Kawai R-50 Drum Machine - $75 (Kennewick)

condition: fair

make / manufacturer: Kawai

model name / number: R-50

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The R50 is an early, 12-bit digital drum machine, released back in 1987. The on-board sounds are a real time-capsule of nostalgic 80s pop-rock glory: very crunchy and punchy because of the low bit depth, and with two flavors of kick and snare available (one pair is more-or-less natural sounding, the other pair is just HUGE). There are some useful Latin percussion elements as well – agogo, claves, conga and timbales – plus the usual cymbals, hats and toms; and shaker and tambourine, too, which is nice to find on an older machine. Also, very cool for its era is that it has 8-note polyphony, so you can do cymbal rolls and all sorts of flams and stuff without notes getting cut off.

Everything works fine with it. Cosmetically it's in fair shape. Being over 35 years old, the plastic is brittle in some spots. The screw holds have snapped which allows the lid to come up. (see photos.). Maybe some super glue is in order. I usually just use Gorilla Tape on brittle plastic, but that should be the decision on whomever purchases it. The LCD isn't backlit but it's works fine. It has MIDI In and Out, stereo audio outputs, and comes with a non-original but appropriate power supply. All in all, a very nice little blast from the past: if your style includes retro, synthwave, 80s throwback pop or similar, this should slot into your setup perfectly.

It includes a foot switch and the manual. A check on Reverb and eBay prices these things from $230 to as high as $400 and up. That surprised me. $75 and its yours.

post id: 7903704496

posted: 2025-12-20 12:40

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Kawai R-50 Drum Machine - musical instruments - by owner - sale -...

The R50 is an early, 12-bit digital drum machine, released back in 1987. The on-board sounds are a real time-capsule of nostalgic 80s pop-rock glory: very crunchy and punchy because of the low bit...