SynthAxe Demo from the 80's

[Phlack]

Gary Moore had one of these in the "Out in the fields" video!

[TheSwilliams92]

The roland synth pickup and controller is WAY better than this thing.

[666patrickbateman666]

@TheSwilliams92

Roland controller ! ? ? Doesn't exist !

Roland only make the hex pickup and it's just a toy compared to the Synthaxe.

Learn the facts before you post.

[TheSwilliams92]

@666patrickbateman666 no, i mean the synth pickup you can install onto your guitar, and then it has a floor controller. its on their website. its way better than this.

[666patrickbateman666]

@TheSwilliams92

If you are referring to the Roland GR-55 I can tell you that it is just a toy compared to the Synthaxe. And it has no keys like the Synthaxe which is very cool

The Synthaxe doesn't have ANY tracking problem at all.

Make a YouTube search on "Allan Holdsworth Synthaxe Rehearsal" and you can see some of the Synthaxe's potential in the hands of a master.

[TheSwilliams92]

@666patrickbateman666 I have, I was impressed. I prefer the roland synth pickup. keeps the traditional guitar approach but does way more for me than a synth axe.

[666patrickbateman666]

@TheSwilliams92

Sounds good but can it control external synths like Oberheims ?

[TheSwilliams92]

@666patrickbateman666 From what I've heard yes. I've seen a few people in person use it like play it it's a keyboard. I like it.

[seasonedtoker]

this is a great instrument if you wanna get shot or severely beaten at your first gig. :D

[666patrickbateman666]

@seasonedtoker

Wow -what a comment !

I hope that not all people in Slovenia is as stupid as you !

What a dork !

[fusionhar]

How can this be ignored . Imagine limitless scope ;)

[deftonesfan192]

Where can I get one of these? wow

[magicaldog]

@deftonesfan192

Well Less than 100 where made and I have 2 !

[deftonesfan192]

@magicaldog Got £50 for one if your interested ;)

[magicaldog]

@deftonesfan192

ad another £14950 and I throw in a spare controller - LOL

[deftonesfan192]

@magicaldog I think youll own them for a very long time :) where did you get them? ebay?

[Tylle123456789]

WTF???

[EquinoxParadox91]

@dontdissheavymetal So true.

[Andronicus88]

that guy is sooo frickin weird

[visog]

'Electronic wang arm'! Anyway, didn't NM have a massive falling out with Holdsworth over a cancelled tour?

[dontdissheavymetal]

he reminds me of the computer Holly from Red dwarf

[BRADARISTA]

Anyone know how I can get the sound without a synthaxe?

[magicaldog]

@BRADARISTA

Buy a couple of Oberheim Matrix 12's.

Allan Holdsworth used two Matrix 12 and an Xpander on the albums Atavachron and Sand.

The SynthAxe is just a controller and has no sound source of it's own!

[clarbads06]

Derren Brown?

[BradleyJohnHunt]

ridiculous....

[syiunshi]

They should use this for guitar hero lol

[krma1970]

What a brilliant instrument it was. I would go for sponsoring ingeneers to rebuild this amazing thing. Combined with todays sound synthesys, it would be the perfect instrument for the 2 coming centuries. Even at this time, it was a real musical achievement. Tune SPOKES from Alien Holdsworth, is certainly the most expressive piece ever recorded with it. I defenitely need one with people able to maintain it :-)

[magicaldog]

@krma1970

Anything from the albums Sand and Atavachron is great and absolutely no one comes even close to what Allan Holdsworth done with it. I have tried but I am just a human - LOL

[jamesedwardtheobald]

@magicaldog wonder why they had no clip of allan's music with the instrument...

[jamesedwardtheobald]

@krma1970 heh, i've been an allan holdsworth fan for 30 years, and it never occurred to me to call him that, and i love puns! and agreed, allan is the most expressive synth-axist. i like 'sand'

[krma1970]

@jamesedwardtheobald

Hoo, I stole the idea from another YTube video seen yesterday. Unfortunately not my "pun", but I liked it also. So damned true !

Peace

[deadheadrichie]

04:10 : How does he know? has he tried? that's a loooooooooooooooong time.

[garrettgerbil13]

its a cool instrument but this guy is boring as fuck to listen to

[rybass309]

I think it would have caught on had Billy Mays been the pitch man

[TheAdminty]

The SynthAxe player now has all those monster synthesizer sounds.

[musiqqqqqq]

we need more light shows like that in music these days

[Mike010ekiM]

That... was... AWESOME!!!

[BeerMoneyLive]

BRING THE SYNTHAXE BACK!

[LeMasterDisaster]

van halen would rock that mother fucker

[mahajohn]

Lo! Behold the SynthAxe, heralding the dawn of a new enlightened era for humanity!!!

If only SynthAxe had really seized humanity's fancy; we might very well now be living in a world of peace and happiness, with new age-tinged smooth jazz piped into all of our homes, public spaces, work spaces and vehicles, keeping us from feeling rousing emotions, or experiencing negative thoughts of any sort, clothed in comfy pastel colors and speaking in dulcet tones, grinning and sleepy-eyed. So sad.....

[huntmills]

i need Brainstew

[Sivels]

he's very soft-spoken.

[5t3Maiden]

Amazing, I really want one.

[magicaldog]

@5t3Maiden

Buy mine for £ 15000 ?

[checkitoutguys1]

@magicaldog where do you live and are you selling that?

[magicaldog]

@checkitoutguys1

Scandinavia

If someone offers me £15000 - £20000 !

[checkitoutguys1]

@magicaldog come on lets make it 12500?

[magicaldog]

@checkitoutguys1

Come on You get a full system + 1 extra controller + Breath controller !

It's a bargain !

[checkitoutguys1]

@magicaldog im a collector i just need the main piece

[magicaldog]

@checkitoutguys1

Most owners have a full system which consist of :

1 Controller

1 Console

1 Pedal Board

1 Step-On pedals

+ 5 Flight Cases (One for accessories stand + cables etc etc )

Someone once stole Allan Holdsworth's Controller !

Good luck if you can find that one !

[jamesedwardtheobald]

@magicaldog hey! who would steal from allan, the founder of the IOU band??

[magicaldog]

@jamesedwardtheobald

Some crack junkie maybe !

They found it in a pawn shop later !

It was just the controller and no one has any use of that alone !

[checkitoutguys1]

@magicaldog can you send me some pics of those controller and console

[bryan350z]

@magicaldog how about 15,000 pesos?

[magicaldog]

@bryan350z - LOL

[shypolka]

thats a cool instrument but the person who talks in this video is the most annoying ever

[peccoz]

Ladies and gentlemen, the most awkward looking instrument EVER MADE!

[Ionsandatrophy]

It's friggin' 2011!!! You'd think everybody would be playing those now!?!?!?!?!?

[magicaldog]

@Ionsandatrophy

The world was/are not ready and sadly, less than 100 was ever made !

I'm a lucky owner of 2 !

[Ionsandatrophy]

@magicaldog Wow, you are lucky! I wish I was around in the 80's to buy one!!! I really really want to be an owner of one someday but, I think it's a little out of my price range at the moment.

-------------

What was the company that produced the SynthAxe?

[magicaldog]

@Ionsandatrophy

They company was actually called SynthAxe Ltd and Richard Branson financed the project.

[marc777danielle]

@magicaldog the problem was affordability. they had a pretty hefty price tag back then which will prevent anything, no matter how revolutionary, from catching on. and i think they only made them for right handed players which eliminated myself from even considering purchasing one.

[bryan350z]

@magicaldog watcha you talkin bout? all those synth sounds where prefered to be done by keyboards and guitar effects. There was never a demand for a "synthaxe".

[Schpudd]

@magicaldog what about the ton of midi controllers out there today? for a fraction of the price

[magicaldog]

@Schpudd

I also have a Axon system and although it is pretty good it wont even come close to what the SynthAxe can do !

As for stringed MIDI controller the SynthAxe has no competition at all.

[NickySixThirty]

@magicaldog dude let me buy one off of you!!!!!

[magicaldog]

@NickySixThirty

2 or nothing ! DUDE

[ShivaTheAuspicious]

@Ionsandatrophy when I was a kid people I knew thought the day it turned year 2000 it would automatically change into Back to the Future part 2....and that was back in the late 80's; shows how wrong we are!

[hongdekong]

@Ionsandatrophy they sound too 1980's

[WoWintosh]

@hongdekong

The SynthAxe doesn't produce any sound, you dummy. It controls a separate MIDI thingy. It sounds "too 1980's" because this was played through 1980's equipment, after all it was the '80s. If you were to use a more modern MIDI thingy, yu could get some more modern sounds.

[jaktje]

do they still make these??

[magicaldog]

@jaktje

They stopped making them for over 20 years ago and I bought the last one !

[jaktje]

@magicaldog so you bought one for 1000 bucks? ;o i rather get like 1gibson or something lol xD

[magicaldog]

@jaktje

I bought one complete system ( Controller, Pedal, Console & Stepon - Pedals ) for about $ 3500 and a controller a few years later for about $ 800 !

[jaktje]

@magicaldog hmmm. thats quite a lot of money =3 i know! but do you realy play on that thing? or just it stand there in a corner or something?

[magicaldog]

@jaktje

Oh I play it just about every week when I want some type of synth sound on some project I am working on .

I cant play keyboards very well so i feel i am very priviliged ! There is nothing quite like it !

[jaktje]

@magicaldog hmmm thats cool ! i just play guitar, and thats it hahaha

[magicaldog]

@jaktje

Guitar will never die - lol

[magicaldog]

@jaktje

You won't get a good Gibson for a $ 1000 these days and quite frankly the SynthAxe is one of a kind and there is absolutely nothing like it !

[TheHornet79]

ASMR

[RICHGREENNOW]

Well, the Sythaxe was really only an expensive controller with some neet little features but for some reason, it never caught on and I suspect it was probably priced out of the common mans budget.

[NegroMente]

@8:04 "I've got 99 memories and a capo ain't one"

[sakaelporro]

o por dios this dolphin dreams sound so 80's i love it, send 2 synthaxes to my house please

[magicaldog]

@sakaelporro

Give me $20000 and you can have my 2 !

[sakaelporro]

@magicaldog well.... thanks???? 

[j955]

I saw a demonstration at a music store in the 80's. I thought that thing would put the electric guitar out of business.

[goingtobe]

Excellebt instrument! Electronic is so advanced today, that it can be in a made with all those synth functions and holds much less space combined with any string instrument (guitar, bass, violin, cello, harp…) and with the synth sound of today, it can go much further… and it will be much easier and cheaper for everyone. There is a synthaxe owners club on facebook, which have a lot of information, and im sure that we can find all the circuit diagrams of the synthaxe.

[12inchvertical]

the sounds are cheesy but its a really clever looking instrument - shame it was never updated or reproduced at a lower cost

[magicaldog]

@12inchvertical

There was actually a SynthAxe 2 but it was never put in production.

I have seen the prototype back in the 80's

The sounds comes from a syntheziser NOT the SynthAxe.

[PhuckHue2]

great instrument. It was too far ahead of its time which made it real expensive to the average guitar player

[jclp81]

@PhuckHue2 now they have the misa

[BadSneakers]

So why didn't the SynthAxe make it? I know Ritenour sold his to the guy in Bela Fleck and the Flectones.

[666patrickbateman666]

@BadSneakers

Simple answer !

They were too expensive !

There aren't that many wealthy guitar players around you know!