls seem shipshape, including the potentiometers and bend and modulation wheels, both of which still have extraordinary action. All pixels work on the LED display, and I can confirm that the MIDI connection has served me well over the years, though I don't have the equipment to test it here.
It is a bit scuffed and banged up from decades of use, and its main issue is that it's missing the top "B" key, which was gone back when I got it. I found that in practice, I very rarely needed it because it was so high, but I've read online that it would be a breeze to obtain and install a new one. You can also punch the octave controls if for some reason you absolutely need that high B. For reasons lost to time, it has a sticker for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign on it that I couldn't bring myself to peel off, though you could certainly take it off for a more professional look.
Anyway, I'd love to get this thing back into circulation, so please feel free to message me with any questions about it.
I played this in quite a few bands and recording sessions a decade or two ago and ...was surprised to find it still living in my parents' garage this week. I'm hoping it finds a new home where someone can have some fun noodling around on it or do some great production or performance work with it. Honestly, it could also be a beautiful piece of interior decor if you mounted it to the wall.
I tested every instrument in the soundbank and they all sound perfect. All the controls seem shipshape, including the potentiometers and bend and modulation wheels, both of which still have extraordinary action. All pixels work on the LED display, and I can confirm that the MIDI connection has served me well over the years, though I don't have the equipment to test it here.
It is a bit scuffed and banged up from decades of use, and its main issue is that it's missing the top "B" key, which was gone back when I got it. I found that in practice, I very rarely needed it because it was so high, but I've read online that it would be a breeze to obtain and install a new one. You can also punch the octave controls if for some reason you absolutely need that high B. For reasons lost to time, it has a sticker for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign on it that I couldn't bring myself to peel off, though you could certainly take it off for a more professional look.
Anyway, I'd love to get this thing back into circulation, so please feel free to message me with any questions about it.
