We've now officially reached the day Marty McFly and Doc Brown visited in 1985's Back To The Future II - so, we thought it an apt time to revisit the future of guitar playing in the mid-80s, courtesy of the SynthAxe.
In the demo above, Allan Holdsworth, Lee Ritenour and Guitar Techniques' own Neville Marten take you through this revolutionary MIDI controller.
Marten, who left his job at Guitarist magazine to work for SynthAxe, recalls: "I didn't think SynthAxe was 'the' future of guitar but did believe it was 'a' future. I loved it, even though the playing compromises were huge.
"It didn't make any sounds of its own, but 'talked' via MIDI to any compatible synth. In this demo, the big synth pads are Oberheim Matrix 12 and the single-note lines and piano are mostly Yamaha DX7."
The price is wrong
The SynthAxe offered a guitar-like fretboard that was continuously scanned to send signals to synthesizers for sound reproduction; it featured two sets of strings - one for fretting, one for picking - which could detect string bending, and offered an electronic tremolo bar for whammy effects.
Unfortunately, the SynthAxe's original price tag of £10,000 ($13,000) resulted in limited sales and production numbers - allegedly, only 100 were made, so if any do crop up for sale, you can expect to pay around $20,000-$25,000.
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“Notes dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion. Those notes are held together with tape-style effects”: Keeley Electronics and Andy Timmons unveil the Halo Core – same modulated dual echo magic, simplified controls
PMT has gone bigger than ever with its early Black Friday sale, offering huge gear discounts up to 70% off
