toy guitar with great rhythms and accompaniment

This electronic toy guitar has instead of strings a row of 15 yellow "keys", those basically correspond to the white keys of a monophonic keyboard, except that (in guitar mode) the tones are only played when the big, yellow, flat "lever"(?) is pushed up or down, which provides a half- way guitar- like feeling. (Pressing multiple keys plays the highest pressed note, pressing no key plays the lowest note - like on a real monophonic string instrument.)

In "rhythm" mode notes can be played to one of 15 rhythms. In "demo" mode the instrument plays by each yellow key a preset e-guitar loop. In "ABC" mode the instrument plays rhythms with accompaniment, and the player controls the pitch/ key of the accompaniment with the yellow keys, while the yellow lever plays a drum roll.

main features:

• 15 "keys" to play 16 monophonic notes (no black keys)
• yellow, flat lever to trigger notes (with no yellow key, the lowest note is played)
• 15 rhythms {country, rhumba, rock 1, rock 2, rap, disco, march, tango, swing, ballad 1, ballad 2, slow rock 1, slow rock 2, waltz 1, waltz 2}
• rhythm tempo {+, -} buttons
• demo button (plays per key 1 e-guitar loop so long the key is pressed)
• "ABC" (accompaniment) button
• "dual" button to enable/ disable chorus effect
• "TIM" button to select 4 e-guitar timbres
• LEDs for "power", "tempo" and 2 for the 4 "TIM" modes)
• "stop" and power on/off button
• volume slide switch (3 steps)
• sound generator based on digital waveforms (monophonic main voice with chorus)
• rhythms based on squarewave sounds + shift register feedback noise:

• base (low click),
• cowbell (high squarewave),
• hihat, snare (shift register noise)

• The CPU contains a 1 bit pulse width modulation D/ A converter which outputted sequences of on/ off pulses get turned into analogue waveforms by a capacitor. This sample output frequency intermodulates higher notes and gives them an unusual glassy timbre.
• DC voltage controllable clock oscillator
• neither sound output nor power supply jacks

Here you see the pitchbend sensor rail that made from silvered wire. In the middle these rails are held by eyes of thinner wire.

These are the 4 red status LEDs (covered by differently coloured caps).

modifications:

• cinch sound outputs, speaker mute switch and AC adapter jack added.
• pitch, 2 different distortions and volume control potentiometers added.
• pitchbend sensor touch contact added.

notes:

The sounds of this instrument are quite unique; the synthesized monophonic e-guitar sound has an interesting timbre (a bit harsh like "My Music Center"), but particularly the rhythms are made from great, impulsive, blippy squarewave sounds, similarly like the Hing Hon EK-001, which makes them perfect for tekkno and similar electronic music.

Strange is that the yellow edge of the fret board is a separate blue plastic parts with a row of holes (one per key) covered by only a yellow sticker. Possibly the manufacturer planned here a row of key lighting LEDs or similar, but the feature was not implemented in this instrument. The CPU seems to be an old variant of My Music Center technology (see there) because although it has no percussion samples, it employs the same strange bit stream DAC with DC controllable clock oscillator.

An almost identical looking toy guitar with violet and blue case was released by Simba together with a lousy toy mini- keyboard in the "Music Set" (product number 683 0506). But this guitar contains totally different hardware based on the great Simba 683 3149 toy keyboard. Unfortunately it sucks because this CPU was not designed for a guitar case and thus lacks sharp keys and 2 of the drumpads etc. (its big yellow lever is simply wired parallel to one of the keys). At least the great tribal rhythms and POKEY sounds are still there.
 

removal of these screws voids warranty...
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