What keyboard to buy with my tax refund?

[spreitzer]

I have about $250 to spend on a keyboard.  My ideal instrument has the weighted keys like a piano and has keys that sound different based on how hard you press them.  Those are really the only two things I care about.  Can anyone suggest a brand?  I will probably be looking at used instruments.

Thanks in advance.

James

[jimbo320]

Hi James,
Welcome to the forum.
You'd be hard pressed to find what you're looking for in that price range. I lean towards Yamaha myself but I only buy new and therefore I only know about new ones.
There's a music shop in town here that deals in used equipment but the good stuff goes for more than $250. Casio PX series or maybe some Yamaha stuff might be around.
Tell me what you're looking at and I'll try to help.

Musically, Jimbo

[spreitzer]

I recently started playing piano by ear and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm picking it up pretty quick so I'm kind of riding this wave of excitement and I want to get something that sounds good. I have a limited budget of about $250 but because I'm an impulsive 20-something american I need it now!  I need to play everyday.  Right now I'm playing a Casio CTK-50 which is basically a toy.  I really want the weight of real keys and I want it to be louder if I am hitting the keys harder.  I guess what i'm thinking of is called an electric piano.  My goal is just to play for fun but I do live in a house of musicians and I could see myself booking a gig in a piano style rock band, so I want something portable.  Ever since I realized I could get craigslist on my phone I can't stop looking at every city within driving distance so I am sure if you suggest something that's double my price range I'll eventually find it used for half the price in the store.

[ongaku_oniko]

I recently started playing piano by ear and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm picking it up pretty quick so I'm kind of riding this wave of excitement and I want to get something that sounds good. I have a limited budget of about $250 but because I'm an impulsive 20-something american I need it now!  I need to play everyday.  Right now I'm playing a Casio CTK-50 which is basically a toy.  I really want the weight of real keys and I want it to be louder if I am hitting the keys harder.  I guess what i'm thinking of is called an electric piano.  My goal is just to play for fun but I do live in a house of musicians and I could see myself booking a gig in a piano style rock band, so I want something portable.  Ever since I realized I could get craigslist on my phone I can't stop looking at every city within driving distance so I am sure if you suggest something that's double my price range I'll eventually find it used for half the price in the store.

Can you find a community centre or something?

Back in the day, I practised at the community centre. Free of charge.

Now I'm practising in University. Also free of charge.

I honestly don't think a 250 dollar keyboar is good. In fact it'll probably slow your progress since it'll get you into a bad habit.

[spreitzer]

I'm american I'm not going to some commie community center.  I need to buy something.  How much should I be saving up for something of decent quality of the attributes I want?

[ongaku_oniko]

lol some "commie community center"

Do you even know what communism is? I doubt it. It's not bad. What's bad are the corrupt systems in China and the Soviet union (before it collapsed). They are NOT TRUE COMMUNIST STATES!

Honestly I can't see anything under 2000 as worthy of being bought. Just my opinion though. If you're not looking to eventually become quite good at the piano, I guess a 500 dollar keyboard is fine. I'd stay far away from it myself though.

[john90]

I would search for Roland, Korg and Yamaha weighted keyboards on ebay. I bought a really cool, full size Roland Midi stage piano (RD 300s) for the equivalent of $300 plus my petrol costs to pick it up. Keep checking over a month or so and you should find something. I have seen similar Korgs advertised as working 100% go for less than this in the UK. Mine had one defective key. Once I took it home, took it apart and cleaned it with the cover off, there was a piece of fluff in the contact for that dead key. After that it looked and worked like new. You will probably need pedals and a stand as extras. Built in sounds for these early keyboards are best described as 'retro'. With Garageband I get some authentic ringing and imperfections, like a good but not perfect grand, when I play cords hard. A cool feature I have not heard on a built in keyboard sample.

I would also have gone for a touch sensitive (not weighted) Yamaha with midi out. Might be easier to find, and much more portable.

[spreitzer]

On second thought, I don't care about portability.  What about trying to find a cheap piano in my hometown that someone is getting rid of?  How hard is it to tune a piano?

[john90]

Tuning a piano is as easy as playing it. Playing you just sit there and twiddle your fingers. Tuning you just twiddle a few pins. Not much difference. There is youtube, and there are threads here on tuning and temperament that are worth reading.

The difficult/expensive bit is moving it. My tip is to ask the local coal/lumber/Solid Fuel seller to shift it on his rounds if you don't have your own truck.

Play all the local freebies first, and take the one that sounds best to start with. You can always burn the wooden parts and sell the frame for scrap if you screw up bigtime with the tuning.

[jimbo320]

Hey Spitzer,
Check out this site to get an idea...
https://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/


Jimbo

[Bob]

$250 would probably buy something similar to what you've got now.  I'm not sure what the next step up would be.

I would think a lot before getting a used upright, esp. around the $100-200 range.  I don't think tuning is that easy just to do.  An old upright might give you a lot of ongoing problems though.  

Used is an idea too like someone mentioned.  You might be able to get something that still has life that's more in the $1,000 range.  A stage piano, something like that.

It depends on the formula but if you got a 'refund' it's just money you earned that the government held onto for you for awhile.  It's your money, given back to you. 

[jimbo320]

If you can find a Yamaha P95 or CP5 grab it.......

[pianomovers]

For that price range, I would recommend a Korg. They have some great options for you.

[oxy60]

Check out Craigslist in your area. I upgraded and sold my old keyboard in one day using that site. My buyer thought he would see a piece of junk and couldn't get his money out of his pocket fast enough to pay me.

Also some Guitar Centers have used and rebuilt departments.

Good luck.

[bbush]

I'm a happy Yamaha digital piano owner (though if I had the money and the space, I'd buy a real Yamaha grand - used to have a G3, which I loved).  Anyway, I own an old P-60, which you ought o be able to buy used somewhere for $300.  It has weighted-key grand action and extreme touch sensitivity such that I don't miss not having a soft pedal with it.

Others who worry you'll get some sort of bad habits from play on digitals must not have tried the Yamahas. (Much better to play a weighted-key digital than a crappy, beat-up upright... or no piano at all!)  What jimbo320 said is cool, about getting a P-95, which are upgrades from mine, but I'm mentioning the older digital P-60 because I think you'll be more likely to find a cheap one.

Plus, you not only get two wonderful-sounding grand-sampled sounds, but also two electric-piano sounds, two harpsichords, organs and a couple of weird ones I use very infrequently (99% of the time, it's set on Grand1).  Good Luck!

Bruce

[oxy60]

Couldn't have said it better. I have a P-85 and if at the time there had been a P-60 used I would have bought it. Anyone buying a digital should put some money aside for for some really good earphones. With the noise canceling ones (Bose) it will be just you and the piano. No distractions.

[landru]

I'm american I'm not going to some commie community center.  I need to buy something.  How much should I be saving up for something of decent quality of the attributes I want?

I'm American as well, so why should I answer your question in a commie online community bulletin board? Can't you save up to pay somebody of decent quality to answer the questions you have? Or are you being a slight bit hypocritical?

As there might be other commie question askers using this commie community to have questions answered for free (commies!), I might as well add my 2 cents (commie!). I have a Yamaha CPG which is semi-portable, with weighted keys. It does very as a substitute for a real piano - especially for a beginner. It is not until you get into advanced stuff where it won't help you.