Casiotone 301

We acquired this keyboard in 2021. We were on a big Casiotone kick because we really loved the faux wood. There are a handful of early Casio keyboards with big plastic buttons and grandiose wood grain, and once we learned about them we instantly wanted to find some. We grabbed this Casiotone 301 before we really even knew what it sounded like. Fortunately, it has a very cool sound.

Before we bought the keyboard, we were extremely curious about what controls it had. At the time, we couldn’t find any photos that had all of them in focus. So, when we acquired the keyboard, we made sure to document all of the labels for the controls and the inputs and outputs on the back.

We got the keyboard in winter. Between the cloudy days and our limited indoor lighting, we started to get a little bit of cabin fever. So, we took the Casiotone outside to our favorite parking lot and took some photos there. Although it sounds extremely suburban to have a “favorite parking lot,” we have dragged plenty of keyboards around the great outdoors (including the park, the beach, and the weeds outside the construction equipment rental lot) and we know that there are a lot of advantages to setting up the shoot on solid asphalt.

This particular parking lot has a limited number of spots with tall background shrubbery. Everyone wants to treat their car to the scenic evergreens, so, believe it or not, we have sometimes come here and had to turn back empty-handed. However, we managed to visit on a snow day, and were able to get our photo.