Stylophone Retro Pocket Synth

by ThinkGeek

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 4.8 x 2.4 inches ; 8.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001JJN3FK
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,496 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #3 in Musical Instruments > Keyboards > Electronic Keyboards > Synthesizers & Workstations
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2000

Product Description

The Stylophone is a miniature stylus operated synthesizer invented in 1967 and used by such iconic musicians as David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Erasure. It features a metal keyboard played by touching it with a stylus. That's right, over four decades ago with computers the size of a gymnasium and nary a PDA in sight the Stylophone was a portable electronic music instrument with stylus based control. This exact recreation of the original sounds the same as it did in the 60s. Simply remove the pen and tap any key for classic synth sounds. There is a switch to add vibrato and you can choose from one of three different retro organ type sounds. The tuning knob on the bottom allows for some pitch-bend effects if you must. The Stylophone is one of the simplest electronic instruments you will find, but it's minimal style is a big part of its charm.

Requires 3 AA batteries (not included)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool Instrument, September 4, 2009

By 

Andrew J. Wesolowski "Drummerwezman" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stylophone Retro Pocket Synth (Electronics)

I recently saw this thing for 25% off, and thought i'd give it a try. I wasn't sure what it would be like, but it is pretty fun. My favorite thing about the new stylophones is the MP3 jack, you can play your mp3s through the speaker and jam along, it's quite fun. I might have given it five stars, but after about ten minutes of playing the keyboard area was obviously scratched by the stylus. I'm betting the build quality is not as good as the original, but hey, it works and is very cheap to buy.If think you might like it, go for it. Even if it does break later on you barely spent any money on it and you had some fun.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Piece of nostalgia, October 22, 2009

By 

Leonardo Lee "Leonardo Lee" (Bellevue) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stylophone Retro Pocket Synth (Electronics)

This is something I bought for just because I needed a portable keyboard on the go. I have fallen in love with this piece of equipment. Not only was it cheap , but it can play in three octaves using a switch and it can bend pitch almost up an octave. It also works as a portable speaker (sadly its Mono). You can also use it with earphones or a Amplifier. Overall this stylophone synthesizer is loads of fun.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the perfect toy!!, August 17, 2009

By 

L - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stylophone Retro Pocket Synth (Electronics)

just got this in today, and i love it, it has that now antique synth sound, like out of a fellini movie, response is excellent considering the price, nice and loud, with three dif octaves and a pitch knob on the bottom, i love it, you cant get sounds from scary movie to church organ,and to beat all that, very very cool design, it looks like a anacronism embedded in the dashboard of a 57 chevy, or imagine a furturistic 350 style top panel on a fender tube amp, ok thats silly, but this things cool