Yamaha Combo Keyboards Catalogue Circa 1980
The Image
In the early 1980s, Yamaha produced a catalogue that had a cover photo that was iconic for many keyboardists. The photo for their Combo Keyboards catalogue featured some of the best Yamaha keyboards produced at the time. These units were all pre-midi and while they had Control Voltage I/O, etc., they were fundamentally stand-alone units. The image to the right is this 1980 photo.
Since then, many of these synths/keyboards have become highly collectible. Some now are commanding prices in the tens of thousands of dollars. The catalogue photo every so often appears on social media, much to the delight of new and old keyboard players alike.
The catalogue pictured is my original. It has been with me for decades and I will likely keep it for as long as I can. I had hole punched it to keep in a binder and forgotten it. Recently, I discovered this, and other vintage product sheets, in a storage box.
Please note, this project was done to fulfil my dream and a personal challenge. I am not affiliated with Yamaha in any way. I do however, say thank you Yamaha, for being in my life for as long as I can remember!!!
1980 Yamaha Combo Keyboard Catalogue
2021 Reshoot
We did the Yamaha reshoot at the LIA Sound Stage. We knew we needed a cyclorama backdrop, but the timeframe didn’t allow us to build a more permanent solution. We opted to create a temporary white room.
First, we built a 12x14 foot truss structure for the backdrop. On this we placed continuous lighting for the set. Originally we intended to use one of our white spandex backdrops with white tile to be the background. During the test shots we determined that there was a deviation in colour that would be noticeable. We switched to a large photo paper backdrop for the floor and walls for consistency.
All synths in the photo are from my collection. For the reshoot, the CS-50 has replaced the CS-80. The CS-60 and CS-80 still elude my collection. The mixers have been replaced by similar, not identical mixers. I used 2 Yamaha M406s instead of PM-170s. The M406s contain a effects loop and a more comprehensive EQ. For the purists, the throne is black, not brown.
One of the key challenges of the reshoot was to do minimal photo editing. I noticed after the fact that one of the foot pedals had been moved, also the wires were not in the correct position. I could have edited this but decided that I would leave as is.
There are very few digital edits for this photo. There was a stand that was present to hold the CP-10. It showed minimally in the original photo and was removed. There were minor blemishes on the floor from moving the keyboards. We used protective footwear, but that did not prevent a couple of minor scuffs. Everything else is as photographed, and the keyboards are not edited.
2021 Yamaha Combo Keyboard Reshoot