Digital piano with fully weighted keys

Beckipeg

We're looking for a piano for our daughter to learn on. It has to have a full 88 note keyboard and fully weighted keys. We've not much space in our semi so guess that a digital piano (with volume control ) is the answer.

So far the best deal we can find is for a Yamaha P60 at £515 + £10 p+p.
http://www.piedog.com/PDGShop.asp?WCI=htmDeptProducts&WCU=DEPT%5FPKEY%3D245
We'd need to get a stand for it too.

A Clavinova (CLP-150 or similar) would be great as it has all the pedals and can link to Yamaha for music scores but that would be over twice the price.

We're not fussy about new, would be happy with reconditioned or seconds. Does anyone have any ideas we could follow up? We've been watching Ebay but nothing seems to come available and there doesn't seem to be a large secondhand market. Does Yamaha have a factory outlet we don't know about?

Thanks.

alison6692

try here this link has a Yamaha GGZ200 for £293.
Is that good?



also this site looks good

http://www.brewstermusic.co.uk/Home.htm

Beckipeg

Thanks Alison, I appreciate you replying so quickly. The DGX200 (I assume that's the one you mean) only has 76 keys - we need 88, and the keyboard is only touch sensitive not weighted.
There's no prices on the second website although they do mention a second hand service. I'll try contacting them to see what they have to offer.

If anyone has any further suggestions I'll be grateful.
Thanks.

Britlad

Speak to your daughter's music teacher at school. Schools get massive educational discounts and I'm more than willing to order stuff for the kids at my school.
A lot cheaper than the high street and then there's always the issue of being able to claim back VAT?!

BaritoneUK

Hi there.  I am a professional musician and also used to work at a digital piano specialist music shop.
Why do you want a digital piano?  Is it to substitute a real piano?  I am not a huge fan of Yamaha, but the latest models are much better than they used to be.  Kawai are amongst the best- but I suppose it's all down to personal opinion.  Make sure that you go for FULLY WEIGHTED and touch sensitive and make sure the piano sound is good.  If you give me an idea of what you can afford I could then recommend...

The P80 looks ok, it does have a decent keyboard and it is portable. It only has 32 note polyphony - but that should be sufficient for your daughter learning. I'll look at some other deals for you when I get the chance.

onzey

Noticed pianos at Lakeside (West Thurrock) Costco tonight but didn't note model number.

It was definately Casio, with weighted keys and three pedals and I think, repeat I think, it was about £750 inc vat. Could be wrong here and it may be the pre-VAT price. They may well have them at all Costco locations.

Beckipeg

Why do you want a digital piano?  Is it to substitute a real piano?  ...  If you give me an idea of what you can afford I could then recommend...

Thanks Baritone, we really are pushed for space in our house - small semi - so thought that a digital piano would have the advantage of volume control / headphones against our party wall and possibly take up less space. Also maintenance and transporting a traditional piano is likely to be more costly.
I'm quite tempted by the Y.E.S. (Yamaha Education Suite) as a means of supplementing music lessons - is it worth having? Neither I nor my husband are able to play a musical instrument so we'll have our work cut out supporting our girls as they learn (their school has a strong music tradition - but I don't think they'll be able to order ex VAT Britlad although it's worth a thought!).

We're looking for value for money not just the cheapest - if it's worth it then we'll try to afford it, at the moment I'm looking at around the £500 mark, would prefer it to be less but would be prepared to go a little higher - it doesn't seem right to pay for music lessons then not have the right instrument to practice on. Our girls are only 6 and 4 so it's early days, but we'd like whatever we buy to have the potential to last them (and me if I get a chance to learn alongside).

Thanks for your time and help.

Savvy_Sue

I agree that weighted keys make a difference to how you play, and so do the pedals. But at 4 and 6 it seems a bit excessive to insist on 88 keys ;D

Personally I wouldn't want to shell out £500 until I was sure good use would be made of the beast. If you are really keen to learn even if your daughters give up then it may be money well spent. But if not ...

If one of these professionals - or your daughter's teacher! - can explain why 76 keys are essential for the very earliest stages of learning to play, then obviously take their advice. Otherwise buy smaller and upgrade later.

Another suggestion is to ask if your daughter can practice at school: I used to meet my son at the end of school so we could go and practice on their piano. It's not a long term solution but it does allow you to establish whether this is a long-term ambition or a passing phase.

My son's piano teacher told me not to spend money until we were sure he would persevere, so he spent about a year pootling on a very small (and probably nasty) keyboard. And then a combination of his lack of practice and her lack of health brought the lessons to an end.

At that point I was very glad we hadn't upgraded to anything better.

I agree that volume control and headphones are a very good idea for a small semi with a party wall, having come close to wrapping the neighbour's child's recorder round her neck in the past ... They'd moved before we started revenge with violins. But remember that if your daughter's wearing headphones you won't be able to hear what she's playing (and therefore whether she is practising or playing chopsticks).

And good luck, I hope you all enjoy your musical adventures!

BaritoneUK

It is all down to money at the end of the day. In an ideal world you would go for a proper piano. My wife is a professional musician and she started the piano at 4. I think it does help from a young age to start on a proper piano or if not possible a weighted 88 key keyboard. If you go for anything else (say 76 key) it may get a little confusing when going on to an 88 key keyboard. But I say this if it was an ideal world- these are expensive. If you possibly can go for an 88 key keyboard that is weighted then do, but if you really can't afford it then paying for a decent piano teacher is the most important. To be honest I am really not a fan of these schemes organised by music shops and other companies- like the YES scheme. I would thoroughly recommend going to somewhere like the ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) where they have a lsit of professional teachers who have to meet certain conditions. And even then I would recommend having a consultation lesson first. The ism can be found at http://www.ism.org/

They have a searchable database at http://www.ism.org/register.php?reg=1 if you don't have any luck then there is always the yellow pages, and there is a site called http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/ but of course with these there is no conditions for anyone to sign up.

If you let me know where in the uk you live I may be able to recommend someone.

I

Jolaaled

I have a Casio with weighted keys and it's great. YOu can change the amount of weighting too..but wasn't sure why anyone would ever want to..but my piano teacher said that, when children are learning, they sometimes need the weighting adjusted for their smaller ( and less powerful) hands!!! dont' know if that's any help to you or not!

cheapaschips_2

Hi, we bought a Korg sp-300 for very similar reasons to yourself, no space, but wanted a 'proper' piano.
We paid pretty much full whack (£900), due to my wife doing most of the research, but i did find quite a few internet shops doing it for much less. money aside, it's 88 keys, fully weighted and sensitive, beautifull sound, and about 40 other sounds too, (church organ, hammond organ, honkey tonk, grand, etc) theres virtually nothing to it bar the keys and enough space to put buttons. it has a built in speaker which sounds great and also two sockets for headphones, you and the teacher.
It comes in rosewood or cherry. it really is a nice machine if you can get it for the right sort of money.
Hope you get sorted out.

http://www.dv247.com/invt/133851 - a quick trawl of google, brought up this place doing it for £590. not far off what you want to pay, although the stand is an extra £100, but you could try haggleing.