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Greetings,

 

What's it like to haul a 50 pound keyboard to gigs? I 'm looking to buy a Yamaha P-515, which weighs 49 pounds. My current keyboard weighs 27 pounds.

 

I only gig locally. The only lifting I would need to do is in and out of my car, then from the floor onto a stand, and occasionally some steps.

 

Is it a non-issue, or does it become a pain in the neck over time?

 

Thanks.

 

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Depends on things like your gender, your age, whether you keep in shape... some people are fine with it... some aren't. Remember to add the weight of a case. Wheeled cases can help, but they can be heavier themselves, which adds to the weight for the times you do have to lift/carry it.

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It's not a big deal, just make sure you have lots of Advil and a good chiropractor to adjust you after your gigs and you'll be fine.

 

At least it's not a TP/100 action for piano, and that alone is worth the years of physical damage to your joints and back.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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At first you'll tell yourself it's worth it, dammit, because if you're not playing an inspiring action you can't play your best. And that's true.

 

Then you'll get tired of the schlep, dammit, because no one helps you in or out and it's a major PITA. And that's also true.

 

Hopefully, you won't pull something, or strain something, or really injure yourself. Because that will really make you rethink some of your life choices like this, and isn't there something you could have done differently and that 27 pounds doesn't look so bad after all.

 

And that will be true too.

..
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I currently lug an SV-1 88 which is 45 pounds, plus hard case. By way of context, I"m 47 years old and in good health. Personally, I find it worth it most of the time. For me it only becomes 'not worth it' when the gigs are too short (multi-band things) or there"s very little room on stage.

 

Some things that may help:

 

1. My case has wheels

2. I always lift with my legs, not my back

3. I enlist band mates/family members to assist with lifting

4. I really like playing it

 

 

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I'm mid-50's and have schlepped an S90ES which is just about the same weight. It's do-able-- moreso if you have bandmates willing to grab one end. A wheeled case definitely helps as well.

 

I think honestly, though, if I were buying something new I would go lighter just because there are decent lighter options out there compared to when I bought the S90ES in the mid-2000's.

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I've had to schlep a 40-pounder in and out of a few awkward places, but 90% of the time, the WHEELED case kept me from becoming semi-crippled. I strapped the rest onto a dolly with bungee cords and made out surprisingly well. It was a plow-horse of a job, but my center of gravity worked out. These days, it'd be vital to find the sweet spot, including help lifting at a key point or two. It makes lap-topping with controllers seem a lot more appealing. The other route: "You'll take a PX-5S, a Prophet-6 and LIKE it that way!" :hugegrin:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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There"s the move from the car to the stage, that can be a big one. I will never ever gig again with a keyboard over 27 lbs and a soft light gig bag, I learned my lesson 4 years ago when a heavier keyboard gig sidelined me and my back for 8 weeks with several relapses after that. It was perhaps the worst pain I have ever had.

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I use a 27lb and haul it around with a soft bag case. I used to have a 55lb board with a 40lb flight case... NO MORE. At 28lbs I can throw it over my shoulder, it's still heavy, but I can get stand and accessory bag in all at once. Course there's still my amp, mojo61, and other gear for another load, but it's not a back breaker. Hard cases or Trolly bags with wheels are the devil. Use them for flying, then pack them away.

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Thanks for the responses. The 27 pound keyboard I've been using is a Yamaha P-85. I play jazz, I almost never use anything but the grand piano sound and don't use any of the features. I wanted to replace the P-85 with something better so I went to look at the Yamaha P-125. It didn't seem that much better than what I already have. But then I tried the P-515 which was considerably better. I'll probably buy it and hold on to the P-85. If I get tired of the 49 pounds I could switch back. At least that's what I'm thinking now.
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50 lbs doesn't feel like it did 20 years ago. Probably not likely to give you back issues if you don't already have them, but very likely to make an existing back issue flare up. For that reason, I draw the line at about 38 lbs.

 

The CP88 is in some ways the same as the P515, but 8 lbs less and $1,000 more. If I really liked that piano feel and sound, I'd spend the extra. But I have no choice, and 41 lbs is already over my limit.

 

I'd keep the P85 for rehearsals. Hauling a heavy rig to spend a few hours in smelly room with other musicians gets old real fast.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Not a fan of heavy keyboards anymore. I'm 52 but a big, strong guy who works out regularly...and don't really enjoy hoisting heavy keyboards around. It is very nice to be able to scoot my loaded stand around a bit, or edge past customers etc. Granted, I tend to use my cart for most gigs so that kind of reduces the light-weight benefits.

 

In short, where lighter weight really helps is in the smaller adjustment things, squeezing past people etc.

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50 lbs is too much for me. I just turned 60 yet am thankfully still physically strong.

 

My Nord Piano 4 is a fully weighted 88 that tips the scales at ~40 lbs without its case. It's about as heavy as I will tolerate yet is fun to play all night long. 50 lbs would be a deal breaker (and a back breaker) for me. Like others here, it was a heavier board that put me out of action for several weeks.

 

The case design can also help. For example, the Nord bag has a handle in the middle at the center of gravity which means you can easily wheel it around vertically. I can use my hips to get it into the truck (sort of a judo throw), and getting it from bag to stand is straightforward with a little forethought.

 

Would I enjoy playing on a heavier board? Certainly. Am I going to schlep a heavier board? Never.

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The case design can also help. For example, the Nord bag has a handle in the middle at the center of gravity which means you can easily wheel it around vertically. I can use my hips to get it into the truck (sort of a judo throw), and getting it from bag to stand is straightforward with a little forethought.

 

My Nord Stage bag hates me. It has the wheels protruding from the end instead of being on the corner, thus it will not stand up vertically for even a second. I always feel like it is trying to run away from me.

Moe

---

 

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Good point about the cases and the overall dimensions being as big as deal as weight.

 

My old Motif was a 61-key keyboard, as was my Virus b. The Virus was probably a bit heavier, but it was far easier to pick up and shift around, because it was a bit more compact, and also because it didn't have the sloping angles on the outside that the Motif had. I almost dropped the Motif several times due to the odd shape of the chassis. To me the part of the setup I least look forward to (on some stages, especially when I don't get there before the drummer) is the "take the keyboards out of their cases and get them up onto the stand" part. It can be a real nightmare on crowded stages with a heavy, cumbersome keyboard.

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To me the part of the setup I least look forward to... is the "take the keyboards out of their cases and get them up onto the stand" part. It can be a real nightmare on crowded stages with a heavy, cumbersome keyboard.

 

This. 1000 times this.

 

Oh, and: stairs.

 

I still carry around (and up and down those damn stairs) a Nord Stage 88 which is about the limit of what I'm willing to lift.

But I keep thinking of switching it for the semi-weighted version, getting exactly the same sounds in exactly half the weight. Would I enjoy playing piano on a semi-weighted action? Not one minute.

Would my back enjoy it? Every second of it.

 

To help the thread starter: Yamaha also does the P-121, which is the same as the P-125 (so as you rightly noticed, very similar to your P-85) but with one octave, 2 kilos and about 20 cms less.

 

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I don't find a significant schlep difference between my RD800 and my CP4, and this about the weight difference you're discussing. I schlep them both in rolling gator bags (GK-88 and GK-88-SLIM).

 

In fact, I schlepped both just yesterday...different gigs

 

One consideration is stairs, which suck going up but are find going doing in one of these bags. I generally play organ also, though, so no-stairs is already a strong gig preference.

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Stairs...don't have to deal with those much here in central Fl. Just monsoon rains and heat.

 

I'm currently in NYC on vacation...and I can't even imagine owning a car here, let alone where/how you'd park it and get your gear anywhere. The entrances to some restaurants and bars are real mazes!

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Weight and dimensions are a key factor, not just in the case of schlepping gear around, but also on how much space you take up on stage.

Now, I'm based here in the UK, and in my imagination American stages are like your country and your roads - wide and expansive! Here they can vary widely - and we seem to like steps too. I did a gig in Central London just before Christmas, and the 400 year old lodge we were playing in was beautiful, but up many many flights of steps - and no lifts!

 

For years I used a Roland RD700nx Stage Piano, which I still have and still love. However, at 25kg (over 55 lbs) plus the 'light' Gator ABS case on wheels at 14kg (31lbs), it was getting pretty hard work to schlep around, and often the bands can be asked to play in the smallest of places. An 88 note board takes up a lot of space, and the bottom 15 notes are for most bands unnecessary as you are encroaching on the Bass Players territory - both physically and in frequency range.

So for these reasons, I decided to retire my RD to the studio, and instead got a Nord Electro 5 HP73. That's 73 notes of Hammer action Piano weighing in 11kg (just over 24lbs) and an SKB ATA Case with wheels at 7.89kg (17.4lbs). Nice and portable.

 

I find this works brilliantly for me for bands, but if I need the full 88 then I can get the RD back out again.

 

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Everyone's provided great insight so far - only thing I'd add is that in addition to your back, think of your wrists and shoulders when lugging the rigs. My hands / wrists in particular feel it big time if I've had to do the heavier lifting...
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To me the part of the setup I least look forward to... is the "take the keyboards out of their cases and get them up onto the stand" part. It can be a real nightmare on crowded stages with a heavy, cumbersome keyboard.

 

This. 1000 times this.

 

Oh, and: stairs...

This is why we have band mates, and hand carts. I sometimes have even recruited an affable, burly audience member to help me lift my keyboard onto the stand. Most folks have been more than happy to assist. After all, we are in the band, and bands are cool.

 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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Senior citizen here. I play mostly jazz gigs. I started out many years ago with the Fender suitcase EP. Every keyboard since then has gotten progressively lighter. I'm happy with my Casio PX-5s for the last 5 years. The heaviest piece of gear I have now is my CPS V3.

 

Casio PX5s, XWP1 and CPS SSV3
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Everyone's provided great insight so far - only thing I'd add is that in addition to your back, think of your wrists and shoulders when lugging the rigs. My hands / wrists in particular feel it big time if I've had to do the heavier lifting...

Yep. I"ve got many lingering, nagging injuries from huffing equipment over the years, including a left hip that goes out from lifting a heavy rack in the 1990s. Another consideration is if you are also going to want to play it/practice on it at home in addition to the gigs. If you"re playing a lot of gigs, you may not want to also be schlepping it into your house each night when you get home, too.

 

Edit to add: yesterday I finally pulled the trigger on the Studiologic Numa Compact 2x, at 15.9 lbs. I"m looking forward to cutting my keyboard weight in half from my current 32 lbs!

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50 pound board in a bag is nothing. My 45 pound XK3c in its 55 pound Anvil style ATA case sucks.

 

But no it depends on a lot of factors.

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So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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