The Stepp DG1 was invented by me (Stephen Randall) in 1985 with electronics designed by Dave Simmons, inventor of the Simmons Electronic drums. It was the world’s first digital guitar, a totally solid-state instrument, with the physical interface of a guitar. It features semi-conductive frets that detect fretting and bends, and strings that detect when touched, plucked, strummed, or muted. Those actions are translated into digital signals to control synthesizers and/or to create completely new sounds.

The Stepp looks like it has conventional guitar strings, but in fact, has separate neck and strum strings. The center cap (with the Stepping Man logo) covers the string pick-ups and terminations. The strings are all the same gauge and can be tensioned via a key contained within the headstock.

The DG1 system comprised of the guitar and a separate "Life Support System" LSU, power supply and electronics designed into a guitar stand.

Uniquely, this design had virtually no latency, unlike pitch-to-voltage hybrid synth guitars of the day (like Roland).

The DG1 sold for $3,500 when it was released in 1987 and won a British Design Award, presented to me by Prince Philip in 1988.

The Stepp guitar was mainly sold to professional musicians including Pete Townshend, Steve Howe (see photo of Steve with the DG1), The Bee Gees (video link included below), Kate Bush (video link included), Tears for Fears, Andy Summers and record producers including Terry Britton (Tina Turner) and Steve Levine (Culture Club). It was also featured in the movie Vice Versa (approx 41 mins in).

Do not confuse this classic guitar with either the SynthAx - a digital guitar-like controller with strings and keys, designed to control the Fairlight sampler or the Casio DG1 (I wonder where they got that name from?) - essentially a toy guitar.

Approximately 500 Stepp DG1 guitars were manufactured before the Stepp company was sold to a music investment company, that funded a stripped down MIDI only version, the DGX. Sadly, within a year of the DGX's launch, they discontinued the product line.

I'm also selling the "Go Case" for the guitar and soft bag for the LSU stand. Only 100 Go Cases and soft bags were made.

Finally, I'm including a painting by Fraser Taylor which was one of a set used for the design of the Stepp "Stepping Man" logo. Fraser was part of an art and design collective that designed many record sleeves and fashion collections at that time.

Please Note: This vintage digital guitar has a dead internal lithium battery which has not been replaced as it is soldered to the PCB. As a result, the synth memory patches are non-functional and the synth section of the guitar is non-functional (possibly for the same reason). I've been told by a synth electronics expert that the synth voice boards (which are in the LSU stand unit) should also be serviced by replacing all the capacitors. Those issues impact the synth sections, not the MIDI aspects of the instrument, and all other aspects of the electronics are unaffected. So the guitar can be used as a MIDI controller with related tuning functions and whammy bar functioning perfectly.

Some online posts and videos for this rare instrument are listed below (I can't include actual links in Reverb, but you can find them easily enough via Google):

Stepp DG1 Digital Guitar (SOS Feb 87)

Tomorrow's World on sampling and MIDI with Midge Ure (about 1 min 18 seconds)

Bee Gees - You Win Again - 1987

Kate Bush - Experiment IV

I have many fond memories of Stepp, but I have two of these classic guitars and I am downsizing, so it's time to let one go. Please feel free to email me for more information.