Rocky Mount Instruments

Early models

The origins of RMI date to 1959, when Allen started using transistors in their organs instead of vacuum tubes. A separate division was set up to see if this technology could be used for portable musical instruments. A patent was filed in 1963 on the group's electronic keyboard design. Most models were designed at the company headquarters in Pennsylvania and manufactured in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which led to the sub-division's name, Rocky Mount Instruments. Production started off in part of a former tobacco warehouse, before moving to a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) factory employing 100 staff.

The first models produced were combo organs in early 1967. The Explorer cost $845 and was a four-octave instrument that had a dedicated oscillator for each key, and was fitted with a "flying hammer" mechanism that repeatedly made or broke the oscillator's electrical connection, giving a strumming sound like a banjo or mandolin. The Lark was a three-octave organ which shared an oscillator between every two notes. Other instruments included the "Band Organ" (a three-octave electrical imitation of a calliope), manufactured from 1968 to 1969.

The first electric piano model was the "Model 100 Rock-Si-Chord" in 1967. Retailing for $695, it contained two sounds (string and lute) but was later updated as the "Model 100A" which contained additional sounds (harpsichord, cembalo, lute, and two guitars). The "Model 200 Rock-Si-Chord" cost $995 and added an additional 4' voice, which required an additional set of tone generator boards for each key. Allen's Tom Emerick later said the Rock-Si-Chord was manufactured first because harpsichord voices were easier to design and manufacture than piano ones. The Rock-Si-Chord was discontinued in 1968.

RMI had no experience in the rock and pop market, as Allen had been used to selling instruments to churches and theatres. They produced advertisements featuring a mascot, "Gopher Baroque" and described the instrument in typical slang of the era, such as "I mean, you start swinging this axe and plastic things like crumble."