ARP Avatar
The ARP Avatar was a guitar-controlled synthesizer, manufactured by ARP Instruments, Inc. beginning in 1977. While innovative, being one of the first commercial guitar-controlled synthesizers, it was a commercial flop for ARP, and is widely blamed for causing the financial collapse of the company.
Nearly $4 million was spent in the first year on production and R&D for the Avatar, and the $3,000 machine sold only about $1 million worth of units over its lifespan. Guitarists were not quick to adopt the new technology, mostly due to the unit's price and technical eccentricities. The Avatar, however, did find a few advocates and paved the way for more successful guitar synthesizers. Because of its architecture - essentially an ARP Odyssey with a 6-way "fuzzbox" distortion effect - it has regained a little stature among collectors as a standalone synthesizer.
