Yamaha CS-60

Yamaha CS-60 Image

The CS-60 is a very scaled down light version of the CS-80. It's a classic and old polyphonic programmable analog synthesizer that has some potential. It does not sound as great as the CS-80 nor is it as programmable. You get a few preset sounds which are pretty useless and a mere 1 user patch. But there are just enough sliders, edit parameters and even an excellent Ring Modulator to get some interesting pads, drones, basses and other analog synth sounds. Oddly, sitting between the keyboard and those large Preset Switches is a long velvet ribbon controller which is pretty cool for doing wild pitch bends.

Yamaha CS-60 Image

Due to its old age most CS-60s are in battered shape these days, difficult to service but in need of some. And they suffer common ailments of the analog domain - overheating, unstable tuning, it weighs a lot, etc... However the CS-60 is the cheapest way to get into some genuine CS-80 sounds of analog heaven with basic entry-level programming! It has been used by Air, Jean-Michel Jarre, Oshe and Bob Marley and the Wailers.

24 Visitor comments
wayne kerr
December 11, 2011 @ 3:35 am
An incredible sounding machine, I personally love the presets...... then again I'm the only man I know that thinks NS10's sound good. Maybe I'm in love with Yamaha
K lopez
December 4, 2011 @ 4:25 pm
I just picked one if these up and it wouldn't power on. Now it has been fully restored, cleaned, calibrated and tuned but I can't afford to keep it after repairs. If interested contact me at pinklady469@hotmail.com
DL White
November 20, 2011 @ 8:10 pm
I love this synth but I'm moving and have to sell mine. I have a CS-60 For sale in Denver, CO. Excellent condition, fully working. Case is a bit scratched up you'd expect and I've never had the legs for it. All levers, switches, and keys are in great shape. Ribbon works perfectly. Offers accepted. email me dlwhite66 @ yahoo dot com
vcode
August 22, 2011 @ 12:08 am
hey randy,
im in l.a. and am very interested in the cs60 if its still avail
thx
ceelo456@aol.com
jk
July 10, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
Randy, send me an email about your cs60 for sale. channelfpro@yahoo.ca
 
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  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 8 voices
  • Oscillators - 1 VCO per voice (square and saw plus PWM; 1 sub-osc with 4 wave types; noise gen)
  • Memory - 12 presets, 1 user patch
  • Filter - High- and low-pass with resonance and ADSR envelope
  • Arpeg/Seq - None
  • Keyboard - 61 keys (aftertouch)
  • Effects - Ring Modulator
  • Control - CV / Gate
  • Date Produced - 1977
  • Resources & Credits
  • Images from Zikinf.

    Info from Rory McDonald.

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