DG-20 Digital Guitar Synthesizer + Controller

Back in 1987, this guitar synth burst onto the scene as Casio's bold answer to the electric guitar, ditching traditional pickups for a sensor-driven rubber fretboard that let players trigger sounds with zero tracking delay—perfect for lightning-fast licks, hammer-ons, and slides.

At its core, it's a PCM sample-based digital synthesizer with 20 onboard presets spanning guitars, organs, and more, all polyphonic across six equal-gauge nylon strings that vibrate sensors at the bridge for pluck detection and velocity sensitivity. The 22-fret rubber pad handles precise note triggering via contact points, while four front-mounted drum pads let you bash out snares, toms, and cymbals alongside 12 built-in rhythm patterns you can tempo-match, start/stop, or fill. Controls are straightforward: master and rhythm volume knobs, mute switch, sustain/reverb footswitch input, and MIDI out (omni or poly modes, even per-string channels for layering external synths). It packs a battery-powered 4-inch speaker, 1/4-inch line out, headphone jack, and runs on six D-cells or AC, all in a hefty 39x13x3.7-inch gray body weighing 7.7 lbs.

Vintage players dig its instant response and MIDI prowess for driving modern gear, calling it a "professional" fretboard controller ahead of its time, though some note the learning curve for precision on the rubber neck and basic '80s tones that prioritize fun over realism.