Stage Pianos

[SumOne]

I've been gtting  into the dangerous territory of keyboards (dangerous for the wallet!), speciafically Stage Pianos and I'm looking for recommendation in the <£2k sort of price rage (new or second hand).

 

The things I want:

 

• Good sounding Piano, EP, Organ (ideally with drawbars), and synth would be a bonus but not essential.
• 73 Keys (semi-weighted), good keybed. 
• 'Hands-on' design for the controls (for live use without menu diving).
• Relatively light/portable.
• Tough/reliable for live gigs and moving around: Gigs every couple of weeks, rehearsals each week, set up at home in-between.
• Decent professional level type connections and power supply (including a tough IEC type power cable rather than barrel would be ideal).
• Budget: £2k 

 

I've owned a Yamaha CK 61 for 18 months and it has has had a decent amount of use - both at home and for gigs, it shows me this isn't just a flash in the pan or quick impulsive decision for something that'll gather dust. The CK 61 is good start for a decent enough Stage Piano but I'm starting to feel it is lacking in a couple of areas: Mostly as I'd prefer an extra Octave (especially for split points) and  it is starting to feel a bit on the budget end of being a professional instrument e.g. things like a barrel power connector are not as roadworthy as I'd like, the keybed is just 'okay' and the keys are slightly smaller than standard, and as I get more into playing I think I'd start noticing an upgrade being worthwhile and noticable for playability, sounds, robustness.  

 

Any recommendations? That £2k sort of price seems to be the level that most manufacturers have their entry-level of professional stage pianos: 

• Nord Electro 6D 73 (this is my front-runner)
• Yamaha CP 73
• Viscount Legend 73
• Korg SV2 
• Roland Fantom 07
• .....or second hand could get to things like a Nord Stage 2.

 

Or is this just me wanting new stuff?!  A: Yes! ...but I think something like a Nord Electro 6D 73 would be quite a significant upgrade to the CK 61 in terms of feel, sounds, robustness.

 

My 'buy stuff justification' maths says:

• £1,920 for the Nord Electro 6D 73. (or about £1,500 with part-ex for my CK-61, and I do also have a MPC Key 37 that could potentially get sold/part-ex for about £500, but I thik of that as a different thing I'd like to keep - as it's more for home production, sampling, sequencing and synth sort of stuff).
• After 10 years (about the time that updating a Nord seems worthwhile) it'd still be worth about £1k (given that the asking priice for an Electro 4 from 2015  is about £1k). So that'd cost me less than £100 per year (or £50 per year if you include the CK-61 being sold...or free if I also sell the MPC!). Who can argue with that?! (I'll give you a clue: I'm married to her!).

 

In a word that is increasingly asking for subscriptions/pay monthly and throwaway stuff/things with planned obsolescence I do find that my 'buy stuff justification' for musical instruments a wonderful thing!

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by SumOne

[Hellzero]

Why don't you go the full Monty with an 88 keys keyboard as these are the real professional pianos?

 

If you like the Nord Stage Pianos, they use the Fatar keybed, which is, to me, excellent, and you can get the Studiologic (same company as Fatar) Numa X Piano GT (wooden keys) as it ticks all your boxes, except the IEC socket, or its sibling with plastic keys, the Numa X Piano 88 or 73.

 

I own the controller version of the Numa X Piano GT, called the SL 88 GT Mk2 and it's a delight to play.

 

That said, look at Kawai with their MP7 SE and MP11 SE (both with IEC sockets), and their portable digital piano (so with integrated amplification and speakers), the ES 920 (again all with 88 keys, but no IEC socket), 

 

But don't forget the Roland 88 keys RD-88 EX (no IEC socket) or RD-2000 EX (IEC socket) and the FP-90X (no IEC socket), which is the equivalent of the Kawai ES 920...

 

And of course, the Casio high end digital portable pianos (no IEC sockets) models like the PX-S 5000, PX-S 6000 and the superb looking PX-S 7000 (they all share the same keybed).

 

They are all in your price tag or bit higher.

[Hellzero]

If you want to have real good demos, watch Stu Harrison at Merriam Music as his demos are really honest, not like at Andertons where they are just yelling and jumping everywhere and touching all the buttons just because they are there.

[SumOne]

17 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Why don't you go the full Monty with an 88 keys keyboard as these are the real professional pianos?

 

If you like the Nord Stage Pianos, they use the Fatar keybed, which is, to me, excellent, and you can get the Studiologic (same company as Fatar) Numa X Piano GT (wooden keys) as it ticks all your boxes, except the IEC socket, or its sibling with plastic keys, the Numa X Piano 88 or 73.

 

I own the controller version of the Numa X Piano GT, called the SL 88 GT Mk2 and it's a delight to play.

 

That said, look at Kawai with their MP7 SE and MP11 SE (both with IEC sockets), and their portable digital piano (so with integrated amplification and speakers), the ES 920 (again all with 88 keys, but no IEC socket), 

 

But don't forget the Roland 88 keys RD-88 EX (no IEC socket) or RD-2000 EX (IEC socket) and the FP-90X (no IEC socket), which is the equivalent of the Kawai ES 920...

 

And of course, the Casio high end digital portable pianos (no IEC sockets) models like the PX-S 5000, PX-S 6000 and the superb looking PX-S 7000 (they all share the same keybed).

 

They are all in your price tag or bit higher.

Nice one, they all look decent. I'll look into them in more detail. 

 

The IEC socket isn't a deal breaker. I'd prefer it, but it is more that I find it generally a sign for everything from DJ mixers through to multi-fx and keyboards that they've been made with more robust longevity for gigging/roadworthness in mind. 

 

I would like 88 keys in some ways - especially for home use, so that isn't a deal breaker either but what puts me off for live use is that extra size and weight (I play some quite packed pub areas and need to transport it in a VW Polo). At the moment, I've found I can get by with 61 keys and octave buttons but 73 keys would be better especially for splitting the sounds, 88 just feels a bit unnecessary for my use.