Selling motorcycle, buying keyboard. What do you think about my choices?

[floopy]

Anyways, I have been lurking about here for a while and finally made an account. Like the title says, I'm selling my motorcycle, and I want to buy a killer keyboard.

I've been playing music for around 20 years, since Jr. high band, and have played mainly guitar and bass in bands since then. I recently bought a Casio portable, I think it's the WK500. Doesn't really matter, it's rubbish,but I bought it to jam on and see if I really wanted to make the plunge headfirst into tickling the ivories. Long story short, I love it, but the casio sounds like garbage. Particularly the organ section, along with everything else.

I'm looking at the Kurzweil PC3x, or the 76 key version of it. As well as looking at the nord stage, but I won't rule out anything at this point, that's why I am calling on your guys and gals.

I want to buy something that I can keep for a long period of time and be happy with it, no regrets etc., and I have found in the music world you get what you pay for, so I might as well go top of the line right out of the gate. I think when I switched over from guitar to bass, I went through like 8 basses in my first year of playing until I finally gutted and modded out a fender jazz that has had a happy home with me for years now.

I do not want to do the same thing with keyboards haha. I would like to just buy one and be done with it. Maybe get some toys to go with it along the road like micro synth etc.

Important stuff I am looking for is a good B3 emulator, as that is what really has drawn me to the world of keys, I really love melvin seals. Plus I will need some good trippy sounds as well, along the line of pink floyd, hawkwind, camel, yes etc. Piano is really an afterthought, I don't even really mind the piano sound on my casio that much, but I will be playing it for a lot of songs most likely.

Which brings me to my second point, should I just get something like the hammond xk-1 and then get a middle of the road workstation? Or should I go for the kurts or the nord which I've heard have pretty respectable B3 emulators?


Cliffs notes and other stuff-

1. looking at the kurzweil pc3x or the nord stage
2. also considering getting hammond xk-1 and a middle of the road workstation instead
3. hammond and vox emulators important, weighted keys and piano not so much (but I will be playing piano for some songs of course)
4. need trippy sounds that I can mess with
5. I play exclusively in classic rock and grateful dead cover bands. so keep that in mind.
6. I am an absolute noob to keyboards at this point, but am progressing rapidly due to my musical background.

I don't care about the whole multitracking and writing music and the keyboard shtick, I have zero interest in creating my own music.


Ok, I've rambled enough. What do you guys think about my choices?

Oh and yes, I did look at the buyers guide that was posted here and did a search, which led me to at least come up with my suggestions that I proposed.


Edit: also one more thing haha. This keyboard is going to be played live alot, so I want something that is easy to change sounds on the fly, and is also robust, ie, can handle a bar atmosphere and outdoor atmosphere etc.

 

[davidstvz]

We are in very similar boats. I play guitar and drums and have recently started playing a yamaha e-piano. Now it looks like I'm going on stage with my limited skills soon.

I thought I was stuck with getting a nord if I wanted good quality and variety, but recently discovered the kurzweil pc3 line which looks like a good option for less cash (and potentially can do some things the nord can't).

I was looking at the pc361 which is a pc3x with fewer keys (5 C to B octaves and one extra C key on the top), and there are some b-stock pc361's on ebay for 1200 right now. The list price is down to 1500 but that's only a recent development apparently as many stores still have them listed for 2000.

The absolute cheapest nord stage you can get is a used classic compact (5 C to B octaves plus an extra half octave high and low) for 1500 to 2000 depending on the auction. A new compact ex is 3,000 (you should definitely not pay that much though; call up an online retailer on the phone and they will give you a better deal).

So the price difference is potentially huge depending on if you want new or used.


From the research I've done so far:

Nord Stage: has 3 dedicated sound engines organ, piano and synth and each can produce 2 sounds at once. You can split and layer all 6 across the keyboard anyway you like. The biggest limitation would be that it has no sample based synth (it has analog oscilators, FM and wavetable) so I guess it can't do a wide variety of very realistic sounding acoustic instruments (strings, flute, trumpets and so on) though it should be able to do interesting FM and wavetable imitations of acoustic instruments.

The Kurzweil is all digital and I don't know nearly as much about it yet. They also have paid special attention to making piano and b3 organ sounds, but I don't know the details or how many sounds you can layer. Their sampled based sound engine is supposed to have a nice array of acoustic and synth sounds and the pc3 line (as opposed to the pc3LE) is very customizable if you don't mind diving into the complex interface.

I need to learn more about the Kurzweil so hopefully some folks will help us!

 

[floopy]

We are in very similar boats. I play guitar and drums and have recently started playing a yamaha e-piano. Now it looks like I'm going on stage with my limited skills soon.

I thought I was stuck with getting a nord if I wanted good quality and variety, but recently discovered the kurzweil pc3 line which looks like a good option for less cash (and potentially can do some things the nord can't).

I was looking at the pc361 which is a pc3x with fewer keys (5 C to B octaves and one extra C key on the top), and there are some b-stock pc361's on ebay for 1200 right now. The list price is down to 1500 but that's only a recent development apparently as many stores still have them listed for 2000.

The absolute cheapest nord stage you can get is a used classic compact (5 C to B octaves plus an extra half octave high and low) for 1500 to 2000 depending on the auction. A new compact ex is 3,000 (you should definitely not pay that much though; call up an online retailer on the phone and they will give you a better deal).

So the price difference is potentially huge depending on if you want new or used.


From the research I've done so far:

Nord Stage: has 3 dedicated sound engines organ, piano and synth and each can produce 2 sounds at once. You can split and layer all 6 across the keyboard anyway you like. The biggest limitation would be that it has no sample based synth (it has analog oscilators, FM and wavetable) so I guess it can't do a wide variety of very realistic sounding acoustic instruments (strings, flute, trumpets and so on) though it should be able to do interesting FM and wavetable imitations of acoustic instruments.

The Kurzweil is all digital and I don't know nearly as much about it yet. They also have paid special attention to making piano and b3 organ sounds, but I don't know the details or how many sounds you can layer. Their sampled based sound engine is supposed to have a nice array of acoustic and synth sounds and the pc3 line (as opposed to the pc3LE) is very customizable if you don't mind diving into the complex interface.

I need to learn more about the Kurzweil so hopefully some folks will help us!

so far the more that i research, the more I am drawn towards the kurzweil. I watched a few demos on youtube, and it looks amazing.

 

[davidstvz]

Well I did some googling on "nord stage vs. kurzweil pc3" and made up my own mind. A brand new pc361 is on the way to me, for better or worse. These guys: http://www.novamusik.com/default.aspx

...have some great deals on b-stock right now if you want (and great deals on non-b-stock). 1350 for a pc3 b-stock is pretty damn good if you're into saving cash. Call them on the phone if you want to possibly save more or get a deal involving other items together.

lesson of the month for me, online music dealers are not just faceless webstores, call them on the phone for great deals

 

[floopy]

Well I did some googling on "nord stage vs. kurzweil pc3" and made up my own mind. A brand new pc361 is on the way to me, for better or worse. These guys: http://www.novamusik.com/default.aspx

...have some great deals on b-stock right now if you want (and great deals on non-b-stock). 1350 for a pc3 b-stock is pretty damn good if you're into saving cash. Call them on the phone if you want to possibly save more or get a deal involving other items together.

lesson of the month for me, online music dealers are not just faceless webstores, call them on the phone for great deals

yeah, good find there. I think I'm liking the 76. I'll check them out and start looking used too. I like the weight difference for lugging it around, and the semi-weighted keys, not big into having the weighted ones for what I'll be playing.

Pretty active forum we've got here lol.

 

[davidstvz]

Yeah, not sure how I found it, but I got some useful answers a few days ago, just took a while. I'll come back next week to compare notes with you since it looks like we might end up with the same keyboard (same insides anyway). I was briefly considering a brand new nord stage 76 which is like 4 grand! If the store had been able to cut me a slightly better deal I would have pulled the trigger. Really glad I didn't do that!

 

[floopy]

Yeah, not sure how I found it, but I got some useful answers a few days ago, just took a while. I'll come back next week to compare notes with you since it looks like we might end up with the same keyboard (same insides anyway). I was briefly considering a brand new nord stage 76 which is like 4 grand! If the store had been able to cut me a slightly better deal I would have pulled the trigger. Really glad I didn't do that!

now I just need to find a buyer for my bike lol

 

[floopy]

Plus, I'm not sure if you are in the states, but there are a lot of "great deals" on ebay for slightly used or new in box models for both the 76 and 61.

 

[davidstvz]

Yep, I'm in the states. I used to avoid used gear when I was younger, but now I love it. You can get some incredible deals on items that are working quite well.

 

[floopy]

Yep, I'm in the states. I used to avoid used gear when I was younger, but now I love it. You can get some incredible deals on items that are working quite well.

Yeah, I am slightly more wary of buying a keyboard off ebay than say a guitar or bass, just because of the amount of moving parts and electronics, but if you use paypal to pay for it you are pretty much completely covered if something is wrong with it. You might get stuck for some shipping charges, at worst.