alleyandy

Hi All, I was searching for info on the Casiotone 501, and found this thread. I bought a 501 new, way back when (1980?) and still have it. As I write this, my kids are playing it right next to me! The MS jack on the rear panel, a 5-pin DIN, is for a barcode scanner. There were song books available back then, with barcodes instead of standard music notation, and you would use the barcode to scan in the song. Once scanned in, you could sit back and listen to it play, or use the "melody guide" (a position on one of the switches). The melody guide would light up an led (red for white keys and green for black) which correspponded to the next note to be played. The keyboard would not let you continue until you pressed the key under the LED, and no other key would sound. There were accessory pedals available for volume and sustain, but I didn't buy them. At the time I purchased this unit, there was also a 701 available, which was much larger, with more keys. As I recall the price was quite a bit more, so I settled on the 501. Somewhere I have the service manual for this unit, though I don't know if I could find it easily. If anyone cares, I'll look for it. I also have the scanner and some books somewhere, too. I'll see if I can dig them up, and post some pics. Thanks!