The GX-1 was Yamaha's first big polyphonic analog synth, and it was a beast! Considered the predecessor to the CS-80 (another huge poly-synth), the GX-1 featured a triple-tiered keyboard, pedalboard, ribbon controller, eight polyphonic voices, chromed pedestals and a $50,000+ price tag! OK, so it wasn't designed for your everyday musician - less than 10 were ever made and have been owned mostly by legendary synth/keyboard players including Keith Emmerson, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Rick Wright, George Fleury, Richard James of Aphex Twin, ABBA, and Hans Zimmer who bought Keith Emerson's.

Although it may look like an organ at first glance, it's all analog heaven inside! The two main keyboards have 61 (velocity sensitive!) keys each, and are supplemented by a smaller (3/4 scale, pressure sensitive) 37-note keyboard and a 25-note pedalboard at your feet - 184 keys total! Eight voices of polyphony plus an additional monophonic are available and can be shared and layered or split up among the different keyboards. There are also organ-style drawbars and a ribbon controller for tweaking the sounds. Additional programming buttons are hidden away under drawers and panels on the front-panel.

The GX-1 used two analog oscillators per voice which are pretty much the same one's used later in the CS-80, along with a mild 2-pole VCF (filter), standard LFO and some ADSR envelopes. The GX-1 also had two "swell" pedals and a spring-loaded knee controller. It was truly a lush synth for its time, and its frequent use by many rock-legends helped cement its place in history as well as pave the way for the legendary CS-80.

Alejandro Nova

August 8, 2009 @ 7:35 am

I still remember when I played the only one of these beasts that resides in Chilean territory. It's amazing... the experience, the ribbon controller, the KNEE controller (yes, you can module your sound with your knee), the ribbon controller, the solo minisynth at top, the polysynths at bottom... The synth I played wasn't well programmed, but it was awesome to even live that experience. Those guys were asking 4 million chilean pesos (about $8.000 + s&h) for the keyboard. It's sad that one isn't a millionaire, but, if you have the cash and one of this beasts in front of you... it's one hell of an experience!

As far as I know, there are ~200 GX-1s made, EVER.

Kyle

July 13, 2009 @ 6:54 pm

Roth Handle has one in his studio in Sweden.

Micke

June 30, 2009 @ 12:46 pm

Also used by Cat Stevens on the album "Izitso" (1977).

Howie P

April 6, 2009 @ 3:29 pm

Stevie Wonder used this extensively on his "Songs In The Key Of Life" and "Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants" albums.

FlametopFred

February 4, 2009 @ 5:36 pm

Another side development of this GX-1 technology resulted in the Electone flagship models, which are often overlooked. In tandem with the CS-80 was the E-70 which Pete Townsend used on some Who recordings. Similar models that share circuits and sounds to the E-70 include the E-50, the E-45, E-75 and D-85. (In the USA the model 7000 was made in America, as was the model 415) The nice thing about the Electone E-70 is that they can still be found and had for under $500 which makes for a nice alternative to the CS-80, and of course adding a synthesizer on top helps to recreate (some of) the feel of playing the mighty GX-1.

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