I’m going to purchase an electric piano and I’m having a lot of difficulty deciding which kind I should get. Hopefully there are some piano players out there with some advice.
It is important that it be 88 weighted keys. I am not interested in lots of little doodads and synthesizers. I am looking at new or used.
I’m not super familiar with the boards in those craigslist ads, as most of my experience is with portable performance synths, but if you’ve got the money, anything relatively recent is going to sound better than something old. And, if it’s new, you’ve got a warranty, etc etc etc. Yamaha is quality and reliable, and are basically kings of the home keyboard market. You really can’t go wrong there. Is $800 roughly your budget?
Yes, $800 is pretty much the most I want to spend. It’s a very big purchase for me so I want to feel comfortable with whatever I choose. Do you think new is going to be significantly better than used?
Unless you’re getting something only a year or so old, yes. The reasons are:
Mechanical. The actions on electronic keyboards wear down after extended use. Depending on how much a piano is used, it may feel fine after 10 years, or it may be beat to hell.
The sound. The amount of memory on these things dedicated to the piano samples is dramatically larger than it was 5+ years ago. You’re going to get a much more authentic sound on a more recent board.
And, basically, with a purchase that you’d hope would last a long time, unless you really know what you’re looking out for in a used instrument, you’re much safer buying a new keyboard.
Agreed: newer is better. The CPU in a digital keyboard is rated for the average number of hours of use it’s likely to get; 10,000 hours would be pretty typical, I think (that’s about 416 days continuous use). If you pick up an older model, you have no idea how much use it’s already seen.
Which piano?
I notice that all of the instruments there have built-in stand and speakers. Speaking from experience, those stands are not all particularly sturdy and they don’t take kindly to repeated disassembly/reassembly. If you plan to take your piano anywhere, to play at parties or if you move frequently, you might be better off getting a more portable digital piano and purchase a separate double-X stand. (This particular model is the one I bought: note, however, that it has no speakers! I bought it as a MIDI controller.)
That’s basically the piano dichotomy: if it’s got speakers and weighted keys, it’s almost always going to have a built-in stand; if it’s portable and has weighted keys, it has no speakers.
Kinda depends on what you’re gonna do with it; me, I’d go newer.
I’d go with the Yamaha as well - looked like one of the newer Clavinovas on cursory examination.
There is a series of ‘portable’ Yamahas with 88 weighted keys and speakers requiring a stand rather than having a built in stand. I am currently using the CP100 with the four legged Italian stand (because I find the x- stands aren’t stable enough for my tastes.) I say ‘portable’ because it’s f!@#$ heavy and awkward.
As far as those extra sounds go, if it has a MIDI port, you can then access all kinds of sampling software. Not my area of expertise at all, I just have a vague notion that it’s possible.
Just for curiousity, is there a Tom Lee’s in Nanaimo? I’ve had very good experiences with the piano staff in Victoria. And just because you go in to look, play and try out doesn’t mean you have to buy something.
I’d avoid the craigslist for musical instruments - there’s just such a huge variation between pristine and beaten to shit, esp. if the weight of the keys is important to you to begin with.
Before getting the Yamaha, might I recommend the Privia PX-700 made by Casio. I’m no expert, but my brother has been playing piano for years and has this model. He loves it. He did a lot of online research and this one got very good reviews. You’ll notice that is is $799 and has all three pedals instead of one. MIDI in/out also if you’re interested.
Definitely go and try them all out. Maxthevool and I went digital for our piano earlier this year, and tried lots and lots of models. We came home with a Yamaha - like you, we didn’t want bells and whistles*, just a piano which felt as analoge-y as possible. There’s a world of tiny differences between brands, and the best way to make the choice is to try them all! Also, remember the base price probably won’t include stand/stool.
My problem is that the piano is now tucked away in a spare room, so I never think to play it.
*At least, we THOUGHT we didn’t. I really like the ‘Piano and Strings’ voice for slow, soppy songs, and the ‘Transpose’ function is fantastic for when songs aren’t quite in the right key to sing along.
