Help Purchasing 1st Piano

[gerkea]

My girl friend and I just moved into our new apartment and were thinking of purchasing a piano.  We don’t know much about all the different brands of piano which is why we came here.  Certain constraints will not allow us to have an upright/acoustic piano mainly because of the weight and portability issue (we move around a lot) but we are looking for something to simulate the sound.

Can anyone recommend a type of electric piano which simulates the sound of an acoustic/upright well.  Any vintage models (ie Rhodes, Farfisa, Hohner, ect).  We’re not looking for a digital piano with all the effects and stuff.

Thanks

[Daniel_piano]

My girl friend and I just moved into our new apartment and were thinking of purchasing a piano.  We don’t know much about all the different brands of piano which is why we came here.  Certain constraints will not allow us to have an upright/acoustic piano mainly because of the weight and portability issue (we move around a lot) but we are looking for something to simulate the sound.

Can anyone recommend a type of electric piano which simulates the sound of an acoustic/upright well.  Any vintage models (ie Rhodes, Farfisa, Hohner, ect).  We’re not looking for a digital piano with all the effects and stuff.

Thanks

Yamaha CLP-170

[cysoto]

We’re not looking for a digital piano with all the effects and stuff.

There are many digital pianos in the market today that will give you the weighted keys and a very realistic acoustic piano sound without all the bells and whistles.  You may want to check some of the Roland or Yamaha Digital Pianos.  My vote goes to the Yamaha CLP-120. 

[donjuan]

I would choose Roland or Korg.  Yamaha digitals, I find are in general more of a fun toy than practice tool.  But for certain dont not consider it.  The best is if you play on a number of different models.  There are people here who will read this post and chew me out for dissing Yamaha digitals.  I cant offer authoriative answers, but only my own opinion.  I felt, when playing on a Yamaha one time that it was making the music sound better than it really was.  I was playing on an upright and sounded bad because my touch wasnt well developed and fingers were not even in strength.  But when I played on a Yamaha, it sounded SOOOOOO much better which scared me, because I found it useless for developing technique and helping me to play the piano better.

Ask yourself what your values are- Maybe you shouldnt listen to me and head straight for the Yamaha store as Daniel indirectly suggested.  He's smart- listen to him!! 

In any case, I hope you find a great digital for yourself.
donjuan

[Ed Thomas]

Don't be afraid to check out used digitals if your budget is limited.  Bands are hard on them, so check them thoroughly, especially if you don't know where they came from.  Because new improved models come out every 3 minutes or so, electronic keyboards drop in value almost as fast as cars.  I'm not necessarily recommending you buy a used piano over a new one, but sometimes you can get a lot more for your money.  I certainly have several times.  The secret is to shop for them the same way you do a car -- read up on them, and give them a test drive.  Try lots of them and have fun at it.

Be advised that buying an electronic (digital) piano is not an investment.  They get old and become obsolete and die... and you can never get all your money back.  So don't spend any more than you need to get the performance you want.

[classicarts]

I suggest Yamha's P-250 digital piano.  You can get a brand new for just under $2000.  They're great.   

[leahcim]

edit: note to self: check date on original post

I reckon he's bought one now, or not bothering