keyboards that are a bargain

[shaihulud]

hi,

i want to buy a keyboard for somebody and well.. i dont know sh** about it.
i know that it needs to have 88 keys.
To be honest id prefer it to be as cheap as possible. still it shouldn't be trash.
The person i want to buy the keyboard for played piano a few years ago.
So it just needs to have a passably sound to that. all the other bells and whistles are unnecessary.
The pricerange can be something around 300-400 € (400-500 $).
What can u recommend? Id love to read as much suggestions as possible.

thx Shai

 

[Riotblade]

Well common ones you can easily find are 61-key which is the most common size for a keyboardist.

If your a beginner than go with either a Yamaha PSR or a Casio CK/CTK

Ones of those are good for beginners.

If your an expert at keyboards and really good at them, get a good Korg or a Roland(my personal fav. keyboards).

Make sure they aren't those kind you simply get at Toys R Us or something

 

[evergreenthompson]

Will you be my friend?

88 keys will definitely push the price up to the limit of your stated budget, but what you are looking for is doable.

Yamaha's keyboards sound pretty good, and offer extra bells and whistles that you are not looking for. Most include a "Grand Piano" button that instantly resets the keyboard to its default grand piano voice.

Some models to consider: YPG-535 (lighter than piano feel to the keys), YPG-635 (keys feel much like a real piano).

I've not really done much checking with other brands, though a quick try of some Casio models sounded pretty good to me in the store. (Granted it's a bit hard to tell your typical noisy music shop. Piano stores will be much quieter.)

A Casio model to consider: CDP-100 (keys feel much like a real piano)

Keyboards often come without any pedals, so you may want to check into buying one along with the keyboard. Also, most do not come with a stand or bench. Some package deals include those, and are often a good value for the money compared to buying everything separately.

Since your friend is a pianist and you are not, make sure the store offers a good return policy. (Shouldn't be too hard to find that.) That way your friend can upgrade a notch or two to get a particular feature not available in a keyboard available within your budget.

Good luck with your hunt!

 

[shaihulud]

thx for the reply ill look after the suggestions. Feel free to post some more if u get any other idea. Id really love to make this work.. its for someone special..

 

[Spol]

most decent 88 keys wont have speakers either - so you will need to splash out on an amp of some sort as well...

i recently picked up a korg tr 88 for 400 squid - well worth the money - piano sounds are excellent (all subjective i know) ..and the piano action is better than my 30 yr old bentley acoustic (which i have hammered like hell!)

 

[Spol]

they are discontinued now though - but do appear on ebay from time to time ...