Keytars: Why the insane prices?

Post by **tallowwaters** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:01 am

why?

because the idiots that want them are big enough idiots to pay that much for them.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:09 am

tallowwaters wrote:why?

because the idiots that want them are big enough idiots to pay that much for them.

That's pretty much the jest of it I suppose.

Clavier · Post by **Clavier** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:36 am

The only reason I want a keytar is so that I can make some tunes while I chill out on the couch and watch TV, kind of like how guitarists do. I've always envied that about the guitar. It just so happens that I'm currently on the hunt for a Moog Liberation and/or a Yamaha KX-5.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:40 am

Clavier wrote:The only reason I want a keytar is so that I can make some tunes while I chill out on the couch and watch TV, kind of like how guitarists do. I've always envied that about the guitar. It just so happens that I'm currently on the hunt for a Moog Liberation and/or a Yamaha KX-5.

Go with the Moog, it's an actual synth. I'll have to post my design here in a second. Don't laugh though, it was done on Microsoft Paint.

The actual colour I'll use is a purple to teal chameleon flip-flop paint.

Not sure as to where to place pegs though. Don't know if to leave where it is now as illustrated or to invert to the one on the right side/bottom of the keytar. Most likely I'll take the peg that's illustrated and place it on the bottom of the the keytar, similar to the Roland AX series.

sdconvoy · Post by **sdconvoy** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:18 am

i would like to see a company like say... CME roll out a keytar with their wireless midi implemented and such! give it 4 octaves minus the bottom 5 keys, the pitch bender and such on the handle, lightweight, with pressure sensitive and aftertouch, as well as a good price of around 3 - 400 dollars, and you'd have a winner! sure, the market may not be HUGE, but keytars are getting a comeback judging by the HUGE leap in ebay prices on them. you could once upon a time get a KORG keytar like mutemath uses for around 100, and now they fetch higher than 600 dollars... and that's with no velocity sens!

Tyler2000 · Post by **Tyler2000** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:07 am

+

=

$80 keytar that runs on batteries, has midi AND usb, and isn't way too long.

Seriously. How many octaves are you going to cover with one hand.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:11 am

That reminds me. Does the Oxygen 49 also run off batteries? I plan on using one as the "guts" of the keytar and just rip off all the fancy MIDI edit stuff and just keep the wheels, LED screen and the program buttons.

CZ Rider · Post by **CZ Rider** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:15 am

Not sure why these are going for such high prices? I guess because there is a limited supply and high demand. I remember seeing the SHS-10 going for higher than normal prices a few years back, and later found out this was due to high demand from circuit benders. Being small, battery powered, built in speaker, made a good choice for bending.
Can't remember the URL, but some one is making really nice ones for around a grand. They look like futuristic combat weapons. If I find it I'll post it.
Anyhow I collected a few of these many years back when they were cheap! Some are rare?

Post by **WDW** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:12 am

Uh, because the price is where supply and demand intersect...

WD

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:28 am

Tyler2000 wrote:I dream of the day I find an SHS-10 in a thrift store. I'm gonna take it home immediately, sample it, and put it up on ebay. 300 bones? serioulsy?

My brother got 2 of them at the Free Shoppe(a local place where everything is donated and free) 4 or 5 years ago. He ended up smashing them at a party for fun thinking they were worth next to nothing.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:29 am

But anywho. I'll probably grab a cheap controller off eBay this Xmas and the journey will begin I suppose. I'll have to post a journal with photos though.

And I'll most likely use the "design" I've posted. And in the meantime I'll be thinking of names. Suggestions are welcome.

Automatic Gainsay · Post by **Automatic Gainsay** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:30 am

WDW wrote:Uh, because the price is where supply and demand intersect...

WD

WD, as per usual, you rock.

My question is: Who is buying these things? Even in the 80s it seemed like "keytars" (I never heard that term until very recently, and then I found it had been mentioned in a Keyboard magazine way back in the early 80s... WTF?) were the province of people PRETENDING to be new wave bands instead of actual bands using them. Who is using them now? If you buy a "keytar," you better be getting your a*s in front of an audience... there is absolutely no other use for them.
I have to say, however, that I endorse their usage (if they're really being used by anyone) because it means people are actually PLAYING their keyboards. You can't get up in front of an audience and hold a single note to trigger a loop with a keytar.

GeneralBigbag · Post by **GeneralBigbag** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:47 am

Automatic Gainsay wrote: My question is: Who is buying these things? Even in the 80s it seemed like "keytars"... were the province of people PRETENDING to be new wave bands instead of actual bands using them.

They're now the province of people who are in the kind of band that the people who originally bought keytars in the 80s were pretending to be in and which didn't exist until the 80s revival.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:51 am

Ye, I actually plan to use mine for it's original purpose. I'll have to do a Flock of Seagulls show once I'm done and have my hair just like Mr. Score's.

But in all reality I do plan on using it once in awhile when I'm not doing a cover of someone, unless they're a new wave band. And of course for doing my own stuff.

sdconvoy · Post by **sdconvoy** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:00 am

interested in selling any of those any time soon CZ Rider?