List of keytars

Main article: Keytar

A keytar is a keyboard or synthesizer hung around the neck and shoulders, similar to a guitar.

Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater playing a Zen Riffer keytar alongside guitarist John Petrucci

List of keytars

• [no grip] ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ — keyboard model without control grip.
• [opt grip] ^ ^ — keyboard model with optional control grip.

Dates	Model	Type	I/F	Notes
|Orphica[1]	acoustic piano	–	a portable miniature piano in horizontal harp form.
1963	Weltmeister Basset[2]	electric bass piano using struck reed	–	an electric piano bass, similar to Hohner Bass or Rhodes PianoBass, used by dance bands in East Germany probably late 1960s.
1966	Joh Mustad Tubon [de][3] (in the UK: Livingston)[4]	electronic bass organ	–	tube-shaped monophonic electronic keyboard instrument with guitar strap. Used by Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk on the album Kraftwerk (1970),[4][5] Swedish and Finnish bands during the 1970s, including Lådan.[6]
1977	Hillwood Rockeyboard RB-1[7]	synth piano with VCF & volume pedals[7]	–	influenced by Edgar Winter's style of hanging a keyboard from a neck. Used by Haruo Chikada (The Vibratones).
1977[8]	Powell Probe	controller	(CV/Gate)	Roger Powell's keytar by Royalex
1979	PMS Syntar[9]	synthesizer	(CV/Gate)	an earliest synthesizer keytar product, prior to the Moog Liberation in 1980
1980	Davis Clavitar	controller	(CV/Gate)	used by George Duke, Herbie Hancock in 1980.
1980	Moog Liberation	synthesizer	CV/Gate
1980	Royalex Probe	controller	(CV/Gate)	Jan Hammer's keytar by Royalex, ca. 1980.
19821982	Dynacord Rhythm Stick (Jamma)[10]	percussion controller	MIDI & CV/Gate	used by Michael Jackson (1996-7), Billy Ocean, Sabrina Salerno (1988), Manu Katche, and Curt Cress.[11]
1982	Roland SH-101[opt grip]	synthesizer	CV/Gate	control grip was optional.
1982	Sequential Circuits Remote Prophet	controller	SCB	controller for Prophet-5 synthesizer using proprietary serial interface.[12] Used by Geoffrey Downes of ASIA and Dave Stewart.
1982	Yamaha CS01[no grip]	synthesizer with optional breath controller BC1 or BC2	CV/Gate	used by Chick Corea in the early 1980s.
1983	Yamaha KX1	controller	MIDI	used by Herbie Hancock in 1983, George Duke in 1983.
1983	Korg Poly-800[no grip]	synthesizer	MIDI
1983c. 1983	Yamaha CS01II	synthesizer with optional breath controller BC1 or BC3	CV/Gate
1984c. 1984	Korg Poly-800 MkII[no grip]	synthesizer	MIDI
1984	Casio CZ-101[no grip]	synthesizer	MIDI	a medium size keyboard with strap pins
1984	Korg RK-100	controller	MIDI
1984	Yamaha KX5	controller	MIDI	a medium depth keyboard
1985	Lync LN1 (The Lync)	controller	MIDI
1985	Roland AXIS	controller	MIDI
1985	Yamaha DX100[no grip]	synthesizer	MIDI	a mini keyboard with strap pins
1986	Casio AZ-1	controller	MIDI
1986	Siel DK70[opt grip]	synthesizer	MIDI	control grip was optional
1987	Korg 707[no grip]	synthesizer	MIDI	a synthesizer with strap pins
1987	Yamaha SHS-10	electronic keyboard	MIDI
1987c. 1987	Tyco HotKeyz	toy keyboard	–	a toy keyboard
1988	Lync LN4	controller	MIDI	also Jan Hammer signature model existed.
1988	Yamaha SHS-200	electronic keyboard	MIDI
1989	Tsumura JD21[13]	percussion controller	MIDI
1990	Lync LN1000	controller	MIDI
1990c. 1990	Formanta Mini	synthesizer	(MIDI)
1991	Junost 21	synthesizer	(MIDI)
1992c. 1992[14]	Baldoni MIDI Accord[15]	accordion controller ?	MIDI	Strap-on keyboard controller in the keytar style, with the chromatic buttons on the left-hand, and piano keyboard on the right-hand.[16][17]
1993	Roland AX-1	controller	MIDI
1994	Zendrum	percussion controller	(MIDI)
1995	The Drumstick	percussion controller	(MIDI)	used by E. Dr. Smith[18]
2000c. 2000	Suzuki MK-3600 YAMAHA YMK-80	electronic keyboard	MIDI	a keyboard for marching band
2000	Lag LeKey	controller	(MIDI)
2001	Roland AX-7	controller	MIDI
2002c. 2002	Casio SA-75	electronic keyboard	MIDI	a mini electronic keyboard with handsfree microphone and strap pins
2007c. 2007	Zen Riffer Solo Axe	controller	(MIDI)
2008	Behringer UMA25S[no grip]	controller	USB & MIDI
2009	Roland AX-Synth	synthesizer	USB & MIDI
2009	Stoneboard	controller	MIDI
2010	Politrep[no grip]	controller	MIDI
2010	Roland Lucina AX-09	synthesizer	USB & MIDI
2010	Mad Catz Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard	controller & video game controller	MIDI & console specific
2012	Alesis Vortex	controller	USB & MIDI
2014	Alesis Vortex Wireless	controller	USB & MIDI	first keytar with wireless USB connection to a PC or laptop
2014	Korg RK-100S	synthesizer	USB & MIDI	used by Rick Astley in 2016
2017	Yamaha Vocaloid Keyboard	synthesizer	USB,[19] Bluetooth LE[20]	To be released in "Winter 2017".[21] First wearable prototype in 2014;[21] limited rental available in 2015 [22]
2018	Alesis Vortex Wireless 2	controller	USB & MIDI
2018	Roland AX-Edge	synthesizer	USB, MIDI, Bluetooth LE
2019	Behringer MS-1	synthesizer	USB & MIDI	Clone of the original 1982 Roland SH-101
2019	Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-500	electronic keyboard	USB MIDI, Bluetooth LE	Built-in speaker
2019	Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-300	electronic keyboard	USB MIDI, Bluetooth LE (Select countries)	Built-in speaker
2018	Yamaha Vocaloid VKB-100	electronic keyboard	USB MIDI, Bluetooth LE	Built-in speaker
2020	Korg RK-100S 2	synthesizer	USB & MIDI	Wooden body and new programs

Custom/rare keytars

Rare keytar products

• Delmar Brown "Illuminator" (illuminating display attached to keytar)
• Guess Musical Instruments "Schizotron", a product which combined keyboard and guitar/bass
• "Nissin C-16", a custom keytar version of Casio SK-1, distributed as lottery goods for promoting Nissin Cup Noodles
• Suzuki "Omnichord" and "QChord", electronic chord instruments inspired by Oscar Schmidt Autoharp
• "Zen Riffer", used most notably by Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater.

Drum/Percussion keytars

• Dynacord Rhythm Stick (also known as "Jamma" since 1982) ^[10]
• Tsumura JD21 ^[13]
• Drumitar / Zendrum (2008)
• "Riday T91"

Custom made keytars

In alphabetical order:

• "Alien Guitar Simulator", a selfmade keytar by Le Orme keyboard player Michele Bon.
• "Arcadetar", a keytar-like keyboard controller combined a pitch sensor in 20 inch. (50 cm) long, developed by Italian musician Andrea Lomuscio of Teapot Industries in 2012.
• Jeri Ellsworth's FPGA-based C64 keytar^[23]
• Lady Gaga's custom made keytar during The Monster Ball Tour in 2010.
• "Lag Circulaire" made for Jean Michel Jarre
• "Lag Insecte" made for Jean Michel Jarre
• "Lag Mad Max" made for Jean Michel Jarre ^{[citation needed]}
• Matthew Bellamy's "Keytarcaster" Manson, made for playing Undisclosed Desires from Muse's 5th studio album, The Resistance
• Prince's "PurpleAxxe", also played by Tommy Barbarella
• "Politrep", a copy of the Zen Riffer keytar made by order at the website space4keys.com
• "Remote" for Jean Michel Jarre's studio by Lag
• "Syblade", a keytar designed to be unique and to inspire.

Customized keytars

Based on minimoog keyboards

• Custom minimoog keyboard used by Gary Wright and Steve Porcaro around 1976.
• Cruder,^{[citation needed]} Jan Hammer's early custom keyboard with block shaped controller.^[24]
• Plexi minimoog keyboard used by George Duke

Based on Yamaha KX series

• Jean Michel Jarre's custom KX5, two versions: Houston and Docklands Concerts.
• Lights Poxleitner plays a rare Yamaha KX5 keytar.

Based on Roland AX series

• Vadim Pruzhanov of DragonForce and Henrik Klingenberg of Sonata Arctica both use a custom Roland AX-7 (although nowadays Henrik Klingenberg uses custom Roland AX-1)
• Christopher Bowes of Alestorm owns a Roland AX-7 which he has customised over the years with various stickers of animals.
• Jeff Abbott, long-time keytar player and product demonstrator for MusicLab plays a custom wooden keytar based around a Roland AX-1.

Gallery

• 
  Orphica (18th–19th century)
• 
  Royalex Probe (1977/1980) played by Lucy Hosking
• 
  PMS Syntar (1979) by George Mattson
• 
  Moog Liberation (1980)
• 
  Davis Clavitar (1980) played by George Duke
• 
  SynthAxe (1985) by Bill Aitken, et al.
• 
  Yamaha KX-5 (1984)
• 
  Korg RK-100 (1984)
• 
  Yamaha SHS-10 (1987)
• 
  Lync LN-1000 (1990)
• 
  Zendrum series (1994)
• 
  Roland AX-7 (2001)
• 
  Zen Riffer Solo Axe (2007) by Roy Wooten
• 
  Mad Catz Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard
• 
  Korg RK-100s (2014)
• 
  Alesis Vortex Wireless (2014) played by Jean Pageau (Mystery) in 2019

See also

• Keytar
• List of keytarists