Casio CT-360

It's as easy as it gets, and as basic as it gets. I imagine the manual must have been the size of a cocktail napkin. I suppose if you really had jazz chops you could get some Steely Dan-esque fun out of the "Jazz Piano" patch...

12 sounds, 12 preset rhythms. The beats themselves are pretty inventive, within the context of their categories ("rock1", "disco", "slow rock", "16beat"), and the fills (triggered by the "intro/fill-in" button) are hilarious. It has that Casio auto-comping/bassline generator. Which, unlike other Casiotones, is truly terrible. I've got a Casiotone MT-100 (you see one of those babies, GRAB IT!) and its auto bassline feature is far superior to this one. This one is truly unusable. Its one interesting feature is a built in "memory"- the most rudimentary sequencer you could imagine. Nice smooth and sensitive action on the keys, though. Better than a DX-7.
No MIDI, though it does have an ext. out jack (1/8th inch).

12 sounds. The piano sound is, well, a late-80s casio attempt at a piano. The jazz organ sound is great, though. As is "Elec piano" and "Synth-sound." I have yet to experiment with "trumpet" and "violin," but I suspect that with the application of a few judicial effects (a smidge of phasing, a little reverb) you could easily a couple of good pads...

Bought this at a flea market in Massachusetts for $25. It had most likely been sitting in that dusty stall in that flea market, plugged in and turned on, for years. I think the little built-in speaker is blown, because everything's a bit muddy.
I would definitely love to use this at a gig. And if it died halfway through... well, if you're using this at a gig, you're playing the kind of music where it's okay if half your equipment dies halfway through.

1988. This was made in 1988.

I bought this last week, and it sits near the couch and I whip it out like it was an acoustic guitar and noodle around on it. And I wrote 3 songs on it already. Full-size keys + a metronome = a great sketchpad. Gotta get a 1/8th inch-1/4inch cable, but I can't wait to record something with this guy. This keyboard is as crappy as it gets, but it's my new friend.

This thing is super simple. Just hit an instrument button and go.
manual is alright

I Think that it is 8 note polyphony, not bad for a toy from the late eighties there are no effects and no midi. darn!! one track sequencer is very straightforward

you cand really express anything but volume using the volume slider. preset beats are fun to play with

the only thing that has gone wrong with mine was the loss of the battery cover, but that is my fault. I have dropped it a few times and it still works. its a beefcake.

if it broke I would just throw it out. it is not worth any more than general postage. But dont get me wrong, its still a cool board

my equipment setup is weird. I make wierd experimental music, and a little bit of hip hop. I've made recordings by banging on a table with a stick, others with my $600 moog synthesizer. I wish this baby had drumkit as a patch on the keyboard and some simple midi capability. Okay, to sum it up, its an old crappy keyboard with cheesy sounds, but by no means is it not still a kickass board. It is a good artistic tool for experimental techno music making. It actually sounded incredible when I playeed it through thick effect setups including distortion, reverb, wah, and delay. If you own some nice effects units, and you see one of these babies at a garage sale going for $5, buy it!!! You wont regret it.

software version? I don't know what your talking about. The presets (all 10 sounds) are, you know, pretty alright - GOD DAMN ITS A 1988 CASIO! I think I tried putting it through a guitar distortion pedal once and that was about as close as i got to editing patches. I really don't think a patch editor would help. I think it used to have a manual, but really, ITS A GOD DAMN CASIO.

this keyboard is just the best. Don't worry about your tritons and trinities. 8 voice polyphony, no fx, two banks of 5 sounds everything from electric guitar (HAHAHAHA) to "synthesizer" - though I always loved the pipe organ and jazz organ sounds. And the piano, oh the piano. I'm glad I didn't actually pay 4 grand for that upright in the lounge room. The beats range from disco to samba to march, quite extensive really. Not exactly drum n bass material though. I suppose you could speed up the tempo and keep hitting that drum fill button.

As far as expansion goes, i think if you melted this down it would expand quite nicely into recycled coke bottles or something - you know, gotta keep green.

MIDI? you've gotta be joking. There is a power input, a line out, and well, thats it really - don't go getting too technical on the boys at casio. Although I wish I could get a decent keyboard that ran on batteries like this thing.

And the sequencer is really pretty good. Just hit record, wait for the metronome count in (tick tick tick tick) and GO! Don't expect anything with more than one track though.

Are some instruments very realistic? Yes I'd have to answer. This thing sounds like a casio. It emulates that casio sound perfectly.

It's good for rock 1, rock 2, disco, march, and waltz even. This thing is soooo versatile.

There is no velocity, there is no aftertouch...you could speed the tempo up on the accompanying beats and thats as close as you come to any kind of velocity.

I don't think i could depend on it anymore. I have to sticky tape the power plug in these days and sometimes it gets stuck ON and plays one note at full volume until you pull the power out of the back. It's a bit like old people getting senile... quite sad to see it deteriorate like that.

fraid not.

This goes down as my favourite instrument of all time. Why? Probably because it was my first. I got it for Christmas in 1988 - when I was 8 and it was the best thing I'd ever got or would ever think to get. It meant so much to me. Thanks mum, thanks dad. While i save for a triton all I have at the moment is my casio and my bernstein panno...although I get to use my mates korg electribes which is fun but limited.

As far as it getting stolen, i don't think thats gonna happen. If i lose it... well wouldn't that be funny (i think it fell behind the couch). I think it was worth what I paid - it was a present, i was 8 yrs old.

Well, I wish it was a triton. i wish it was anything but what it is. This thing seriously is a piece of shit. And the funny thing is, I saw it on tv (breakers for anyone who knows or cares here in oz) being played by some guy who was "gonna make it big in music." and he had no band or anything, he was just plugging away on his casio at the beach and people were standing around bopping their heads... man, it's the stuff dreams are made of! I'm sooo jealous.