Suggestions?...

[starfishcoffee13]

Hey y'all!

Rookie to the forum here, but I've been thinking of purchasing a new keyboard lately and was wanting to get some credible input on a potential good option. Basically, the long/short of it is I'm a musician who has never actually played keys "full time" in a band before (I've always played guitar, or drums, or bass, etc. --- one of those people!) And so as a more simple-minded keys player, here's some of the more prominent things I'm looking for:

- Light-weightedness - gonna have to do a lot of transporting with it, so the lighter the better
- Weighted-keys - this probably defeats the last one a little bit, but there's something a lot more enjoyable about playing with keys that offer resistance, etc.
- Multiple sounds - the group I'm in features a lot of B3, some piano, wurli, and the odd clavinet here and there. So not necessarily needing 800 songs, but also a little more than just "Grand Piano," "Electric Piano," "Organ," etc.
- A mod wheel would be preferable, as that Rotary sound on Leslie B3 is important to the group's studio recordings.
- On-board speakers would be cool, but definitely not a must --- would just be nice to practice at home without an amp/headphones, etc.

Anyways, if you all have any suggestions/thoughts/opinions on a keyboard that fits the above parameters, they sure would be appreciated!

Thanks for your time!

- starfishcoffee13

P.S. A few I've looked at among others include the Casio WK-7600 (almost fits, but non-weighted keys), PX5 (awesome, but just a little pricey), Korg Microarranger (haven't actually seen this in person and I don't believe it has weighted keys that I've read, but I could be wrong...), Roland JUNO-DS61 (a little pricey too)...

 

[CowboyNQ]

Hey SFC,

Welcome!

You're going to have a challenge reconciling weighted keys and a light keyboard. Weighted-action keyboards generally have a minimum 73 keys, more usually 88 keys, and therefore the size of the 'board plus the action itself causes them to be quite heavy in relation to, say, a 61 key synth-action board like the Juno DS61 you identified above.

In my view you'll need to decide what's more important to you before it will be possible to give you a sensible recommendation.

Unless you want to go "half pregnant" and try a semi-weighted keyboard. If you do, here's a couple of thoughts based on personal experience, I'm sure there's other good ones out there but I'll stick with what I know:

Nord Electro (73 key) and Kurzweil SP4-7 (76 key) both have lovely semi-weighted actions and aren't too heavy. I've gigged with both and can recommend for sound quality. The Nord might be out of your price range based on the clue you gave us above unless you get a second hand one. Another potential drawback with these two boards is they don't have a massive range of sounds, but for live use they do quite nice AP, EP, Clav, Organ and a few other meat and potatoes strings, pads etc.

Both of these boards have rotary sim triggered by a foot pedal, which (to me) is preferable to a mod wheel. Nord organ sounds and rotary sim far superior to the SP4-7, but as I said it's a much more pricey 'board. I'd be wary of taking the SP4-7 organ sound into the studio, to be honest, but it's good enough for live use.

Cheers!

 

[Fred Coulter]

One thing you might think about doing is picking the keyboard based primarily on the key weight and the weight of the entire unit, then pick up some sort of small MIDI sound expander to get the sounds the main keyboard doesn't provide.

A mod wheel (and a pitch bend wheel) are wonderful things, but not so much for getting an accurate Leslie sound. If you're trying for auditory accuracy, then you want an on/off switch of some type. (And if the keyboard and expansion don't have a great Leslie on board, there are a couple stomp boxes that are recommended.)

Of course, what I've just described may take up more space than you want.

It might help if you gave us a budget.

I've also done a quick search on Sweetwater for MIDI keyboard controllers with semi-weighted keys, sorted by price. Assuming the link works, click here. The prices go from dirt cheap to outrageous. They don't make sound, but by separating the keyboard from the sound generation, you might be able to get the best of both worlds, at the cost of some setup time.

 

[Becky]

Just wanted to say welcome to the forum @starfishcoffee13

 

[happyrat1]

Just a couple of notes here.

1) Korg Micro-Arranger has mini keys. Pretty much useless for performance.

2) If you can swing the bux, then I highly recommend the Casio Privia PX-5S. It's definitely worth the money and the only thing it is lacking from your laundry list is the built in speakers. Even if you have to finance it for a few months it will serve you long and well in the end.

3) If you can't swing the cash for the PX-5S then look around for a Privia PX-350. It's been recently discontinued and you might be able to score a closeout or a floor demo for a decent discount. Otherwise it pretty much has everything else you're asking for including the speakers.

4) If budget is an overpowering concern, then perhaps you should consider looking at your local craigslist for something lightly used.

If you are looking for used here's a few tips to keep in mind.

A) Don't buy any keyboard older than ten years old. Pay attention to its history. Was it safely tucked away in a studio all those years or was it hauled around from gig to gig and bashed all to hell?

B) Test every single button, knob and key before you buy. Some folks are simply looking to unload a problem child before it starts costing them money in repair bills.

C) Best to look around locally on craigslist. On ebay you never know what you are getting until you've already handed over the cash.

Used keys to look for : Here's a few suggestions.

Korg TR88

Privia PX-5S, PX-3, PX-350, PX-330

Yamaha MOX8, DGX-650, DGX-640

If something doesn't turn up on craigslist right way just be patient Keep looking every week until something decent turns up.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Just checked and the Privia PX-350 is selling for $640 USD on Amazon right now. That's a very decent price.

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-PX350-BK-Intelligent-Resonation/dp/B0094D3JI4

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

Just checked and the Privia PX-350 is selling for $640 USD on Amazon right now. That's a very decent price.

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-PX350-BK-Intelligent-Resonation/dp/B0094D3JI4

Gary

One advantage for the cash strapped is that both Amazon and Sweetwater -- actually, most major vendors -- have some sort of financing available. For example, I have an Amazon store card. I get 5% off (as a statement credit) for everything small I buy, and interest free financing for everything large I buy. (Lowes too, but I doubt I'll find anything music related there.) Sweetwater is offering 24 month interest free financing for purchases from a bunch of manufacturers. Unfortunately, Casio isn't on the list.

However, be careful with financing. DO NOT FINANCE ANYTHING WHERE THE INTEREST RATE IS HIGH! Only use the store credit card if either (a) you get a discount, or (b) you're getting interest free financing. And then, if you've got interest free financing, immediately go to your bank account online and have them AUTOMATICALLY make the monthly payments. Most banks have some sort of online bill paying with recurring payments.

Again, DON"T RUN A BALANCE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD unless it's interest free. The reality is that the store is hoping you don't make the payments so they can make extra money on the interest. There's no reason to give them that money.

 

[starfishcoffee13]

Wow --- thank you all for the input and kind welcome! Sure do appreciate it!

I actually ran across a used-yet-almost-new PX5 at a local music store yesterday for $650 (which is around my targeted budget), and I decided to purchase it, but had to run into work to get a quick task done. After coming back about an hour later, it had been unfortunately been sold!

But that definitely seems like the model that most fits my needs.

Thank you all again --- I'll keep looking and see what I find out and will let you know what I end up going with.