Son of one of A-ha’s ‘80s keyboard players posts photo of his dad’s epic synth stage rig

Many kids find their parents mortally embarrassing, but a Reddit user (TGR201) has shown an endearing level of pride in his dad by posting a photo of his ‘80s synth setup. This isn’t any random collection of keyboards, either: it’s the rig that his father used on stage during a 1989 South American tour with pop legends A-ha.

The player in question - who, based on his credits, we suspect is English keyboardist Bob Noble - was using a rented rig that featured (from top left in the photo) a Roland Juno-60, a pair of Yamaha DX7s, a Roland JX-8P, a Roland D-50, and what may or may not be a Roland Juno-106. 

Following a request for more information about the setup, the Reddit poster’s dad sent an email to his son saying: “I inherited this synthesizer setup from the previous keyboard player who was unable to play that particular tour due to previous commitments. I think that the reason for so many keyboards was that there were so many different sounds that were used, in fact on one song I had to make eight patch changes on the intro!”

In response to the praise being heaped on him by commentators, the mystery player said: “I am flattered that some people think I’m cool!”

Some Redditors didn’t have it so lucky, though, with one wryly noting that their dad didn’t even have one DX7 when they were growing up.

“Explains a lot in my life,” they quipped.