So I got my new YPG-625 and I'm really enjoying the sounds and features. The main reason I settled on this keyboard is great built-in speakers in a 40 lbs. package. It would have made no sense for me to buy a digital if it couldn't deliver good sound in a portable package.

Which brings me to Yamaha's "support beam." I don't think I'll ne using the stand much, but since it came with the package, I spent an hour assembling it. Come to find out, the one new item included with a YPG-625 that's NOT included with any other "Yamaha Portable Grand" is a support beam. In addition to adding about 3.5 lbs to the board, the support beam makes it impossible to play on a table or desk. There are screws hanging from the underside that would gouge into a table, plus which it makes the keyboard tilt upward at an awkward playing angle.

The only function I can see for the support beam is to support the greater weight of the YPG-625 to keep it from sagging in the middle after months of use. The support beam is therefore useless if the 625 is lying on a table, and in fact, there are little rubber pads -- apparantly for keeping the 625 in place on a table -- that serve no function when the support beam is attached.

Here's the thing. I can't imagine anyone carting that ungainly, uncollapsible, 15 lbs. stand to a gig, and I can't imagine anyone screwing and screwing the six phillips screws two or three times a week to use the stand at home. They are stretching the "portable" right about to a bust.

I see they have a $25 height adjustable table at WalMart. I think I'm going to buy two of them -- one for my apartment, and one to keep in a car for gigs where they don't have a suitable table. As far as I can tell from the manual, I'm not voiding the warranty by not attaching the support beam. The instructions for attaching the beam are in the section on building the stand. And while the manual warns not use to use any other stand with the keyboard, it doesn't say you can't use a table. And like I say, the rubber pads only serve a function if it's laying on a table.

So I say I still have a warranty if I don't use the support beam!! Any comments?

Rick