Buying an older keyboard

[leecreighton]

So I haven’t played keyboard in a long while, but need something to help me recover from an injury to my fingers. So, I’m looking to buy a keyboard that’s not junk. I teach high school, so I’ll probably perform with a student band this year. That also means my means aren’t unlimited.

I found an ad for a Roland A-90EX with expansion pack ($325), a Yamaha P-71 ($350), and a Roland GoKeys 1st generation ($250). Although I played some piano-based stuff, I also need a good organ sound to attempt Foreplay by Boston again.

I’m interested in your thoughts on these selections, whether I need weighted keys or not, and whether any of these will be so out of date that I can’t record on GarageBand or similar.

Curiously, I can find recommendations for all three of these here on the forum.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

Forget the Go Keys first generation, the new models are supposed to be much superior.

The Yamaha is not worth $350 when you can buy a new P45 for $399 US and this has the GHS weighted keybed.

A new Korg Liana is a digital piano with 88 keys @ $350

The following are all new, not used and have 61 keys with synth type action:-

There is a Casio CT S500 @ $380

A Korg EK50 @ $399

Roland Go Keys 5 @ $500

Yamaha PSR E473 @ $370

Yamaha PSR EW425 with 76 keys @ $490

 

[leecreighton]

Biggles,

Your post is extraordinarily helpful, especially in giving me new options.

What’s the good word on the Roland AX90 w/ expansion pack? It looks old, but has a ton of sounds, but if it’s gonna hold me back I’ll remove it from consideration.

 

[leecreighton]

I also don’t particularly need drum sounds, sequencing…y’know, all the extras. Just a reasonable keyboard that has quality piano, organ, and brass.

 

[jmemcse]

My 2 cents:
The cheap Korgs don't play well. They sound and record ok, though.

I've always had good luck with Roland keyboards, but I'm not familiar with the Go Keys. I've owned several Roland's that all played nice live and in the studio. Probably couldn't go wrong with a Roland product.

I got a Yamaha PSR for a hotel/travel keyboard a while back. It sounded really thin, but was easy to play.

But Casio would be my choice. They have really improved over the years. I have a Casio CTK I've been using for Christmas parties for years. I sounds good on a wide variety of, well, about anything you'd want. Easy to play, too.
Good luck, Jim

 

[Biggles]

The A90 is potentially a pretty old model and is discontinued, meaning parts to repair it may be difficult to source and given its asking price you really would be better buying new, especially as you say you are looking to play in a band.

I see that Jim suggested a Casio CTX5000, I had one, it lasted a weekend before I returned it due to a rubbish operating system and poor sound quality.

I understand that the CT S 500 is a much better keyboard but whilst I suggested it, this keyboard it may be limited in its organ capabilities.

A keyboard that does have good piano sounds and drawbar organs is a Numa Compact X SE but this is $900 and does include onboard amp and speakers. It has a semi weighted keybed with aftertouch and is a pretty good keyboard, I had one of the previous versions.

Not all keyboards include an onboard amp and speakers so do check this out and budget accordingly.

There are other keyboards available but not much at or below $500.

 

[leecreighton]

Thanks again, Biggles. The keyboard I had many years ago just plugged into my guitar amp via ¼” jack. Is that what most of your suggestions do?

 

[jmemcse]

Get a used Roland VR-09 and you'll be a rock star. That board is miles above anything discussed previously and I've seen them used for under $700 US. It's not much different than a B3, and you can emulate Jump easily. I use one for some gigs because it's lightweight and easy to setup and teardown.

 

[jmemcse]

Get a used Roland VR-09 and you'll be a rock star. That board is miles above anything discussed previously and I've seen them used for under $700 US. It's not much different than a B3, and you can emulate Jump easily. I use one for some gigs because it's lightweight and easy to setup and teardown.

 

[leecreighton]

I just found a Casio CT-X3000 for about $210. Keys are touch sensitive, and there are 61 of them, which should be okay.

I can’t quite tell if I can adjust the Leslie rotating parameters on this model—Google is giving me conflicting advice. There are vague references to an organ pack of files I could add, but that sounds like something for more expensive models. Anyone familiar enough with the Casio line to talk about this model specifically?

 

[leecreighton]

Get a used Roland VR-09 and you'll be a rock star.

If this isn’t premium advice I don’t know what is.

 

[TedS]

The CT-X3000 has the same lousy keybed as the CT-X5000 mentioned by Biggles. Casio tried to address this criticism with its next release, the CT-S series. Although it doesn't have as much editing capabilty, the keyfeel is much better and the core feature set is intact. It blows away the Yamaha PSR-E473, which doesn't even recognize slash chords. To my way of thinking Casio CT-S500 is the clear pick in the $350-400 range.

The Go:Keys 5 is much better than the original Go:Keys, but it still lacks some important functionality, like "sync stop." If you really want a Roland then I would look for a used BK-5, which is one of the most affordable fully-featured arrangers. They can be had in the ~$500 price range.

The VR-09 is quality but it's just an organ, it doesn't have accompaniments, auto-chord or anything like that.

 

[jmemcse]

The VR-09 is WAY more than just an organ. But it's more the the OP originally indicated than he has in his budget. It's a performance tool as opposed to a do everything home keyboard.

I have auto chord on everything I own - it's called my left hand lol

 

[leecreighton]

Thanks Ted. I had moved on from this idea since Biggles said the organ sounds were maybe weak, and although I don’t understand everything in these threads, I felt like they said so too. I completely may be reading them wrong, and I just need to learn a bit more.

HELP..How to Assign Rotary Effect to Organs CT S500?

How to Assign Rotary Effect to Organs on the CT S500? Can someone advise what is the best way to ADD a Leslie type rotary effect to an organ sound & save to user? Thank you

www.casiomusicforums.com

CT-s500, organ sounds and touch response (key sensitivity)

Hello! Is there any way to add touch response / key sensitivity to many of the organ sounds which, at least by default, seem not to have it? Same with the harpsichord. I know having no dynamic keys is more "realistic" for these instruments, but after playing on keyboard which do have sensitivity ...

www.casiomusicforums.com

 

[leecreighton]

It's a performance tool as opposed to a do everything home keyboard.

You got the spirit of one of my requests: I don’t need bells and whistles, but more a performance machine that won’t lock me totally out of digital recording. Out of my budget, for now, but nice input.

 

[TedS]

Thanks Ted. I had moved on from this idea since Biggles said the organ sounds were maybe weak, and although I don’t understand everything in these threads, I felt like they said so too. I completely may be reading them wrong, and I just need to learn a bit more.

You can't rightly judge solely by reading reviews. Since Casio is a mass-market brand, I suggest that you go to the nearest keyboard store and try one! Maybe download and read/print some of the manual beforehand. There are a lot of Organ voices to choose from, and some customizable parameters. Maybe a couple of the voices will be suitable. And if not, there will certainly be other keyboards in the store to inform your decision.

 

[leecreighton]

Those links were not reviews, but specific issues with the organ sounds on the CT-S500. They may advanced things that I don’t need to know about. Still, your advice to go to a shop is good and well received.

 

[happyrat1]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1385475-REG/studiologic_numa_compact2x_numa_compact_2x_88_key.html

 

[Biggles]

The Numa Compact X SE is a new iteration of the Compact 2X, this guy is one of the best reviewers that there is.

The Numa range has something else going for it, it is very lightweight so transportation is no problem.

 

[Old No7]

So I haven’t played keyboard in a long while, but need something to help me recover from an injury to my fingers...

Although I played some piano-based stuff, I also need a good organ sound to attempt Foreplay by Boston again...

"Foreplay" by Boston -- on a semi-weighted keybed? After an injury?

Um, good luck with that...

Seriously, I've played it since it first came out (on Hammonds) and have also attempted in on other keys and even on piano a time or two, but you really want organ or synth keys for that song.

On the other hand, it is a great warm-up for the right hand. I might try to play the lead with my left hand to really challenge my mind and fingers.

Old No7