I've bought a red one when they just got out. Well, like mentioned in other posts: IT'S MEANT TO BE A TOY! Having said that: it's plenty of fun playing live, as long as you use MIDI to get control sounds from your other gear. I've modded mine with a wacky 'astronomy' colour scheme, keys are all matt black with little white specks. Easily done, and looks great :-)
Funniest thing so far: I'm a Hammond player (yep, that heavy & bulky but absolutely gorgeous sounding stuff... :-) and I recently hooked up the SHS-10 output to my tube Leslie. Just for fun.... It nearly blew my head off! Looked great when standing up all of a sudden from behind my B3 with this flimsy tiny keyboard around my neck and walking to the front of the stage! Felt like William Wallace: FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOMMMMM!!! :-)
Honestly: it's good fun and pretty sturdy considering it's age. Is it worth today's eBay prices? Maybe if you want to use it like I have, but if you just want it for what it really is - a cool looking keytar: I think not. What would I pay for another one? Max 75 euros (about 60 pounds / 100 US dollars) but definitely not more.... Try boot sales, maybe you're lucky :-)
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Thursday-Nov-25-2010 at 07:37
Sticky
a part-time user
from UK
writes:
I agree that inflated prices are being paid for these (£160 for a boxed red one recently seen on ebay). However, I was happy to recently pay £51 for a silver one recently as I got a groovy guitar-style midi controller with pitch bend and modulation control - connecting it via MIDI to a Novation K Station worked instantly (note to Alex, Mar 27 - the SHS 10 isn't velocity sensitive). Yes, it's toy-like appearance (plastic, mini keys,only 750mm long - so weren't not talking Roland AX) might be inherently amusing but if you're a fan of 80s cheap keyboards and appreciate their trash aesthetic, its a beauty. The onboard sounds are obviously not realistic (quel surprise, given the appearance) but take them for what they are, as you would a Casio VL Tone, for instance. Unlike some other wearable keyboards it's light (1.1kg exc. batteries!)so excellent to weild whilst playing and the batteries seem to last for ages. And Yamaha have made a manual available via their library. Enjoy! (but don't get carried away in a bidding frenzy)
Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Monday-May-19-2008 at 06:39
Adam
a hobbyist user
writes:
$90?? $150??? or more?? WTF!!! You gotta be kidding me. I got mine for 4 bucks at Savers. Sheesh. OK, it is what it is, a full blown MIDI keytar disguised as a crap PSS keyboard; kinda like the DJX is a pro-level keyboard disguised as a lower-end PSR. No 80's porta-keyboard is worth that kind of money. I laugh when I look at eBay auctions where the damn sellers want as much money as a new keyboard would cost and even bigger morons actually bidding on this stuff. I have a whole bunch of 80's Casios and Yamahas and the average price I paid was around $5-10 a pop. That's more like it. HINT: they're called yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores; and grown-up kids who don't want their Casios anymore. Cheapest price: 25 cents for a Casio SA-1 Most expensive: 40 bucks for the rare Casio SK8 Best overall deal: A very dusty Casio CZ101 at a flea market for TEN BUCKS!!! Am I making myself clear??? This little thing gets a five because it has gobs of MIDI features and was cheap cheap cheap cheap!!! Although the sounds are your typical crappy 2 Op FM that only sound good through an effects unit. My PSS 140 has more interesting sounds than this, but no MIDI.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Wednesday-Apr-02-2008 at 11:46
Bryn
a professional user
from UK
writes:
Utterly mad. These synths cost more than proper synths like the cs-01! The build is toy-like, the sounds are useless. The features are basic. It doesn't look that good. Why nearly £200 for one on ebay?? This was and is a toy. For some reason the red ones are even more expensive, though no rarer than the silver ones. You can but a poly 800 Korg for less! Total ebay madness! The demo song is 'Last Christmas' which people rant and rave over. Why? The sounds are no more developed than 2 quid, FM pss crap of the 80s. Only buy if you see one at a boot sale. Avoid ebay madness...the net can make fools of us all!
Rating: 1 out of 5
posted Thursday-Mar-27-2008 at 04:29
Alex
a part-time user
from Philadelphia, PA, USA
writes:
Hey, I love my Keytar. I'm planning on painting the keys black, the sharps green, and the body purple to match my bands color scheme. I can't wait to start using this more live. But I'm having problems with my MIDI controlling. The velocity seems to be less sensitive than it should be. Has anyone else run into this problem or is it just a defect in mine? I've run it thru and Micr-Korg and a Roland drum Machine and both are about half the volume when controlled with the SHS-10 compared to using normally.
Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Monday-Feb-11-2008 at 16:04
