Whatever your age or musical background, think of a Clavinet and your first thought will almost undoubtedly be the track "Superstition' by Stevie Wonder and indeed, there is possibly no finer or more famous example of the Clavinet at work.

However, the Clav was used by a wide range of other artists such as George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Billy Preston and countless others too numerous to list here.

The one thing that ties these and other artists with the Clav is the word "funk" - the Clav is arguably the funkiest keyboard sound around, even today. With a throaty bottom end and an almost electric guitar-like top end, the Clavinet has carved itself a unique position in music history.

The brainchild of inventor and musician Ernst Zacharias, the intention was to create a portable, electric harpsichord. His first design was the Cembalet in the 1950's but, after several revisions, this was to develop into the Hohner Clavinet D6, the instrument we know and love today.

The sound was created by striking strings with hard rubber 'tangents' (hammers) - the strings' vibrations were then converted to electrical signals using electro-magnetic pickups not unlike those found on electric guitars. To the left of the keyboard were several large rocker switches that allowed you to create different tones.

Many synths feature clav sounds today but often these are short samples with short, single cycle loops. The Nostalgia clav has eighteen long samples mapped out across the keyboard.