Buying a digital piano
Discussion
I have a friend with one of these. They are amazing - when you first set them up you have to leave the room while the machine does an acoustic test of it's environment and adjust itself accordingly.
Family have always bought Yamamha keyboards etc. They are among the very best in everyone's opinion.
>> Edited by alexkp on Tuesday 26th April 10:52
Family have always bought Yamamha keyboards etc. They are among the very best in everyone's opinion.
>> Edited by alexkp on Tuesday 26th April 10:52
My last digital piano (Yamaha) went in the skip. It was funny how it went seriously wrong just when the warranty gave up. Planned obsolescence? Expensive parts and the key "rubbery things inside" wore out regularly and cost a fortune to replace, it sounded crap through PA speakers to boot.
I swear by Fender Rhodes pianos for the stage and clunkers for the home. I'd avoid any modern crap at all costs if you play it lots and lots.
I swear by Fender Rhodes pianos for the stage and clunkers for the home. I'd avoid any modern crap at all costs if you play it lots and lots.
love machine said:Mind if I ask how much you spent, was it new when you bought it, and how old/long ago was this?
My last digital piano (Yamaha) went in the skip. It was funny how it went seriously wrong just when the warranty gave up. Planned obsolescence? Expensive parts and the key "rubbery things inside" wore out regularly and cost a fortune to replace, it sounded crap through PA speakers to boot.
I swear by Fender Rhodes pianos for the stage and clunkers for the home. I'd avoid any modern crap at all costs if you play it lots and lots.
Mine will be played regularly - when spending thousands, one would hope the 'rubbery bits' of a modern digital would be uprated... enough not to cause concern anyway.
I'll be the only one playing, surely no bits will need replacing for many thousands of hours of play?
alex... yamaha do seem a good option, for rythm pianos.
UKBob said:
My last digital piano (Yamaha) went in the skip. It was funny how it went seriously wrong just when the warranty gave up. Planned obsolescence? Expensive parts and the key "rubbery things inside" wore out regularly and cost a fortune to replace, it sounded crap through PA speakers to boot.
I swear by Fender Rhodes pianos for the stage and clunkers for the home. I'd avoid any modern crap at all costs if you play it lots and lots.
Mind if I ask how much you spent, was it new when you bought it, and how old/long ago was this?
Mine will be played regularly - when spending thousands, one would hope the 'rubbery bits' of a modern digital would be uprated... enough not to cause concern anyway.
I'll be the only one playing, surely no bits will need replacing for many thousands of hours of play?
alex... yamaha do seem a good option, for rythm pianos.
Several £K and I can't remember the model offhand. It put me off digital pianos for good, which was a good thing. If they made one to last, people wouldn't buy another one. Makes me cross just thinking about it. I lost 3 months practice whilst at uni and it took me a good 2 years to get it back properly.
Not a nice story love machine. Unlucky 
I am thankful though, that I told the salesman on the phone just now I would consider any model with an open budget (not that I have an open budget, but its nice speaking to a salesman with an open mind rather than being pushed towards whatever product they want you to buy)
He says the 307 has an upgraded hammer action and uprated speakers, making it superior to the other 3 models below it. Why? So yamaha can get people with money to sell up. I dont doubt the 307 is better than the 305, but am now considering the 307 instead. Google turned up another website selling the 307 for £1250 cheaper than my local dealer, they price match, so the 1k upgrade is effectively free.
>> Edited by UKBob on Tuesday 26th April 11:13
I am thankful though, that I told the salesman on the phone just now I would consider any model with an open budget (not that I have an open budget, but its nice speaking to a salesman with an open mind rather than being pushed towards whatever product they want you to buy)
He says the 307 has an upgraded hammer action and uprated speakers, making it superior to the other 3 models below it. Why? So yamaha can get people with money to sell up. I dont doubt the 307 is better than the 305, but am now considering the 307 instead. Google turned up another website selling the 307 for £1250 cheaper than my local dealer, they price match, so the 1k upgrade is effectively free.
>> Edited by UKBob on Tuesday 26th April 11:13
UKBob said:
Not a nice story love machine. Unlucky
I am thankful though, that I told the salesman on the phone just now I would consider any model with an open budget (not that I have an open budget, but its nice speaking to a salesman with an open mind rather than being pushed towards whatever product they want you to buy)
He says the 307 has an upgraded hammer action and uprated speakers, making it superior to the other 3 models below it. Why? So yamaha can get people with money to sell up. I dont doubt the 307 is better than the 305, but am now considering the 307 instead. Google turned up another website selling the 307 for £1250 cheaper than my local dealer, they price match, so the 1k upgrade is effectively free.
>> Edited by UKBob on Tuesday 26th April 11:13
Do you have a NICE proper piano? and is this thing merely an add on? For the money I reckon you could get a nice Yamaha grand if you look in the right place. Just like I wouldn't buy an electric car......
love machine said:No, this will be my main piano. A NICE... 'digital' grand?
Do you have a NICE proper piano? and is this thing merely an add on? For the money I reckon you could get a nice Yamaha grand if you look in the right place. Just like I wouldn't buy an electric car......
The grands are 5500ish
My cieling is 3300. A few phone calls later they are offering a £5600 non-grand but top of the range polished mahogony 309 model for 3400, which is £100 more than I have 
Either way the gerbils and their cage will have to be relocated I dont think I have room or money for a grand though...Bob, I have played extensively the CVP309 as it is my neighbours brand new instrument - a month old. My neighbour paid just under £4k for hers and she called me over to help her find her way aroung the controls. I have not seen the whole range but this instrument is stunning and I presume Yamaha will do a lesser model around your budget. The straight piano is as real as it gets and the sample rate/electronics on board is of studio quality. If you are looking for a straight piano, then with this range you will be paying for a lot of bells and whistles that you may not use if all you are after is a high quality piano.
As with all Yamaha instruments you are also getting a quality piece of furniture. My neighbours is in Mahogony, and not to my tastes (prefer piano glass black) but quality all the same. Also we just found out that her piano has a USB connector on it
so she can connect it to her laptop and email her choonz 
How cool is that?
I would ignore other comments about Yamaha's being crap, from personal experience I rate them very highly as musical instruments and I am qualified to speak about piano's. I would suggest popping into your local dealer and having a bash. They will throw a set of headphones at you if you prefer not playing to the shop!
edited to add pic
>> Edited by ultimasimon on Tuesday 26th April 14:10
As with all Yamaha instruments you are also getting a quality piece of furniture. My neighbours is in Mahogony, and not to my tastes (prefer piano glass black) but quality all the same. Also we just found out that her piano has a USB connector on it
so she can connect it to her laptop and email her choonz How cool is that? I would ignore other comments about Yamaha's being crap, from personal experience I rate them very highly as musical instruments and I am qualified to speak about piano's. I would suggest popping into your local dealer and having a bash. They will throw a set of headphones at you if you prefer not playing to the shop!
edited to add pic
>> Edited by ultimasimon on Tuesday 26th April 14:10
ultimasimon said:
Bob, I have played extensively the CVP309 as it is my neighbours brand new instrument - a month old. My neighbour paid just under £4k for hers and she called me over to help her find her way aroung the controls. I have not seen the whole range but this instrument is stunning and I presume Yamaha will do a lesser model around your budget. The straight piano is as real as it gets and the sample rate/electronics on board is of studio quality. If you are looking for a straight piano, then with this range you will be paying for a lot of bells and whistles that you may not use if all you are after is a high quality piano.
As with all Yamaha instruments you are also getting a quality piece of furniture. My neighbours is in Rosewood, and not to my tastes (prefer piano glass black) but quality all the same. Also we just found out that her piano has a USB connector on it
I would ignore other comments about Yamaha's being crap, from personal experience I rate them very highly as musical instruments and I am qualified to speak about piano's. I would suggest popping into your local dealer and having a bash. They will throw a set of headphones at you if you prefer playing to the shop!
I agree, Yamaha pianos are the best by a long stretch, I prefer them to the more usual makes of acoustic piano. I stand by the fact that the electronic ones do go wrong though. They just don't stand up to lots of regular use. The thing which
s up is like a green/black "tape sweet" which is critical to the action. Being rubber, it deforms and then the keys stick or sort of half stick. If you are familiar with electric Yamahas, you'll be familiar with the problem, they may have sorted it by now but it struck me as such an obvious weakness it must have been designed in as a weakness (££££) it was £120 a go to fix and during my uni years, I used 2. The motherboard developed a funny fault where it was randomly triggering different notes. That was so expensive, I just took it to bits and heaved it in the skip. I used to practice about 6 hours a day and the
thing just wasn't built for it. Until really recently I've played a 64 Fender Rhodes which was "Fixable in the field", the Yams were also a pain to get bits for. Regarding the quality of the acoustics, I just can't understand where they've gone wrong with the electrics. I doubt they have made massive inroads on the quality, unless we are talking about some real step in the right direction. Rolands take more playing. One thing about the Yamahas, whilst they work properly, they are excellent instruments......and then the bloody keys start doing that thing
I can only presume you are talking about one of your own keyboards and a cheap one at that. Else why would you even attempt repairing it yourself and then throw it away? You get what you pay for and Bob's budget is three times over what Yamaha's portable prices are.
If you are really serious about practising for six hours a day then you should invest in a quality instrument or a real piano which has a tried and tested action.
Having been a classically trained concert pianist for the last 20 years, I and my fellow musicians rate Yamaha alongside masters like Steinway and Bechstein as reliable musical instruments. It is futile to advise someone else from buying a brand when you are not comparing like to like. What you threw away was clearly not in the same league as this, and we are not talking about a stage piano, we are talking about a high grade electronic piano. No one in the right ming would attaempt to dissassemble an intrument like this, they come with a two year warranty as standard with further warranty available, and if it goes wrong you get it fixed - simple.
Who throws a piano away when it breaks
If you are really serious about practising for six hours a day then you should invest in a quality instrument or a real piano which has a tried and tested action.
Having been a classically trained concert pianist for the last 20 years, I and my fellow musicians rate Yamaha alongside masters like Steinway and Bechstein as reliable musical instruments. It is futile to advise someone else from buying a brand when you are not comparing like to like. What you threw away was clearly not in the same league as this, and we are not talking about a stage piano, we are talking about a high grade electronic piano. No one in the right ming would attaempt to dissassemble an intrument like this, they come with a two year warranty as standard with further warranty available, and if it goes wrong you get it fixed - simple.
Who throws a piano away when it breaks
ultimasimon said:
If you are really serious about practising for six hours a day then you should invest in a quality instrument or a real piano which has a tried and tested action.
Definately agree with this - so do the Royal Academy of Music as they use Clavinovas. Myself, i've had a top of the range piano-only (ie. without all the drums and other instrument stuff) Clavinova for a couple of years now. Cost a fortune at the time, but after at least a couple of hours practice almost every day, it still looks and plays like new and sounds amazing.
Thanks for the excellent posts guys. I spent a while at the showromo today, talked things over, this is where I stand:
I am buying a yamaha, im told its the best money can buy for my needs. I do want a piano with *all* the bells and whistles, and the yamaha CVP range is better than the top of the line digitals from roland in this respect. The rolands rhythm effects arnt quite as good, the new CVPs are slightly ahead, and wow, they do sound bloody good(!!!)
So its a CVP, just not sure which one. Money now isnt an issue because the dealer will price match. The 309 they have (polished mahogony) has a list price of £5600 which they have reduced to £3500 for me! Its new, boxed - the reason for the reduction is because no one has bought it. Because... its mahogony! Which is a slightly lighter wood, and being polished its more expensive. Its a dark wood, but not nearly-black like the rosewood. I prefer the darker rosewood.
The 307 is identical to the 309 technically in every respect, there just... is no difference whatsoever bewtwen the two except:
1) The 309 has real wooden keys
2) The 309 is in polished mahogony (not that I know how to spell mahogony)
So I like the idea of the 307 in dark rosewood.
Im not sure if the 309 will look better being polished, but I cant see it as its at their warehouse. They couldnt even find a mahogony stool to show me, so I dont know what it will look like in real life.
Stumped... cant decide. Money now doesnt matter as Im getting a massive discount on either. Is it worth risking he mahogony and ordering the 309 which will have a polished finish, but wont be in the colour I want, or should I go for the 307 which is the colour I want, and the same inside as the 309?
The only disadvantage of buying the 307 is that its list price is £4000 not £5500... if I ever wanted to sell the 309 I would get more money for it - they are offering me the 309 for only £3500 afterall! But then... im not buying to sell, im buying to keep it so I feel the 307 would give me what I want. Cant decide though, being libran and all, if you believe in that sort of thing
I am buying a yamaha, im told its the best money can buy for my needs. I do want a piano with *all* the bells and whistles, and the yamaha CVP range is better than the top of the line digitals from roland in this respect. The rolands rhythm effects arnt quite as good, the new CVPs are slightly ahead, and wow, they do sound bloody good(!!!)
So its a CVP, just not sure which one. Money now isnt an issue because the dealer will price match. The 309 they have (polished mahogony) has a list price of £5600 which they have reduced to £3500 for me! Its new, boxed - the reason for the reduction is because no one has bought it. Because... its mahogony! Which is a slightly lighter wood, and being polished its more expensive. Its a dark wood, but not nearly-black like the rosewood. I prefer the darker rosewood.
The 307 is identical to the 309 technically in every respect, there just... is no difference whatsoever bewtwen the two except:
1) The 309 has real wooden keys
2) The 309 is in polished mahogony (not that I know how to spell mahogony)
So I like the idea of the 307 in dark rosewood.
Im not sure if the 309 will look better being polished, but I cant see it as its at their warehouse. They couldnt even find a mahogony stool to show me, so I dont know what it will look like in real life.
Stumped... cant decide. Money now doesnt matter as Im getting a massive discount on either. Is it worth risking he mahogony and ordering the 309 which will have a polished finish, but wont be in the colour I want, or should I go for the 307 which is the colour I want, and the same inside as the 309?
The only disadvantage of buying the 307 is that its list price is £4000 not £5500... if I ever wanted to sell the 309 I would get more money for it - they are offering me the 309 for only £3500 afterall! But then... im not buying to sell, im buying to keep it so I feel the 307 would give me what I want. Cant decide though, being libran and all, if you believe in that sort of thing
ultimasimon said:But but... which do I go for. Inside, they are identical! Outside, its either
Top man 
You will not be dissapointed with which ever one you buy. Be warned though, when they deliver it make sure you know where its going to stay. The fecker weighs a tonne, and wait till you see the size of the box, you could house a homeless community in it
307 dark rosewood (which i prefer the sound of)
309 polished mahogony (Dont like mahogony, but have not seen the polished mahogony)
Im tempted to go for the 307. Their new GH3 graded hammer action is so realistic, there is no need for the 309... dont spose you could snap a pic of your neighbours mahogony model (is it polished) and email it to me?
Hardcore2000 said:Do you think you'd be able to find software on the net which will top Yamaha's latest and greatest new top model? If you could, it probably wouldnt appeal to me personally, I prefer the idea of buying a good looking piano, rather than hooking up keyboards to computers - because of its size, it becomes a furniture piece and a better looking model will obviously erm... be better looking
why not get the best hammer action electronic keyboard / controller and use a decent PC with reason software and you get a superior sound for half of the price and its upgradeable and fixable yourself?
Its not about looks though, I prefer the idea of the CVP, just cant decide 100% which to go for.Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff