Electric Pianos

[Crowbob]

Grandson started taking piano lessons so I’m using it as an opportunity to get me an electric piano and follow along.

Tons of them out there, half of which are garbage, apparently.

I’m trying to go with a price point of $1K or less. I don’t need or want all the electronical gizmata, just a simple piano sound and feel with 88 keys.

Any recommendations?

[look 171]

Whem my younger boy was taking lessons about 8-9 years ago, wife decided to buy a used one thinking he may not stick with playing. Yep, we spend 700 bucks and the instructor said it was a good piano. Of course, we didn't know the difference. 5 years later, he quit so we sold it and the first person came out bought it on the spot for 500 bucks without asking any questions

[flatbutt]

Yamaha has several models well under 1K.

[KFC911]

I'd buy used after getting input from "Billy Joel" ... he lurks here

[wildthing]

The feel will be hard to match at $1K. The Clavinovas at $3K and up get close to acoustic piano feel, but still lighter, at least according to my kids who play on acoustic pianos more often than I do. (I have the CLP-785.)

Before that we had a DGX-660, which seems to have been succeeded by the DGX-670. it has "Graded Hammer Standard" which has a bit more piano feel than other electric pianos.

Try Craigslist for Clavinova. Probably cheap because they're hard to move.

[LWJ]

I am not a piano player, but my Mom bought a nice electronic keyboard recently and my wife has an accomplished teacher who uses an electronic keyboard. I also have a pretty good ear for music and instrumentation having spent far too many years trying to be a Rock God.

What I believe: 1. Weighted keys are a distinction between starter keyboards and more serious ones. 2. My wife's teacher (who is a total music snob) has a keyboard that sounds like absolute a55. I hear her playing and it sounds like something you would buy at Toys R Us. Just awful.

Conclusion: put your hands on it to see if it has the correct feel. And use your ears to see if it sounds good.

I would love to see the conclusion.

[Crowbob]

So far, I’ve checked out a couple on Marketplace and Craigslist. I discovered the electrical contacts in the middle range goes bad, especially with heavy use. The lifespan of a <$1K piano is 8-10 years supposedly. Lots and lots are for sale but most have been sitting gathering dust for years and you can’t tell by looking at them how much use they’ve gotten.

I’ll keep looking. So far, Yamaha and Roland seem to be good options.