# Name of a musical instrument..

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 27, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798 "2003-06-27T17:40:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sympatha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@Sympatha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sympatha)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798/1 "2003-06-27T17:40:32Z")

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Whats the name of the instrument that looks like a combination of a guitar and a keyboard? It has the neck of a guitar, but the body has a keyboard… whats the point of it, anyway?

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798/2 "2003-06-27T17:43:43Z")

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I think it’s some sort of synthesizer. I think you can make the guitar sound like a variety of instruments. I could be 100% wrong, but I thought I saw something like it on TV once.

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**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798/3 "2003-06-27T17:49:58Z")

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[The Keytar](http://www.keytarmusic.com/)

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**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798/4 "2003-06-27T19:56:21Z")

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There are several makes of keyboard like that. Roland made some a few years back. Moog had one. They have sort of gone by the wayside in the last few years.

As for how it works. Normally, the keyboard is a regular keyboard. Some models have on-board sounds while others are simply a MIDI control (you play the keyboard but the sound comes from another synth). The neck of the keyboard (left hand) has a pitch bend or modulation wheel (for tremelo effect), or both.

The point of a keyboard like that is so the keyboard player can jump around stage like a guitar player. That’s really the only use.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-musical-instrument/184798/5 "2003-06-27T21:39:01Z")

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I recall seeing a mutation of guitar AND keyboard in Stacey Q’s video, “We Connect”.

The guitar synthesizer Kalhoun is probably thinking of the [Roland G-707](http://www.lucky.se/rolandg707.gif).

There was also the [SynthAxe](http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/axe1a.jpg).