Need suggestions for new keyboard

[The Flying Fish]

I need some input as to what keyboard I should buy... right now I have a Casio(ugh) keyboard with 61-keys, 100 sounds and built-in rhythms, and non-weighted keys. I also have a Casio digital piano(this Casio isn't that bad) for playing at home.

My situation is this: I need a portable keyboard with at least 76 keys, weighted keys(even if it's only "semi-weighted", so that it won't be too heavy to carry around with me), and it would be good if it had some good synth effects(but I don't need a complete synthesizer at the moment). I would like for it to be a Roland or Yamaha, although any other brand would be alright(as long as it's not another Casio). I also would like to get all this for around $500, and for that price it would probably have to be used. I can't play on the Casio anymore, I really need the extra keys and weighted keys plus most Casios are pretty bad anyway. The digital piano is great for at home, but I need one I can take with me to band gigs and back and forth from church and my house(I'm in the student worship band). Any ideas as to what keyboard I could get? I was looking at the Roland Rhodes 660, released in 1989. It has alot of the features I'm looking for and I found one used in a newspaper ad for $375(and I've heard that one of these would regularly go used for $700). I don't really feel that good about buying a used keyboard that's 11 years old though.

[Nate]

Take a look at the Kurzweil SP-76. It's a 76-key semi-weighted stage piano. If you find a good deal (which I'll help you do later)... you can get it for under $500. It doesn't have many effects or many different sounds..... but what it does, it does well. Soo.... what does it do??? It gives you about the best piano and electric piano sounds you can get for $500. It also has some organs and strings thrown in as well. You can find some more information and user reviews about it at these sites:

http://zzounds.com/love.music?p=p.KRZSP76&z=1228426112192

http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Kurzweil/SP-76-01.html

Now.... I said I'd help you get the price down below $500.... so check these sites out......
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=011122165844024004254165571529/search/detail/base_id/56824

http://zzounds.com/love.music?p=p.KRZSP76B&z=1228426112192

Both of those are factory refurbished (or "B-stock) boards... basically, that means that they had some sort of factory defect (usually cosmetic) so they were sent back to the factory to be fixed back up. I highly recommend buying from Musician's Friend.... even with their refurbished stuff, they offer a 30-day money-back no-questions-asked guarantee. Plus, MF's price on the refurb SP-76 is about $30 less than zZounds.

Anyway..... The SP-76 is my first and highest recommendation.... you're not going to find a much better board for under $500.

Hope this helps.... if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

[The Flying Fish]

Well I checked it out, and it looks great. One main question at the moment: I read that it didn't have sustain, so does that mean no port for a pedal add-on? But it's definitely my best option at the moment; the Rhodes is basically out of the question because I also checked and saw that it was only a 61-key keyboard. Another I saw at Mars Music was a Yamaha for $500, regularly $1000, that also had all the features I wanted. But if the Kurzweil has sustaining pedal support, then it would definitely be a better choice than the Yamaha(cheaper too).

[Nate]

Originally posted by The Flying Fish
I read that it didn't have sustain, so does that mean no port for a pedal add-on


I'm about 99.99% sure it has both a sustain AND an expression pedal jack. Where exactly did you read that?? It might have been referring to a particular sound decaying too fast or something of that nature. I'm going to go check Kurzweil's site and make sure I'm right about the sustain pedal though. Be right back!

[Nate]

Yes..... it has a dual-pedal jack for the sustain (meaning you could hook up a special double pedal and get both sustain and soft pedal functions).... it also has an expression pedal input for things such as volume swells, modulation, etc, etc.....


Here's the spec sheet direct from Kurzweil:

Keyboard: 76 note semi-weighted action

Controllers: Pitch ribbon, modulation ribbon, front panel control slider, continuous control pedal input, 1 dual footswitch input (for two pedals)

MIDI: Transmits on 2 channels, Receives on 1 channel. In & Out

Polyphony: 32 voice

Internal Programs: 32, featuring acoustic piano, electric piano, FM
electric piano, tone wheel organ, and strings

Effects: 9 preset effects, featuring 8 different reverbs, plus chorus, with separate controllable wet/dry levels for reverb and chorus components.

Outputs: 2 Outputs (1/4 in. jack Left/Mono and Right), Stereo headphone out

MIDI Setups: 32 user programmable MIDI setups, each with 2 independent zones

Power: 12V DC external power supply


There's also an mp3 demo.... http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com/html/sp_demo.html

[The Flying Fish]

I think it was on one of the reviews on zZounds that said that about the sustain.

Thanks for all of your help, I'm definitely going to look into this one, it sounded great on the MP3 and it has everything I was looking for for less than I thought I'd end up paying on it.

[Nate]

Glad I could help. If there's anything else you need... just ask!

[Bri-Guy]

Well. . . the Roland RD600 is a great keyboard, though it is priced higher than you wanna pay. I got mine for $1600. But the good thing about it is you can control 2 other keyboards or sinths from it and control the volume right there with physical sliders and not have to go into some setup control thing. I enjoy it. I lead worship with it, and control our church's KORG SGproX with it.

[Nate]

Originally posted by ZAMAR01
Well. . . the Roland RD600 is a great keyboard

Yeah the Triton and the XV-88 are great keyboards too. Too bad they cost about $2000 more than what Fish is looking to spend! Try to at least keep your suggestions NEAR the price range, Zamar! ;)

Regarding your PM, Fish.... I'd recommend the Kurzweil over the Yamaha you were considering. I'm EXTREMELY confident that the Kurz has better quality sounds than ANY other board in it's price range. The only thing with the Kurz is that you'll have to have some sort of external amplification..... IOW, no onboard speakers.

[The Flying Fish]

Well, since I'll be using it mainly to play at church and things like that where I can use monitors to hear the keyboard, I don't think the speakers will make that big of a deal. The main problem I found with the Kurzweil is that, since I'm only paying for half of the keyboard and my parents are paying for the other half, I need to convince them that buying a refurbished keyboard would be ok since there's a 30 day gurantee on it. But since the Yamaha doesn't have weighted keys at all like you said, then it's definitely out of the question, so now I just need to get them to buy a refurbished keyboard.