Casio MT-65

[SerFox]

Okay I'm very very puzzled.

I have this keyboard, it's not in mint condition, one of the sliders is missing (Although I know exactly where I lost it, it's probably gone under the carpet, I will find it one day) but it has been signed by loads, LOADS of performers, all in permenant marker, which has depreciated this thing immensely. It has also seen rain (Though it was always put in a cover, drops did get in here and there during outdoor performances) and drops, but there is no damage and it works perfect (These things were built to last back in the day).

Besides, I'm keeping it.

What I really want to know is, why is it worth so much?? I just had a poke around about it, and I discovered eBay auctions selling them for close to £200, even when in a worse state than mine! (Missing knobs, broken keys etc)

I got mine for a fiver at a jumble sale, did I luck out? Why is this keyboard so prized?

Tell meee!

[D S]

Well, there's one on eBay currently with a Buy It Now price of £44.99 which seems more like it than £200 for a 25 year Casio.  I'm certainly not aware of anything particularly special about that model but, as you'll know, eBay can go like that sometimes if you have a couple of crazy bidders determined to get something for their collection.

Just a thought - are any of the signatures of really famous people?  They might be worth more than your synth and not have devalued it at all...

The keyboard player in my old band had a MT-68 in the mid-80s, which is very similar but a different colour.  I still even have a MT-400V in the attic.  It's similar but has stereo chorus, 2 detachable speakers and (best of all) an ADSR filter which made it quite like a real synth!

[SerFox]

I see another mt65 on ebay for around 150 and I have seen them go for more in bidding wars.

No famous signatures unfortunately. Just fellow performers, and I wanted to turn the board into a memento of that fantastic month of performing

[Jem]

Well well well...

A Casio MT-65. My oldest musical friend.

The MT-65 was my very very first "synth". It was the very thing I learnt the In the Cage solo on back when I was 10 and, in many ways, is the reason I'm where I am now.

You be good to that wee device Ser, it's a humble god of a thing.     8-)

[SerFox]

Well well well...

A Casio MT-65. My oldest musical friend.

The MT-65 was my very very first "synth". It was the very thing I learnt the In the Cage solo on back when I was 10 and, in many ways, is the reason I'm where I am now.

You be good to that wee device Ser, it's a humble god of a thing.     8-)

Oh I will. The same as I treat my beloved casiotones, which were MY first keyboards. The MT65 makes some wonderful sounds, and it has a fantastic keybed for what it is. I just still puzzle over how in demand it is.

[Pedro]

Well, when I replied to Jem's recent tweet about the MT-65 he learned "The Cage" on coming back to him, to say that I'd mangled the '80s Timotei TV ad music using exactly the same machine...little did I realise that I would then find the cassette recording of it!

Terrible sound quality, but there it is...http://soundcloud.com/user9295287/timoteiruined

[gr8gonzo]

Well, when I replied to Jem's recent tweet about the MT-65 he learned "The Cage" on coming back to him, to say that I'd mangled the '80s Timotei TV ad music using exactly the same machine...little did I realise that I would then find the cassette recording of it!

Terrible sound quality, but there it is...http://soundcloud.com/user9295287/timoteiruined

Life changing. I will never be the same after hearing that. 

[D S]

Oh my! Are you sure that isn't an early JMJ recording? (Well, he used to use similar naff drum patterns) Love the 'jazz' note at the end.
Mind you, people in glass houses etc. I fear I have much worse on tape in my attic... 

[tigermoth]

Lol that is an extremely cool retro recording. God bless cassettes, and the folks who have held on to them.  I don't know why, but for some reason when I was growing up Casios always had a bad press from me and my keyboard chums. We all seems to go for yamaha or one of the supposed cooler makes. Maybe it was some kind of fassion thing, if keyboards can be subjected to the fickle laws of fassion.
But I have no idea why it should be worth so much, unless it's just a retro thing. Probably.
I saw a shagged out bontempi type organ in a club I was at the other day and wondered idley about buying it. I decided not to in the end as it was full of dust and I have enough crap in my house as it is. But I looked on ebay to get a price idea and had to chuckle at some of the asking prices for similar models. These will be the stuff of antique shops yet to come.
Back to Casio though.
Nothing to do with your question, but on my track Tigers in the Butter, I wanted to use a sound from an eightys casio one of my friends had. It was a kids keyboard really, but it had a couple of beats and sounds.
I had a 20 year old cassette containing a recording of it, done by a pretty crappy tape recorder, but the level was good and there was a clear section of beat with no playing over the top.
I then went through a pretty tricky proceedure for a computer and math illiterate like myself. Separating each drum tone, then stringing them back together at the exact tempo to fit the track I was working on. I had to do this as my recording was no where near the right tempo. The result was this:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14720207/Tigers%20In%20The%20Butter%20-%20Sample.mp3

Worth the effort? Arguably not. Lol. When my mate heard this sometime later he said, "Oh, I've got a plug in with all that retro stuff on it and it's got those sounds in it.". This presumably would have sounded a lot clearer and would have been easy to set to the right tempo and generally more time saving and effective. But that's how it goes.

These days, I hear Casio are doing great things and they probably always were. The unflattering opinions of myself and my young mates about casio were probably based on the crappiness of that kids keyboard we'd all seen. I mean, it only played one note at a time. My first Yamaha played four! FOUR man! The impressionability of youth.

[Jem]

Well, when I replied to Jem's recent tweet about the MT-65 he learned "The Cage" on coming back to him, to say that I'd mangled the '80s Timotei TV ad music using exactly the same machine...little did I realise that I would then find the cassette recording of it!

Terrible sound quality, but there it is...http://soundcloud.com/user9295287/timoteiruined

That is superb.

[gr8gonzo]

Iirc, I believe my first keyboard was a Casiotone 401, complete with faux woodgrain paneling finish and the Atari quality "I Can't Go For That" rhythm. As a high school graduation gift, I got to hand pick a new synth, and although the Yamaha DX-7 was all the rage at the time, I took a shining to the Roland Juno 2. Thirty years later, I still have it. In fact, I played it yesterday. But, I digress...

I think Casio's lackluster reputation was deserved at the time, but when Hyundai was introduced in the U.S., I test drove one because it was super cheap and quickly discovered why it was so cheap. That said, unlike the fella on the "bring outcha ded" cart, they really did get better. And Casio did, as well.

The brand's ambassador at NAMM for many years now has been the remarkably talented Tom Brislin, who played with Yes on the Symphonic tour, recently toured with Renaissance, and is currently on tour with Meat Loaf. In addition to his excellent work with his own band, Spiraling, and a great solo record, he can also be heard on the upcoming Anderson Stolt album.

[tigermoth]

That's a few good reasons right there for taking notice of Casio. Incidentally, really looking forward to the Anderson/Stolt collab. Got to be good right.

[Pedro]

That is superb.

Thanks Guv.

Love the 'jazz' note at the end.

Ha ha, When I heard it again after all these years I was transported back to the front room of my Parent's house and that moment in the last few bars of the take and thinking; "could this be the one? it's gone well so far, only the last bit to go and ....D'Oh!"    

[sawtooth]

My very first "polysynth" (tee hee!) was a Casiotone 201. Not the deeply uncool wood effect version you understand, but the marginally less uncool non-more-black version. Didnt sound TOO bad when it was put through a Memory Man Deluxe pedal with the chorus on full chat