Nord Electro 3 61 keys or Fender Rhodes mk II 73 (in good playing condition)

[HaniaLomia]

Hello! I'm new here Nice to meet you all!

I'm seriously considering buying one of these:

Nord Electro 3 61 keys or Fender Rhodes mk II 73 (in good condition)

Right at the moment I was thinking about paying for NE3, I happened to come across another spicy offer: Fender Rhodes 73 mk II (in exellent playing condition with the original legs&suitcase) for more or less the same price!

The situation is:
I already own a Bechstein grand piano so I'm not after acoustic piano sound from NE3.
Not a stage piano by all means but I also own Casio Privia px-130 (scaled hammer weighted keys) for practicing purpose.

I know that the main purpose of me getting NE3 would be harpsichord (since NE3 has light keys like a soft harpsichord it actually works and sounds great), Elec pianos for jazz (mainly Rhodes) and of course all the other fun bits that come with it.

It does seem to me as though I'll make more use of NE3 (both at home&on stage) but since it's such a rare opportunity to grab a good Rhodes mk II for 1200 pounds in my local area, I'm really lost. What would you do if you were me?

I thought about just getting this Rhodes mk II and waiting for the day in (probably distant) future to get NE3 or maybe Nord Stage 2 (if I manage to rob a bank) but I really want and need them both now.

Thank you so much for reading my long message. I really appreciate it.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

 

[Iain]

Buy the fender rhodes ... buy a chorus pedal ... stick it through something with reverb and enjoy ... nothing better in this world ..... however ... if you need to gig with it ... hope you have some understanding band mates to help ... I had a 73 stage ... love it ... but no one else did ..... :-(

 

[delaware dave]

You mentioned the Nord Stage 2 (which is the cost of both) so it sounds like your budget could accomodate both, so I'd buy both (as well as you said you need them both now...). How much is the gigging priority for you? The MK II is impractical to gig with (as you'll soon find out when you try to move it and your bandmates tell you that you are on your own). If gigging is a priority then get the E3 which has a decent rhodes. The only issue will be that the E3 will always be on the market (especially since the E4 will be out) but the MK II might disappear so you may want to grab that while you can get one in great condition for a good price. I had a stage 73 and sold it. I miss it but can live without it. Also, since you are going to spend alot of money on the E3, have you considered a Kurzweil PC3? The rhodes is better (IMHO) than the E3. Think I'm kidding? Listen to this:

Real Rhodes (start at the 3:40 mark):

same band, same song, different keyboard player, Kurzweil PC3x - 88 note version of PC3 (start at the 50 second mark):

Also note the Nord Stage 2 is sitting to his right but he chose to use the Kurzweil to do the Rhodes part rather than the Nord. He's using standard program #20, right out of the box ....

Here's a broader pallete of what the keyboard sounds like:

I was going to purchase an E3 until I heard the PC3. and .... it was $500 less than the E3. This might really be the keyboard you are looking for. Then you can take the $500 savings and put it toward the MK II. Food for thought ......