It's just not the same playing Goodbye Stranger or Logical Song or other famous Supertramp songs that were featured on the Wurlitzer 200a electric piano on a regular keyboard that sounds like a grand piano. Anybody have some good priced keyboards that have a setting where it sounds like a Wurlitzer 200a? I've heared it was the "Soft Wurly" setting.
I have just revamped my rig to include the Fantom G8. I love Roland's hammer action, i think it's the best, and I love Roland's high-end piano samples. I think the whole RD series of stage pianos are trash. I've even played the new NX-700 and the action is slow, makes your forearms hurt after an hour, and the pianos are so backwards...you gotta EQ them forever just to dial in something useable. I bought the G8 because it doesn't muck around with mediocre samples, like their more affordable lines. Also, I popped another $100 on eBay and got the ARX-02 expansion, which will let you customize your EP's until they explode with Wurly goodness. Seriously...look up all the youtube demos on that expansion board for the G series, and you will want to pick one up. I would make a demo video for you, but I'm in Japan for the short time being. Good Luck
Don't know what's in the budget, but: I have a Roland RD-700NX. The SuperNatural"reed piano" gets close, or so I thought. . . . keep going. About four weeks ago, I picked up a used Kurzweil PC3 to replace the Alesis I'd been using on my top tier. Kurzweil's "Supertramp Wurly" is aptly named - positively nails it. Perfect for Goodbye Stranger & Logical Song. You'll find a sound bite here: http://www.kurzweil.com/Product.php?id=181. Select the "audio" tab below the photos, scroll about halfway down and feast your ears. It is *dead-on*. And it really DOES sound that good (actually better when you play it in the right key). The effects are built into the patch, no tweaking. Big reason I pulled the trigger on it. The PC3 family is the gigging keyboardist's "swiss army knife". Best gear puchase I ever made, better even than the RD. -Mike
