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#101301 - 11/07/01 02:09 AM Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
Marc Bischoff Offline
Member

Registered: 11/25/99
Posts: 42
Loc: Rotterdam, NL
Hi,
I own a Kurzweil PC88 at the moment but the keys are getting worse after 4 years of extensive playing. Now I would like to buy a new stage piano. Main purpose is to play piano sounds, but others like e-piano and dig. piano rhodes etc are welcome of course. I was thinking myself of buying the PC2X of Kurzweil (till I saw the price ;-)
Weight is not the absolute main point for my decision but it does count.
I tried the P80 of Yamaha and was not really impressed by the way it looks, sounds and feels. The RD100 and RD150 are better but not really yet IT.
I read about the Technics SX-P50
I heard demos and was pleased with the sound. Does anybody own it or did you try it?
How does it compare to other brands?
I also consider a Roland fp9 which is classic in a way but I think it will be difficult to find, because it is an older model.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Marc

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#101302 - 11/07/01 07:33 AM Re: Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
Mike H Offline
Member

Registered: 03/25/99
Posts: 161
Loc: Homer AK
Marc
I play an Fp-3 Roland - and have been through the gamut of other brands. My music is lating/swing/original jazz. For my taste in lightweight high end sounds that are piano-pianos - there is only the Technics SX-P50, Yamaha P-80 and the Roland FP3. They all have a good piano sample subject to taste - and are very much limited by the fidelity of your sound system. They are all around 1k$. Technics support/info system was zilch around here, and the Yamaha sound was not my favorite - so I went with the FP3. If you don't need alot of midi capability or endless sounds - and value your back - its easy to avoid most of the equipment out there. As far as feel of the keyboard - this is completely subjective in my opinion - just look at the difference between acoustic pianos! You can learn and adapt to all of them if you choose. I've been playing for 45 years now and am pretty demanding as far as sound goes.

regards
Mike H

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#101303 - 11/07/01 07:38 AM Re: Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
Mark,
The model I'm surprised you didn't mention is the new roland RD700. This is the best roland piano out there. It has the 128 note polyphony, graded hamer action, easy to use and unlike other models it has pitch bend, mod wheel, aftertouch and comes with hundreds of their best sounds including drums, brass, guitars, and has room for two expansion boards. It also does simple splits and layers and has a built in drummer. All this for around $1795.00. A bargain.
Also, Roland makes the FP3 which is also their graded hammer action with great piano and other keyboard sounds but also with some guitars, brass, strings, easy splits and also includes a basic arranger section with some preset accomp. styles for around $1200.00.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

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#101304 - 11/07/01 08:26 AM Re: Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
JMPCPA Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/23/00
Posts: 21
Loc: Cleveland, Ohio USA
Mark,
I recently purchased a stage piano for the church I attend. I tried out the following:
Roland RD700, Technics SX-P50, Kawai ES-X,
Yamaha P80. I selected the Roland RD700 for many of the reasons George stated. It has a very good action, great acoustic and electric piano sounds. It also has many other good sounds (organ, bass, pads, strings, etc.) It also has expansion slots for two roland srx expansion cards (the same expansion cards used by the XV5080). The only disadvantage is the weight (54lbs) of the keyboard. We paid around $1,800 and felt it was by far the best stage piano for a very reasonable price.

If I needed a lighter keyboard and could only pay about $1,000, I would choose the Technics (1st choice) or the Kawai (2nd choice). They both are about 35 lbs and have excellant piano sounds. They both sounded much better than the Yamaha P80. Tehcnics utilizes "string resonance" in their sample. Kawai has a similar technology called harmonic imaging.
Their piano samples sound much more like a real piano than the P80. The accoustic pianos on the Technics and Kawai were both very good. I liked the electric pianos and organs on the Tehcnics better than the Kawai.

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#101305 - 11/07/01 02:40 PM Re: Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
Marc Bischoff Offline
Member

Registered: 11/25/99
Posts: 42
Loc: Rotterdam, NL
Thanks everybody.
George you are right I forgot the RD700. But in fact I will use my future stage piano either as the only keyboard on a night or in combination with my X1 (or maybe SD1 in the future). I know I can get a lot of more features for the 700-800$ extra, but in fact when I play only the stage piano I will propably use only a good piano sample, maybe two, and a good e-piano sound on the whole evening. More or less the same when I will combine it with my X1. If I need good brass, strings, organs etc. I have my X1 anyway, right?
The the question is why carry every sound double with me. I know the Roland has nice sounds and extra drum maybe even some stuff I dont habe on my X1, but is it really worth to carry a much heavier and more expensive keyboard around for couple of extra good sounds. I also have a JV880 module which also uses the same expansion boards the RD700 uses, so in that case I could carry even more Roland sounds with me via MIDI if I wanted.
I know it sounds like I am trying to convince YOU but actually I am talking to myself.
I almost never use the extended ,asterkeyboard functions that my PC88 has and neither do I use all of the beautiful sounds. It comes down to maybe 5 sounds I actually really USE on a performance (besides my X1).
I believe I will be better out with a simpler stage piano in combination with the SD1 that I am planning to purchase sooner or later.
BTW, today I went to try out the Technics P50 in a local shop here in Rotterdam. I like it a lot. But how stupid to put a DEMO button right on top of the panel!!!
I am sure I would hit it at least once a night by accident and would treat my audience on a spontanious Chopin etude! Only one button stoped me from buying it!. (I mean what's the use of 19 demo songs????)
I also tried the Fp-3 and I like the piano a lot, maybe even more than the Technics, but I am not sure on that. But I sure don't need that arranger feature etc. I know ther is a fp-9 wich has basically the same stuff the fp-3 has but without the hassle-bassle. Can you actually still buy the fp-9 new? How much is the retail price of a new fp-9 at the moment (I know it is couple of years old already). I really think the fp-9 would be my piano. I played it on many gigs and It always felt ok. The technics is still an option for me.
Any more thoughts,? George?

Marc

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#101306 - 11/07/01 04:36 PM Re: Stage Pianos: What's your choice?
Mike H Offline
Member

Registered: 03/25/99
Posts: 161
Loc: Homer AK
Marc

I think there is now a successor to the FP9 - not sure of the model - but I remember reading about it somewhere. It is bound to sound good - probably the same sample and keyboard as the fp3 - a few more functions and probably the onboard sound system - which you have to need in order to justify going away from the fp3. I sure agree with the poster re: the Technics sound - but service may or may not be a problem. The basic problem with the fp3 for some folks is the simplicity of it - no expansion - just decent piano, elec. piano sounds. For some it is enough.

regards
Mike

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