ARP Avatar

Avatar
ARP Avatar
Manufacturer ARP Instruments, Inc.
Dates 1977
Technical specifications
Polyphony Monophonic
Timbrality Monotimbral
Oscillator 2
LFO Sine, Square
Synthesis type Analog Subtractive
Attenuator ADSR, AR
Memory none
Effects 1
Input/output
Keyboard none
External control CV/Gate

The ARP Avatar was a guitar-controlled synthesizer (guitar synthesizer), manufactured by ARP Instruments, Inc. beginning in 1977. While innovative, being one of the first commercial guitar-controlled synthesizers, it was a commercial flop for ARP, and is widely credited with causing the financial collapse of the company.

Nearly $4 million was spent in the first year on production and R&D for the Avatar, and the $3,000 machine sold only about $1 million worth of units over its lifespan. Guitarists were not quick to adopt the new technology, mostly due to the unit's price and technical eccentricities. The Avatar, however, did find a few advocates and paved the way for more successful guitar synthesizers. Because of its architecture - essentially an ARP Odyssey with a 6-way "fuzzbox" distortion effect - it has regained a little stature among collectors as a standalone synthesizer.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.