Keyboards Piano on a budget

[Two Voices]

I would love nothing more than to have a Steinway Baby Grand in my music room plus the space required but I’ll save that for when I win the lotto 🙂))

I’ve been hankering for a piano for a while now and wondered what everyone thinks of these cheaper digital pianos? I’ve been looking at a Yamaha YDP161 Digital Piano as it has 20 Watt speakers apposed to 6 Watt on the cheaper Yamaha YDP141.

It’ll mainly be for practice as well as recording some backing tracks for me to play along to.

My local music shop has a good deal on one with a free stool thrown in as well as installation.

Any other pianists on this forum?

 

[Juju]

I am not a fan of digital pianos, so I'm afraid I don't know much about them..
We have an upright Yamaha U3, and it can compete with my parents' Steinway Baby Grand... If you win that million, get an extension and go for a bigger size Steinway Grand 😉
Mark Goodwin has a good selection of used pianos. His Yamaha uprights are in prefect condition, and there are usually several on display so you can compare.
Juju

 

[Two Voices]

Thanks Juju 😀 I've played a U3, fine instrument! However, a little out of my budget I'm afraid! I know what you mean about these digital pianos but for me they have to very good plus points:

1. Price (under £1000)
2. Doesn't need tuning as I live in a remote area!

I'll only be used for practicing, tinkering ideas and personal backing tracks so can't justify £3500+

If I do win the lotto your right I might as well go the whole hog and have a Steinway Grand and just move 😀

I wonder how much a company would charge to deliver a U3 to a remote part of the Isle of Man? I once paid £45 for a DVD Player :shocked:

 

[Justin Chune]

My brother-in-law has both. He divides his time between the USA and the UK, and has a Yamaha digital piano in each house. I think that the Baby Grand is feeling neglected. Go for it, you will have a lot of fun.

Jim.

 

[Two Voices]

Thanks Jim 😀

 

[kevgermany]

I much prefer the Boesendorfer sound to Steinway, more mellow/refined.

With digital pianos, try before you buy. Huge differences in the keyboard actions (or so my wife tells me). And big differences as you go up the ranges. Some of the Casios are OK, apparantly.

 

[Two Voices]

I much prefer the Boesendorfer sound to Steinway, more mellow/refined.

With digital pianos, try before you buy. Huge differences in the keyboard actions (or so my wife tells me). And big differences as you go up the ranges. Some of the Casios are OK, apparantly.

Oh, yes wonderful but I prefer the Steinway. Had the pleasure of playing an Imperial once! I was stumped with the extra keys though don't know how many extra there were as I didn't count but was a few more than the standard 88! More of a classic piano IMO.

I tried the Yamaha YDP161 and YDP141 Digital Pianos and quite enjoyed the experience. The keys don't feel like ivory and a too light but I could live with it for the price unless a Steinway can be sourced in playing order for under a grand! 😀

 

[Sweet Dreamer]

I have five acoustical upright pianos in my home. And one very inexpensive Yamaha keyboard.

There is nothing like a REAL piano! Well, I don't know. I can't say about the expensive keyboards with "weighted keys", etc.

I got most of my pianos for free. I repair and tune them myself. I have no official training in piano tuning or repair. But I've found that pianos aren't all that hard to work on actually. I've reshaped the hammers, and tuned the pianos myself, plus making other repairs, including refacing keys.

It's a hobby. Pianos are actually quite simple. The only thing that makes them so intimidating is that you need to do everything 88 times. Well, actually even more than that when tuning because most notes have two or three strings that need to be tuned.

If you can tune up one note, then you can tune up 88 notes. If you can make all the fine adjustments on one key mechanism, then you can make adjustments on 88 key mechanisms. But that can take a lot of time and effort to keep repeating that process 88 times!

I have nightmares when I think about how many acoustical pianos are being scraped on a daily basis. All that wonderful craftsmanship that went into building these lovely instruments, and people are scraping them like they are junk!

People don't want to be bothered with these heavy large instruments anymore when they can buy a lightweight portable plastic keyboard now. Someday in the not too distant future real acoustical pianos are going to be extremely rare.

Fortunately today, people are still trashing them right and left, so if you want an old upright piano you can almost always find someone giving one away for "Free to anyone who will haul it".

That's how I got mine.

I even had a chance to get a baby grand for free. I had no way to haul it, and more importantly no space to put it. The uprights don't take up much room actually. I have three in this living room alone. Along with a set of drums, and the drums take up more room than any single piano.

 

[Two Voices]

Thanks Sweet Dreamer! I'd love the real deal but I don't live in heaven (sorry, just couldn't resist that 🙂)) ). Seriously, if I was offered one for free I'd pay a firm to haul it but that's not going to happen unfortunately!

As for tuning it I doubt I could do it! But wouldn't mind giving it a bash though!

The digital I tried wasn't too bad, was hoping someone has a similar model and could share their experiences they've had with it!

Ever thought of selling the reconditioned pianos?

 

[VirusKiller]

Hi Paul, I'm no expert pianist, but I bought a Casio AP80R Celviano digital piano (online) after trying one in my local Costco. Decent keyboard and very reasonable sound. I got it three years ago on special offer for £540 including a stool and delivery from rockingrooster.co.uk.

 

[Pyrografix]

Hi Paul,

I have a Yamaha NP30 digital piano which I picked up from either Gumtree or Preloved for less than £150. It is purely for tinkering purposes and to help get my head round chord construction etc - and it more than fits the bill. It plays well as conventional piano too.

Cheers,

Amanda

 

[Moz]

I have a Roland digital piano with graduated hammer action which means the lower notes have more resistance than the higher ones to simulate the different sizes of hammer on a real piano (smaller strings need smaller hammers). I have had it for about 14 years and it still works perfectly. Rolands are built like brick shizenhousen and weigh a lot but are very good quality.

Martin

 

[kevgermany]

I have a Roland digital piano with graduated hammer action which means the lower notes have more resistance than the higher ones to simulate the different sizes of hammer on a real piano (smaller strings need smaller hammers). I have had it for about 14 years and it still works perfectly. Rolands are built like brick shizenhousen and weigh a lot but are very good quality.

Martin

We have as well. Bought in 99. Agree with Martin's comments, but a word of warning - if someone starts thumping the keyboard, the keys break. They're easily replaced, but it can be expensive if you need to pay someone.

 

[Two Voices]

Hi Paul, I'm no expert pianist, but I bought a Casio AP80R Celviano digital piano (online) after trying one in my local Costco. Decent keyboard and very reasonable sound. I got it three years ago on special offer for £540 including a stool and delivery from rockingrooster.co.uk.

Thanks Joel! I'll take a look at that! How's the MK VI?

 

[Two Voices]

Hi Paul,

I have a Yamaha NP30 digital piano which I picked up from either Gumtree or Preloved for less than £150. It is purely for tinkering purposes and to help get my head round chord construction etc - and it more than fits the bill. It plays well as conventional piano too.

Cheers,

Amanda

Thanks Amanda! I did look at one of those but it only had 76 keys. Mind you not bad for the price though!

How does it feel and sound to a real piano?

 

[Two Voices]

I have a Roland digital piano with graduated hammer action which means the lower notes have more resistance than the higher ones to simulate the different sizes of hammer on a real piano (smaller strings need smaller hammers). I have had it for about 14 years and it still works perfectly. Rolands are built like brick shizenhousen and weigh a lot but are very good quality.

Martin

Thanks Martin! That's the kind of thing I'm after. The YDS-161 has the same graduated hammer action. I've heard that the damper pedal can be a little bit of a hit and miss. How do you find yours?

 

[Two Voices]

We have as well. Bought in 99. Agree with Martin's comments, but a word of warning - if someone starts thumping the keyboard, the keys break. They're easily replaced, but it can be expensive if you need to pay someone.

Thanks Kev! Fortunately, I'll be the only one playing it! I'm assuming it'll take the normal abuse when playing fast?

 

[Pyrografix]

Thanks Amanda! I did look at one of those but it only had 76 keys. Mind you not bad for the price though!

How does it feel and sound to a real piano?

It does have semi-weighted keys through the range and a very authentic sound. The main advantage for me is the portability (and cost!) - you could easily have taken it along on your cruise!

 

[Two Voices]

It does have semi-weighted keys through the range and a very authentic sound. The main advantage for me is the portability (and cost!) - you could easily have taken it along on your cruise!

The cost is definitely appealing, that’s for sure! Portability however isn't a major issue for me. That’s what the Sax is for ;} Took the Tenor with me! I might see if they have one in my local music shop to try out!

 

[kevgermany]

Thanks Kev! Fortunately, I'll be the only one playing it! I'm assuming it'll take the normal abuse when playing fast?

Yes, but eventually the keys will crack.