Casio MT-52

This keyboard is very easy to use - its all clearly labelled switches and sliders. Just in case you hadn't realised, it has "Electronic Musical Instrument" printed underneath the Casio logo. The manual was probably lost years ago but there's certainly no need for one.

As the MT-52 is a home keyboard from the first half of the 80s (I think), there is no MIDI and it is not velocity sensitive. It is not expandable in any way (unless you consider a headphone socket expandability) and will switch itself off after about 5 and a half minutes of being ignored. It does, however, have a "sustain" feature which gives the sound about a 2 second decay after the key is released. 8 note polyphony, which is reduced to 4 note when the "Casio Chord" feature is engaged. 44 'midi' sized keys, which feel light but good quality. There are 12 voices: Piano 1 and 2, Harpsichord 1 and 2, Celesta, Electric Guitar, Jazz Organ, Pipe Organ, Flute, Violin, Trumpet and Synth Reed. The rhythm section has 8 different rhythms (including the obligatory bossa nova, disco, and beguine!), attributes of which can be altered using the undoubtedly cool "Super Drums" switches. The bass drum, snare drum, conga and cymbal/hi-hat switches have three different options each which alter the rhythm, etc. The final switch, bass/chord, gives a choice of three different "Casio Chord" accompaniment patterns for each of the rhythms. As in most other Casio keyboards, the "Casio Chord" feature comes in three flavours: "Off", "On" (which forms either major or minor triads), and "Fingered" (where the keyboard tries its best to guess what chord you are playing). When engaged, "Casio Chord" snatches the bottom 15 keys on which it practices its art. The only really frustrating thing on this keyboard is that the tempo of the rhythm is controlled by a small slider (giving you stupidly slow, ridiculously fast, or somewhere paddling in the middle) which would make it very difficult to synchronize the MT-52 with anything else. That said, for a 20-something year old home keyboard, I think its features are rather good, but this last point shaves some points off.

The MT-52's sounds are mainly unrealistic but some are, in my humble opinion, surprisingly usable. Like most of its kind, it has good organ sounds (hence Pipe Organ and Jazz Organ are highlights), but Trumpet, Flute, Synth Reed and Harpsichord 1 are also cool in their own quirky way. It is only really let down by the strange piano sounds. You can get excellent results by running the MT-52 through some effects. The drum sounds, as expected, are unrealistic but would surely find a home in a lo-fi setting. As said before it is not velocity sensitive but some of the effects will develop vibrato if sustained for more than a second or so. Switching on the sustain also gives a rudimentary reverb effect. For what it is, I think the sounds are cool and it sounds refreshingly out of place alongside todays sampled keyboards.

It is built very solidly - it doesn't even creak much when I try to bend it. The only worry I'd have is that the protruding switches might get knocked off. If I gigged with it I'd feel rather special.

I don't think Casio would be particularly receptive if I tried to get customer support on a keyboard of this age!

If my lovely MT-52 was lost or stolen I would try and replace it, either with another MT-52 or a similarly aged Casiotone. I think it was definitly worth the #10 I paid. It certainly has a personality you don't get on many of todays home keyboards. If you're reading this review, chances are you'll find the farmyard-ish brown and tan colour scheme cool and appealing, too. So if you see one, grab it and surprise yourself.