Ok, so this is from the '80's, but I'm glad I didn't see it or I would have had to get one.  Hehe... 
 

Allan Holdsworth at the end there!

As cheesy as this thing is, I find myself strangely drawn in by the quietness and the clarity of that video presentation.
 
By comparison, most product reviews these days are an assault on the senses - usually, after 30 seconds, I've reached my limits and only heard superlatives...

Rain
As cheesy as this thing is, I find myself strangely drawn in by the quietness and the clarity of that video presentation.
 
By comparison, most product reviews these days are an assault on the senses - usually, after 30 seconds, I've reached my limits and only heard superlatives...

Definitely!  Lots of interesting features on that thing but I bet getting parts is fun. 

sharke
Allan Holdsworth at the end there!

"It's really amazing!" he says at the end. Tho I think he was referring to the price...
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SYNTHAXE-MIDI-Guitar-Controller-SYSTEM-w-Cases-owned-by-Jeff-Baxter-16912-/171248572023?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item27df35d677
 
Is this the most expressive (if not the most expensive) MIDI controller I've ever seen? If they had been moderately priced and had evolved into something more compact and better looking it might have caught on.
 
***
Wikileaked: When originally produced, the SynthAxe was priced at 10,000 pounds (approximately $13,000 US dollars) and eventually sold for about $8,000.00. It was such a sophisticated and expensive piece of machinery that few were sold making it difficult to keep the company afloat.
The SynthAxe is no longer produced and it's very difficult to locate used units (fewer than 100 were made).
*** 
 
After all. it IS just a controller.

soens
After all. it IS just a controller.

Allan Holdsworth NOT included.  LOL!

Interesting, but most of that can be done on a regular keyboard synth, and those were probably a lot cheaper.
But it could be played differently though.
And played easier with some types of playing style.
 
and they had digital in the '80's. And analog to digital and all of that.
So the quietness would be to me nothing new, funny how some people want tape sounds but usually that ends up noiser.
Oh, well.
 

holdsworth made this thing do amazing things.
absolutely amazing.
 
i don't think anyone ever mastered it the way he did.
 
check out all of his catalog using the synthaxe..
my personal favorite:
 
FLATTire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie [reissued this year by Moonjune]
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhmLkVHNHcE
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GtbBmNEEWg
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-OCDAIKAh0
 
 
 
 

Back in the day, I got to see Holdsworth do a pre-concert SynthAxe demo/Q&A/meet and greet thingy, when I guess SynthAxe was sponsoring his tour or something.
 
And then a great concert (and he always has a hellified band).

Great for Horror Movies. Well, the video was like that in part.