I reckon that was more like 78. I was fronting the Roland GR500 guitar synth (released in 77) and Dave was knocking people out with the CS80, released in 78. I think I spent more time jamming on the Yamaha stand with Dave than on Roland - I could not get enough of the CS80.
As you may remember, Monzino distributed Yamaha, Norlin (Gibson, Moog, Lowrey) and Roland, which was tiny by comparison at that time. Moog had a massive production around the Polymoog, Big Lights, Sound, voice overs, and screens which showed the instruments you were supposed to kid yourself you were hearing. They had a lovely guy by the name of Val Podlasinsky demonstrating. It was tough, because even with a bare stage and a couple of monitors, the CS80 was just another league.
And I distinctly remember standing at the bar with Dave, and him telling me Yamaha were now working on an instrument that sounded like the kind of thing you’d get from a ring modulator. Maybe we met at that bar on the Monzino stand, and that was the conversation!
Which one do you intend with “this one”? The Studio Bösendorfer Imperial?
From the communication of VSL I understand this is a updated/cleaned version of the now legacy Imperial Grand:
The venerable “Vienna Imperial” is back! This Bösendorfer Imperial 290-755 that was recorded in the controlled acoustic environment of our second studio, the Silent Stage, is now powered by our advanced piano player.
"All three microphone positions (close, player, distant) are now available separately in the player’s mixer, with elaborate tweaking options and audio effects. The entire sample base has been meticulously updated for optimal playback in the piano player.
As a registered user of the discontinued VI Vienna Imperial, your crossgrade price to the new Studio Bösendorfer Imperial,"
I compared now a bit more detailed the old and new, and they seem very, very similar. The new one is a bit cleaner and there is some difference in reverb as far as I can hear. I would think it is the same sample base.
I can’t pinpoint the year. I remember the GR500, but it’s unlikely that it was in 1978. I was 16 at the time, and I started “working” as a demonstrator the next year.
I’d say the year is not important, thinking too much about it might drive me mad (or mad more)!
I met Val Podlasinsky, but not at the fair. It was at the Monzino headquarter, definitely a lovely guy.
The new piano is named Studio Bösendorfer, and the older one is Synchron Bösendorfer.
The sampled piano is the same Imperial, owned by VSL. The older one was sampled with the reverb of the larger studio.
The new piano has a louder, more metallic “boing” at high velocities, similar to some Steinways. The old piano is softer and somewhat less modern, I prefer it.