Yamaha SHS10 Keytar

The SHS 10 is a small 2+ octave clavitar [keytar] that is worn around the shoulder and played guitar-style.I picked mine up for nothing as it was slightly lacking in keys and would not power up,but I got it working well enough to find it was quite cheesy in its sound production and not really very well equipped,and there could be only one reason for their extortionate prices on Ebay - the provision of the MIDI out socket.

As with the Casio DG-20 - this extra facility means that although cheesy - the unit becomes a MIDI controller and does not need to make noises of its own. As it is lightweight and battery powered,it is incredibly useful (and perhaps cool-looking - especially in cherry red as opposed to the more common silver-grey,I think there is also a rarer black version) as a controller for more powerful synths.The handgrip sports a pitch bender,which as I found is not actually a high resolution version,but as you will find if you visit YOUTUBE,this little piece of (rather too expensive) hardware can make you sound like Jan Hammer if you have your MIDI lead connected to (rather more expensive) other synths.

The casing is plastic and apt to break,especially where the guitar strap button is - so often times the Ebay models are lacking this or the battery case. The whole unit is rather flimsy and it even seems that there are not separate keys but a whole moulded key section,which means if one key breaks - the whole lot needs replacing. As it happens my model also had a broken power switch,which I bypassed,so check for broken guitar strap assemblies,missing battery cases and broken power switches.I suspect also that the AC adaptor input socket might go easily,though one hopes that jigging around on stage might be a better idea with batteries installed.

SOUNDS

The main sounds cover the usual orchestral ranges and are selected by the numeric green 0-4 keys after the light blue voice button is pressed.Given that the two digit LED display goes to 44,you might imagine you get 44 sounds,but no.The digits are entered one at a time TV-channel-style meaning you enter the tens and then the units which chooses block 0-4 and then sound 0-4 within that block giving 25 sounds in all.
Sound 00 is Synth but actually sounds like brass. The sounds are typical of DX-style instruments sounding metallic,but are not classy and do not reflect the prices the SHS fetches. The whole point of the SHS seems to be that it is cool as a cucumber,putting this thing through an effects box or cabling it to a bigger synth allow keyboard players to do the Jan Hammer trip of careering around a stage like a guitar player which is why it has the appelation "keytar" [a term you might try using in the ebay search box].
The 3 effects Vibrato,Sustain and Portamento can be added to the sounds using the green buttons on the SHS "arm". These are only active whilst the button is down and not toggle switches. They are well placed next to the pitch-bender and it is possible to hold down all three whilst still pitch-bending,but it might be questioned whether the effects should have had toggle switches as they are on the PSS-series.
The three effects are actioned via MIDI,so they cause the same effect on any remote keyboard.
The pitch bender is low-resolution but the range can be altered when the pitch bender is up or down by use of the + and - buttons.

RHYTHMS
As with the sounds,the rhythms are again accessed using the digits 0-4 after pressing the purple style button ,giving 25 rhythms covering the usual ranges,each having 3 fills and an intro and ending. The rhythms sounds are quite cheesy and are reminiscent of the much cheaper keyboards. There is a synchro facility for auto-starting the rhythm box and a chord sequencer with 3 storage sections for making chord backings. There are 6 modes for the auto-accompaniment section - perhaps a tad more than is useful.

• Normal mode turns off the auto section.
• Auto bass & chord turns the entire keboard into the auto accomp controller.
• Melody on ABC is perhaps the most useful mode.The chord/bass changes when playing 3 or more keys,but playing one key reverts to playing the main sound.
• Auto bass does the same thing as melody on ABC except the chord vamping is muted.This allows the bass to follow any chord you play with the main sound.
• Auto chord is the same as melody on ABC except without the bass.
• Single finger ABC turns the entire keyboard into autochord/bass played with a single finger.

The Tempo can be adjusted using the blue +/- keys which rather oddly displays tempo from -19 to +19.

MIDI

There is one green button in the Parameter change section which allows selection of one of the 16 midi channels,that is the end of the midi aspect of this unit. In principle allowing you to play drums from the keyboard on Channel 10 or 16 remote keyboards.

The auto accompaniment sections send on MIDI on channels 12-15 and the drums on Channel 16 which seems to make it compatible with the PSS series. Modern synths have drums on Channel 10.
The MIDI sync timing pulse is also generated along with stop/start.

The demo is Last Christmas by Wham.

Good points: The guitar-shape design of the SHS is a brilliant idea and adds to the feel that you are playing something more like a guitar.MIDI controlling is the major benefit of this item,but in that it hardly excels as there is no velocity control and pitch bend is limited,though with its excellent looks and MIDI ability its coolness is probably what brings high prices on ebay. The well-placed effect controls on the arm make it easy to add some variation to playing.
You cannot underestimate the power and freedom of standing and moving whilst having a large synth respond to this little lightweight controller - that,I suspect,is it's greatest appeal.Even better if it happens to be a bright red.

Niggles: There is no modulation apart from the vibrato level and rate is fixed,so you cannot do those deep modulations like old Moogs.
The internal sounds are passable but hardly useable unless effected.The rhythm box is disappointing.

Expect to pay: You can pay a sight more than I did for one of these,they can push £80+ on a good day - way overpriced if you ask me - but much sought after. Nominally they fetch over £40,the cherry red versions being pricier due to rarity,and perhaps aesthetic appeal.

Yamaha SHS200 Keytar

Much sturdier and maybe a tad classier - the SHS200 is the bigger brother (or sister) of the weeny 10 - these perhaps are actually WORTH £80 but tend to fetch much more,due to their rarity.

[Details to follow]

Expect to pay: Anywhere from £80-200.