favorite vintage electric piano/organ?

[V301H]

The CP35 and CP25 use FM for tone generation. Similar in style to the earlier CP's and have a great Rhodes-like sound.

Are you really sure about that? I actually think they're analog. The CP-35 is very similar to the contemporary GS-2 in appearance.
The GS-2 (as well as the GS-1) did use FM tone generation so maybe that's where the confusion comes from.

Yamaha doesn't make any mention of how the tone is generated in the CP35/CP25 owners manual. The CP35 is 16-note polyphonic as is the GS. The earlier CP30/20 can sound all notes simultaneously so that would indicate that the CP35/25 tone is FM generated because of the limited polyphony. It does have analog filtering.

[Sexor]

I love my cheap old Italian transistor organ. It's called "Gracia Ponysynth" and is remarkably useful despite being rather sonically limited compared to a traditional synthesizer. Very little info on google. Through a spring reverb, it sounds like it came from the 60s in a time machine.

EKO had a keyboard that went under the name "Ponysynt" in the late '7s/early '80s, does it look anything like that one?


There was also a number of portable organs/keyboards branded "Gracia" and I'm pretty sure most of those were
made by the Italian company ARMON.

Do you have a picture?

Yes, it's definitely the same one as in your link, but with a Gracia logo instead of the EKO logo.

Calling this thing a synth would undoubtedly be giving it way too much credit. There's no filter. No envelope. Very crude waveform variations. It's basically just an electronic organ with a couple of (weird) features bolted on, such as a mono "synth-voice" (again, no filter or envelope) and a basic analog preset drum machine wich sounds like the punk version of a CR-78.

I'm away from my studio for a few weeks, but I can post a picture when I'm back

[Sexor]

Electric or electronic pianos?

One notorious confusion of these two terms is found on the front decal of all Wurlitzer A200 electric pianos, where it clearly says "electronic piano", which is a misnomer.

[Micke]

Yes, it's definitely the same one as in your link, but with a Gracia logo instead of the EKO logo.

Calling this thing a synth would undoubtedly be giving it way too much credit. There's no filter. No envelope. Very crude waveform variations. It's basically just an electronic organ with a couple of (weird) features bolted on, such as a mono "synth-voice" (again, no filter or envelope) and a basic analog preset drum machine wich sounds like the punk version of a CR-78.

I'm away from my studio for a few weeks, but I can post a picture when I'm back

Okay, so what you have there is a rebadged EKO pony synth. It does look like a simple home keyboard rather than a synth.
Peter Forrest's A-Z dates it to ca. 1982 though I have the feeling it came out a year or two later.

[Micke]

The CP35 and CP25 use FM for tone generation. Similar in style to the earlier CP's and have a great Rhodes-like sound.

Are you really sure about that? I actually think they're analog. The CP-35 is very similar to the contemporary GS-2 in appearance.
The GS-2 (as well as the GS-1) did use FM tone generation so maybe that's where the confusion comes from.

Yamaha doesn't make any mention of how the tone is generated in the CP35/CP25 owners manual. The CP35 is 16-note polyphonic as is the GS. The earlier CP30/20 can sound all notes simultaneously so that would indicate that the CP35/25 tone is FM generated because of the limited polyphony. It does have analog filtering.

FWIW, the 1982 Yamaha product catalog does mention that the CP-35 "features a harmonic-rich pulse-wave sound source system".