Stevie Wonder

In this photo, Stevie Wonder plays a Yamaha Motif XF8 live.

In the photo, Stevie Wonder is pictured playing the Hohner Clavinet D6, highlighting his long-standing association with this iconic electric keyboard.

According to this December 1999 Sound on Sound interview with Paul Wiffen, Wonder owns the last produced Synthex (made from spare parts) and used it on "Skeletons".

Unfortunately, by the time my guerilla marketing started to pay off - getting the Synthex on TV with players like Peter Oxendale in Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Mark Stanway of Magnum and Phil Lynott in Grand Slam - Elka had lost faith in the instrument and were selling it off directly for £500 through the music technology magazine Electronics and Music Maker. Some people got a magnificent bargain, considering the original retail price was over three grand. As payment for programming work on some hideous FM-based unit that Elka came out with (my mind has deliberately blanked out the model number), I got Elka-Orla to give me two of the last Synthexes and to ship one of them to Los Angeles, where I was moving. Called in to try to make sense of Stevie Wonder's new Sequential Studio 440 drum machine (into which my Prophet 2000 samples would thankfully load), I was soon up to my old tricks, asking if I could bring in other synths. Next thing we were MIDIing the OSCar and Synthex together for the killer bass sound on his 1987 single 'Skeletons' and I was in there. After the album's release, I toured the world with Stevie as MIDI programmer, ensconced under the stage with the Synclavier guy. Unfortunately, because of their limited MIDI implementation, neither the Synthex nor the OSCar went on the road (except recorded into the Synclavier), but Elka-Orla cobbled together one last Synthex for Stevie from several ones that had been cannibalised for parts (because I refused to sell him mine).

In this photo, Wonder can be seen playing a Yamaha Motif XS8.

He can be spotted here using Sub Phatty.

Stevie Wonder Live Concert, using a VV73 with Black Sparkle Top

In the case of 'Pastime Paradise', a Yamaha GX1 served as the starting point. A huge and powerful polyphonic analogue synthesizer, with chrome pedestals and a curved metallic body, the GX1 — introduced in 1973 as a forerunner to the CS80 — housed three keyboards, a pedal-board, a ribbon controller that produced modulation changes, two swell pedals and a spring-loaded knee controller, along with a variety of buttons and switches to program, store and recall sounds. The top three-quarter-scale, three-octave, 37-note keyboard had half-size keys and offered unprecedented touch control; the other two five-octave, 61-note standard-size keyboards were equally functional, with horizontal position control enabling the player to achieve effects such as vibrato by moving the keys side-to-side.

In this photo, Wonder can be seen playing a Yamaha Motif 8.

Stevie Wonder is mentioned as a user of the ARP 2600 synthesizer on Vintage Synth Explorer.

In this 1984 photo a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer is visible in the background. Used on the Woman In Red album. Also played live in 1985.

Stevie Wonder is photographed playing a Fender Rhodes keyboard on AIR Studios in Montserrat during sessions for Paul McCartney's Tug of War album.

In this 1984 photo, a New England Digital Synclavier II is visible in the background. Probably used on Woman In Red.

In this photo an Oberheim OB-8 synthesizer is seen among Stevie Wonder's keyboards.

Stevie Wonder playing a Vibanet at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut in 2015.

Stevie Wonder frequently played a Hohner Clavinet C in the late '60s and early '70s. This was the Clavinet model used on the song "Superstition." Additional photos can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.

According to SynthMuseum, Stevie Wonder owned the very 1st Oberheim Four Voice that was produced (then Chick Corea got the 2nd one, then Herbie Hancock got the 3rd one).

Famous Fingers Who Played This Instrument? [...], Chick Corea - the second one one made, [...], Herbie Hancock - the third one made, [...], Stevie Wonder - the first one made, [...]

In this photo from 1983, Stevie Wonder is spotted playing a PPG Wave 2.2 synthesizer. Possibly appears on Woman In Red soundtrack.

In this 1984 promotional photo, a Roland Jupiter-8 is seen in the background. Likely used on Woman In Red.

In this photo from the Motown 25 performance, a Yamaha CS-80 can be seen towards the right.

Stevie Wonder can be seen playing Roland RD-700 in this video (LA, 2013)

Svevie Wonder can be seen playing Roland AX-Synth Shoulder Synthesizer in this photo. He seems to have been playing that synthesizer in concerts since 2009 when it was released.

Yamaha DX1 FM Synthesizer is behind him in this studio. The description of the photo in the SOS article says "Stevie Wonder and Gary Olazabal in Wonder's Wonderland Studio, 1986," which suggests that he used the DX1 to record his work in the 80s.

"On the other hand, the little Roland was affordable. OK, £1,800 was far from chicken feed in the late '70s, but the Jupiter 4 undercut each of its competitors by around 50 percent. Consequently, the list of its owners became a 'Who's Who?' of the era, including Kitaro, Gary Numan, Tangerine Dream, Stevie Wonder, Tomita and, perhaps most famously, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. "

Stevie Wonder can be seen playing Korg Triton pro-x in this page. The concert is "Stevie Wonder during KTWV 94.7 A Wave of Peace Benefit Concert at The Great Western Fourm in Inglewood, California, United States."

Svevie Wonder can be seen playing Yamaha EX5 Synthesizer Workstation (2000).

In a 1968 performance, Stevie Wonder can be seen using the Hohner Clavinet I on the song "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day." Stevie acquired the Clavinet I for his tenth studio album For Once in My Life, starting in 1968, as he was seeking a keyboard instrument with a guitar-like sound. According to Jim Allen on Reverb, "The jazz, funk and disco pedigree of the Clavinet is very well documented elsewhere; the earliest Stevie Wonder recordings are from 1968, notably ‘Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day’, preceding the classic multitracked Clavinet milestone ‘Superstition’ by four years."