Korg RK-100S

Picture this: a keytar that revives the rockstar flair of the 80s but packs a modern MMT analog modeling engine right inside, no external module needed. With its wooden body in lustrous black, red, or white finishes showing off the woodgrain, it's as much a stage statement as a sound machine.

The 37 slim velocity-sensitive keys keep it lightweight at around 33 inches wide and just under 3 inches thick, perfect for slinging over your shoulder on batteries for eight hours of play. Dual ribbons—one short on the neck for quick bends, one long across the front for pitch, scales, or filter sweeps—unlock wild expressivity, backed by two virtual analog oscillators, noise, PCM/DWGS waves, wave shaping like drive and oct saw, and multimode filters from -24dB lowpass to bandpass and thru. Layer or split up to two timbres across eight voices (four in vocoder mode), tap into a 16-band vocoder with formant shift and hold via the mic/audio input, or fire off the arpeggiator in six patterns; favorite buttons and illuminated controls make live tweaks intuitive, with MIDI out and USB for more.

Players love its punchy, versatile programs—200 strong—for leads and solos that cut through mixes, though some wish for aftertouch on those slim keys. It's a gem for guitarists dipping into keys or anyone craving portable performance power.