Wasp Synth Hats
Description: Launched in 1978, the "Wasp" was EDP's best-received product. It was named after its black-and-yellow colour scheme. For cost reasons, it did not have a mechanical keyboard; instead, it used flat conductive copper plates, hidden under a silk-screened vinyl sticker. This alienated some players who thought the instrument lacked the expression present with a real keyboard. Despite these flaws, the Wasp was fairly advanced technologically. It was one of the first commercially available synthesisers to adopt digital technology, which at the time was just beginning to become a standard. It also utilised a proprietary system for connecting several Wasp synthesisers together, predating MIDI by several years.
Description: Containing a single PCB with a hybrid digital VCO and analogue VCF design by Chris Huggett, the Wasp was released in 1978 for an amazing £199 by UK company EDP and was distributed by Rod Argent's Keyboards. Advertised as being "One of the biggest advances in synthesizer design — an ultra low‑cost, high‑performance instrument unmatched by synthesizers several times the price", it quickly gained cult status.
