gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 (edited) I had someone pick up the piano. yeah. (I was dreading paying someone to haul it away.) they're taking it to burning man - so they had a box truck with a hydraulic lift, and two guys (but my son's were home). they're very excited - as they'd advertised their area would have a piano- and they didn't have one.... so - now. I'm in the market for a decent/affordable digital keyboard. I plan on putting it on a stand. any suggestions? anything I should avoid? (know about weighted keys, size of keys, and pedals, etc.) Edited August 21, 2019 by gardenmom5 spelling 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCB Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Following. My dd is interested in getting a keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 beginner …. ok - those who know digital pianos. there's a roland rp-301 a couple hours away (for 1/3 what it would have gone for retail.) would it be worth it? or a samick agp-151u digital piano? for half the price of the roland. (I get hits on "g", not "u". - I figure the U is for upright, the g for grand.) said it used to be at a music school. the only Yamaha clavinova I found was from the 1980s. - the upright was getting frustrating to play, the keys were not moving the way they should, not returning to position, etc. so I'm looking forward to replacing it- and I dont' have to pay to haul it away - so that can go towards a digital. the thing that has bugged me most about digital - the old ones - it they sound like digital... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 (edited) I really like my Yamaha Arius piano (I have the 181 model I think). I think it's close enough to an acoustic piano that the average person wouldn't be able to tell, based on feel and sound. Edited August 21, 2019 by sgo95 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTVKath Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 (edited) Our piano teacher has several of the Casio Privia PX-160 keyboard in her studio and recommended the same for us. We were fortunate to find one used on Craigslist. It has full-size, weighted keys and a nice sound. Edited to add that we also have a regular piano but it's almost 100 years old and will only tune relative to itself which means it is a little flat. That's been its limitation since the 1980s. It sounds lovely when played alone but we are doing online lessons and discovered you can't play a piano tuned relative along with a piano in tune. 🙂 Edited August 21, 2019 by CTVKath 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 following... also gave away our piano last year. I miss it and am in the market for a digital one I can put in our sunroom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 2 hours ago, CTVKath said: Our piano teacher has several of the Casio Privia PX-160 keyboard in her studio and recommended the same for us. We were fortunate to find one used on Craigslist. It has full-size, weighted keys and a nice sound. Edited to add that we also have a regular piano but it's almost 100 years old and will only tune relative to itself which means it is a little flat. That's been its limitation since the 1980s. It sounds lovely when played alone but we are doing online lessons and discovered you can't play a piano tuned relative along with a piano in tune. 🙂 We have the Casio Privia 160 as well and that is a great baseline 88 weighted key entry level option. It also travels fairly well. My son has taken piano 13 years and plays advanced level rep (he's actually heading to college in music next week). He has been playing on a 1915 piano for YEARS. Luckily it was maintained very well. My grandmother taught piano lessons on it. It is just starting to have problems holding a tuning. And I think there is a little peg work our tuner can do to fix that. He has used the keyboard for travel and composing. It will hook up to his laptop. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 (edited) Anyone know about Yamaha dgx series? Supposedly a "portable " version of a clarinova type. (Yeah, right. The keyboard is 40+ lbs.) Seemed to have good grand piano sound. It will take a stand and three pedal bar. (But the pedals are plastic...) Eta: I don't like auto correct... Edited August 21, 2019 by gardenmom5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 5 hours ago, CTVKath said: Our piano teacher has several of the Casio Privia PX-160 keyboard in her studio and recommended the same for us. We were fortunate to find one used on Craigslist. It has full-size, weighted keys and a nice sound. Edited to add that we also have a regular piano but it's almost 100 years old and will only tune relative to itself which means it is a little flat. That's been its limitation since the 1980s. It sounds lovely when played alone but we are doing online lessons and discovered you can't play a piano tuned relative along with a piano in tune. 🙂 okay - I actually found a good deal on one - bit of a drive though.... does it have in/out usb? I'd like to be able to hook it up to my computer for lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 47 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said: okay - I actually found a good deal on one - bit of a drive though.... does it have in/out usb? I'd like to be able to hook it up to my computer for lessons. My son uses our Previa with his laptop via usb port. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 We have a Yamaha P-115, got it two years ago, and I've been pleased with it. It doesn't have that "digital" sound - they used good recordings of a grand piano - and the keys are weighted nicely. It doesn't take as much force to play as their teacher's grand piano, but uprights are the same way, and they don't have any problems moving back and forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 We bought a Yamaha one in 2014 that has worked very well as a travel piano early on (when we used to go away for a month each fall) and now is my 16 year old's "gig" piano, as she can travel with it. The one we got s no longer available but is comparable to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-Sustain/dp/B07BSM7PFL/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Yamaha+P+Series+P105B+88+Keys+Digital+Piano&qid=1566415747&s=gateway&sr=8-3 We also bought an extra pedal. It's held up quite well and seems as good as it was when we bought it. Probably gets about 50-80 hr/yr of playing time and is otherwise safely ensconced in our pet-free mess-free dust-free music room. My dd has a Kawai grand piano now (which is amazing), so this is just a secondary one for travel. I know nothing about pianos and rely on her teacher and our tuner's advice on these things. (Her teacher had recommended this model back when we bought it.) So far as I can tell, though, the keyboard works well for what it is. (No comparison to her grand piano, but clearly, that's not a realistic goal.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 UPDATE: Ok - I'm down to two: if you had your druthers, would you rather have better weighted keys/good sound vs good weighted keys/better sound? both have three pedals available - though one of them only comes with one and I'd have to buy it later. (I believe both have half-damper/sustain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 15 minutes ago, StephanieZ said: We bought a Yamaha one in 2014 that has worked very well as a travel piano early on (when we used to go away for a month each fall) and now is my 16 year old's "gig" piano, as she can travel with it. The one we got s no longer available but is comparable to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-Sustain/dp/B07BSM7PFL/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Yamaha+P+Series+P105B+88+Keys+Digital+Piano&qid=1566415747&s=gateway&sr=8-3 We also bought an extra pedal. It's held up quite well and seems as good as it was when we bought it. Probably gets about 50-80 hr/yr of playing time and is otherwise safely ensconced in our pet-free mess-free dust-free music room. My dd has a Kawai grand piano now (which is amazing), so this is just a secondary one for travel. I know nothing about pianos and rely on her teacher and our tuner's advice on these things. (Her teacher had recommended this model back when we bought it.) So far as I can tell, though, the keyboard works well for what it is. (No comparison to her grand piano, but clearly, that's not a realistic goal.) extra pedal? so you have two single pedals hooked up to the Yamaha? or is it just "one" pedal? I want a digital - I'm not nearly where I'd want an actual acoustic grand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said: extra pedal? so you have two single pedals hooked up to the Yamaha? or is it just "one" pedal? I want a digital - I'm not nearly where I'd want an actual acoustic grand. My piano player is out of the house until late . . . but I'll try . . . I *think* she uses one GOOD "sustain" pedal that we bought separately, to replace the one that came with it. The replacement pedal was a separate purchase -- maybe $30 -- but it had/has fuller functionality/feel more similar to that on the "real" piano. The purpose of the keyboard and the pedal were for her to practice on when away from her regular piano . . . and so "feeling" as close to a "real" piano was a priority. You *can* get an accessory with all 3 pedals: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/accessories/lp-1/index.html but, when we really needed it for travel practice, my daughter didn't need those other 2 pedals for the stuff she was working on. Now, she just hasn't had the need for it, either, because she really only plays modern type stuff on the travel keyboard which doesn't use those other pedals (which I really don't understand anyway, lol) and she reserves the serious hard core classical stuff with need for all the fancy pedals, etc, for her grand piano (which is in the same room at home). I'm sorry if my wording of how one uses pedals is nonsensical. I am NOT a musician, so I don't have the language to describe things correctly. I just write checks, clap, and drive, lol. (I have always left instrument choice/details up to teachers and the kid/musicians . . . I just write the checks.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 I have a Casio Privia Pro. I also like the Yamaha Arius. If you have a Costco membership, they usually have some good bundles for some decent digitals when they start their early Christmas shopping that include the digital piano, stand with pedals, and bench. I've seen both the Yamaha and Casio lines through them. Usually, I would look for one that has both good sound and good response, but I would look on sound for a good piano sound-all the others are extra. A quick response is important for harder, faster music, and the Privia has been fine for that, as was the Yamaha I'd had since grad school and finally replaced. The Privia doesn't have as many sound options as some of the Yamahas-or even some of the cheaper keyboards that are designed more for fun do, but it sounds good as a piano-and better than the rather clunky pianos that I end up teaching on! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 3 hours ago, gardenmom5 said: UPDATE: Ok - I'm down to two: if you had your druthers, would you rather have better weighted keys/good sound vs good weighted keys/better sound? both have three pedals available - though one of them only comes with one and I'd have to buy it later. (I believe both have half-damper/sustain) I think it depends on your goals. If you intend to go back and forth with an accoustic, I would pick better action. None of the pianos sound "real" to me so that would be a tough sell here. But if you liked the sound of another better and you were just going to be playing on that, I think that could be a good pick too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 6 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said: I think it depends on your goals. If you intend to go back and forth with an accoustic, I would pick better action. None of the pianos sound "real" to me so that would be a tough sell here. But if you liked the sound of another better and you were just going to be playing on that, I think that could be a good pick too. yeah - I won't be going back and forth. there's also a roland and a casio privia I'm looking at, the pros seem to like them better than the yamahas in that price range. (part is keyboard - the privia was rated a best buy by one of them.) the timbre with different pressure.... the roland and the casio also look like a piano - rather than an overly large keyboard on a stand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70.thumb.jpg.5bd00bf7e586852fb617d604a2c434ee.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.