I've never owned an FS-500, but we had one as the teacher's instrument at the Yamaha Electone School where I taught for several years. If I remember correctly, it was a triple manual, with the uppermost being made mostly for solos. It was VERY heavy, as I remember moving it around when they were putting in new flooring....a real beast to be sure. I would guess it was around 300 lbs., so you had your work cut out for you, Don.

Back in those days these instruments were as far up the ladder as keyboard technology could go, as much of the newer stuff was first tried out on Yamaha's Electone series...Yamaha's monster GX-1, or "Dream Machine", as Stevie Wonder called it, was in actuality an Electone organ. Nowadays, a Tyros4, or S950 blows this stuff, and pretty well anything else, into the weeds at a fraction of the price, and a portion of the weight.

We were fortunate to be playing at a time when all this stuff was sent to Weight Watchers to be transformed into something so much more manageable, and yet, far more powerful.

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling the Tyros4 will quite likely be my last major investment in an arranger, and at less than 35 lbs., it certainly is within my target weight for a keyboard and has everything I could want in an arranger.

Like many others are experiencing, local "live" arranger playing gigs seem to be getting scarcer with each passing year, and, at 63, I am glad I have been able to "semi-retire" (only doing the occasional Yamaha demo gig) and have also been fortunate enough to be able to move into much more affordable and smaller living quarters, so I guess I've downsized in more ways than just arranger keyboards.

Ian