Danny, you can view the history of Yamaha products here, in case you haven't already found it.

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/chron.php

We used an Elka Rhapsody, a sort of strings synth in one of the bands I played in many years ago...the guitar player owned it...he probably still has it.

It did the synth strings pretty good, especially for those Disco type tunes.

Ian