I FREAKING LOVE the Chonchords! Their live special is on BBC4 tonight at 9:30pm. Can't wait!
I used to do volunteer work in a recording studio back home as a teenager and they had a DG-20 in the back room somewhere... I played it and it was weird but cool!
I have a DG-20. It was the first of the series, and has no midi. Which is kinda cool cuz you treat it like a real guitar instead of a keyboard.
The tracks on this song have the basic DG-20 beat on it, but there are also many other electronics over it not from the DG-20.
I have been using it a little more of late, always gets the stares and raised eyebrows, but musically it adds nice colour. Trouble is it's a bit awkward as I use the AC instead of batteries, which it munches up by the minute. Also, the weight isn't balanced, it is very heavy on the bottom.
sorry to be a casio pendant anonymous but the DG-1 was the first of the series - less frets, less ergonomic controls, the DG-10 is the DG-20 equivalent without midi.
for those who wish to imitate bret, you can indulge here: http://cgi.ebay.com/CASIO-DG-20-MIDI-DIGITAL-GUITAR-PG-MG-SYNTHAXE-RARE_W0QQitemZ270165981696QQihZ017QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Great ! I recently bought one for 5 euros at a thriftshop and I love it, I offered a guitarist friend to midi-play a riff for my composition. He was horrified with the "instrument" and even tried tuning the strings...
sorry to be a casio pendant anonymous but the DG-1 was the first of the series - less frets, less ergonomic controls, the DG-10 is the DG-20 equivalent without midi.
I picked up a DG-1 from a thrift for $2. They probably would have tried to treat it like a more serious instrument, if someone hadn't already apparently tried to modify it. It had bare wire ends hanging out of it and I found lots of little bits of trash paper inside. It wasn't hard to get working again, but I was in for a huge bummer when I discovered that the tuning is controlled by a variable cap/crystal configuration, allowing only about a half step of range regardless of shorting it etc. There went my whammy joystick idea :( While it's great fun sometimes, I've really struggled to figure out how to add just a little bit of expressiveness. I might just rig up some kind of photocell to modulate internal filtering/volume based on hand position etc. and be done with it.
Just bought DG10 at a junk-yard auction today - only 2 strings still connected - others are hanging, having been snapped at the connectors on the bridge - taking off the bridge-plate - you can still pluck the sensors and play the thing like a bass - will try to reconnect the other 4 strings - the sounds are typical early Casio - but I am sure there must be some bend-mods that are possible - a but reluctant to try it withou some more reading ...