Sorry, Ian, but in a perfect world, you are absolutely right

Trouble is, here in Arrangerland, most of us haven't spent our entire musical lives only playing piano. In fact, probably a large majority of us have played very little, if any, piano at all. Under that set of circumstances, once again the 88 wood falls to live up to it's potential for most arranger users.

Yes, the very best of us could probably get a decent performance out of an 88 after quite some considerable practice, but let's face it, again... most of us are not getting any younger The same factors that prevent many from being able to move anything heavier than a flyweight keyboard would prevent the comfortable use of an 88 for any length of time. Carpal tunnel syndrome is the bane of those that play a LOT of piano as they get older, along with rheumatoid arthritis and the like.

So, yes, in a perfect world, an 88 wooden arranger SHOULD be able to be used for all sounds but organ, in the REAL world (you know, the one where you prefer a mushy 61 for just about everything including piano ) it's weight, both in playing and moving, make it impractical for the majority of arranger users.

I have a real piano, and play it most every day. But there is no way in hell I would try to go out and do my schedule on an 88. I find no problem whatsoever controlling my G70's awesome grand piano sound from the 76 semi, and the ease with which I can not only play all the other sounds, including authentic organ smears and the like make it a no-brainer for those that a) play both full piano AND Hammond parts, and b) want to take only ONE keyboard to a gig.

Both the 88 wood and the 61 plastic are incapable of doing BOTH, and both is what I need, every day. No, I am not Jordan Rudess... Neither is anyone else on this forum, from what I've heard I sincerely doubt hardly ANY of us could play an arranger so facilely on a wooden 88. Go to your favorite source for the truth, Yamaha's sales figures, and look up how many 88 wood arrangers are sold, compared to 61 plastic...

Now, if they would only make a plastic 76....