Which One? Yamaha PSR-290 vs PSR-292 vs PSR-500

[calvin1509]

I am planning on getting someone a keyboard for a gift. They have experience playing on stage before people with a band, but not in a professional way. However, she needs a keyboard for her home to play on and practice on.

I have a lead on three different keyboards that look alright, all Yamaha, all asking about the same price:

1. PSR-290: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musi...boards/portable_keyboards/psr-290/?mode=model
2. PSR-292: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musi...boards/portable_keyboards/psr-292/?mode=model
2. PSR-500: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musi...yboards/portable_keyboards/psr500/?mode=model

You guys know a whole heck of a lot more about keyboards than I do. Which of these two is the better keyboard? Thanks. I really appreciate your input.

 

[happyrat1]

Either the 290 or the 292 are the better of the three.

Even so, these are all ancient models and discontinued almost a decade ago.

If she's used to playing in a band a lot depends on what she plays on stage?

Piano or Organ or Synth style keys? What style of music does she play? It makes a big difference if she plays gospel or industrial or reggae or punk or hip hop or whatever.

Anyway, there are perils involved in buying a used keyboard that old if you don't know what you are looking for and what to look out for.

What's your budget? How serious a musician is she? What style does she play?

All of these questions have to be answered before we can give any serious recommendations.

Gary

 

[calvin1509]

Either the 290 or the 292 are the better of the three.

Even so, these are all ancient models and discontinued almost a decade ago.

If she's used to playing in a band a lot depends on what she plays on stage?

Piano or Organ or Synth style keys? What style of music does she play? It makes a big difference if she plays gospel or industrial or reggae or punk or hip hop or whatever.

Anyway, there are perils involved in buying a used keyboard that old if you don't know what you are looking for and what to look out for.

What's your budget? How serious a musician is she? What style does she play?

All of these questions have to be answered before we can give any serious recommendations.

Gary

happyrat:

I believe that she's used to playing a keyboard on stage. She usually plays in a church band, so it would be contemporary church songs. I'm not sure where this would fit, probably into Enya/Coldplay type sounds. We are on a pretty strict budget, looking to come in under $150. It's just something for her to work on at home. When she performs on the weekends, they have a nice keyboard. She's not a serious musician, but plays for leisure and church. She likes to play classical, easy listening kind of stuff. Not hip-hop, reggae, punk or anything like that.

Hopefully this will help. Thanks so much for your willingness to help me out.

 

[happyrat1]

I'd say take a look at one of these instead. Comes in well under your budget and much more modern technology. Plus it's a brand new unit with a warranty.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YPT-33...TF8&qid=1357586891&sr=1-1&keywords=B005ISAZ04

 

[The Y_man]

I have a PSR-500 - it's my emergency spare, but was my main keyboard for about a year.

The sounds are pretty thin, although it has a nice strings and I like some of the more mellow sounds on it. The drums are actually quite good.

You won't be able to do Enya-esque massive chord/layering because one of the main reasons I had to upgrade is the 28 note polyphony that gets eaten up big time (expecially with some of the nicer backings). I constantly get a "Full" error....

Speaking of rhythm/styles - there's only a few good ones in there, and if you are after 3/4 ..... poxy waltz is almost the only barely useable one...

The Y-man

 

[The Y_man]

Also, at this vintage, the internal batteris die, you can lose your settings really easily.

The Y-man