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Weight of keyboard


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In the city, where everything is built vertically, trolly bags and dollys are practically useless. My main venue is up the stairs, my main practice studio is up the (very narrow) stairs. Someone mentioned about the difference between US and Europe, and while there may be some truth to that, cities on every continent will always have cramped spaces with lots of stairways. Many single-story buildings even have a few steps to walk up.

 

And I want to echo that no matter how buff you are, heavy gear is problematic. Even if YOU can sling that 50lb board over your shoulder and carry that 65lb combo, you've gotta baby it from knocking out someone in the club, or putting a hole in the wall if you're not careful unloading. Sometimes I've gotta setup in a hurry, and I've hit things/people on a rare occasion. Never done any serious damage, but only because I have to pay extra special attention and be slow with heavy gear. I get that with pro gear, "having some weight to it" is a common motto, but I'll always attribute that to a 5lb DSLR camera, not a 60lb board. If someone finds a way of making a 8lb piano-action board that plays well, I'd be on it like Jared Fogle in a preschool.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Realistically, I don't find it makes any noticeable difference if I bring a lighter board to a gig. The only problem is the lighter boards didn't have enough good sounds or features, until the Kurz PC4 and SP6 came along. As far as I'm concerned now that those exist there's really no reason to lug heavy boards to the vast majority of gigs.
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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.

 

 

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.

 

If I end up not buying the 50 pound P-515 the P-121 is my next choice, unless i can find a used CP4.

 

Thanks for the responses, really great information. I'm still kicking it around in my head. But at this moment I'm leaning towards the P-515.

 

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Heaviest board is my ES3 @ 43# and my back is wacked. I go slow and take every

weighting/unweighting leverage advantage I can I have a truck and use a dolly with

straps and bungees I don't do stairs.

Triton Extreme 76, Kawai ES3, GEM-RPX, HX3/Drawbar control, MSI Z97

MPower/4790K, Lynx Aurora 8/MADI/AES16e, OP-X PRO, Ptec, Komplete.

Ashley MX-206. future MOTU M64 RME Digiface Dante for Mon./net

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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.

 

 

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.

 

If I end up not buying the 50 pound P-515 the P-121 is my next choice, unless i can find a used CP4.

 

Thanks for the responses, really great information. I'm still kicking it around in my head. But at this moment I'm leaning towards the P-515.

 

As I just mentioned in another thread, I've become a big fan of the P515, and grab it over my CP4 and other boards for anything piano-centric when a separate aux-out for split bass isn't needed. I'm in the "take what you enjoy playing the most" camp; compromises have to be made somewhere and I'll take mine as some additional grunting required carrying in and out.

 

I lugged an S90ES around for years, and the P515 feels much lighter and shorter, even though it is not much of either.

 

I've always hand carried my digital boards, convinced (rightly or wrongly) that the wheeled-case jostles over thresholds and expansion seams couldn't be good for the longevity of my boards' electronics or moveable parts, so the lightest reasonably padded case that will fit coupled with a repurposed ski bag shoulder strap (strap is positioned to carry 75% of the weight, arm around/hand cupped under the case carry 25%) have become my standard moving rig. Bags such as the Gator GKB series protect well and only add a few pounds and a few inches to the board's weight and dimensions, which help with vehicle fit, loading and unloading, and easing the case onto a table top or amp or a couple chairs lined up for casing and uncasing (I cringe anytime I see a keyboard player wrestle a keyboard out of a case at floor level and then do the clean-and-jerk to move it to the stand . . . some initial elevation sure helps the back immensely). FWIW, the Gator GKB 88 Slim fits the P515 like a glove and only adds 7 pounds to its weight and about 3 inches to its length.

Kawai KG-2D / Yamaha CP33 S90ES MX49 CP4 P515 / Hammond SK1 / NS3 88 / NS3Compact

QSC K8.2s K10.2s KSubs / SoundcraftUi24 / SSv3 / GK MB112 MB115 MB210 Neo410

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Did it for years with my S80 which was 52 lbs., I'm not an especially strong guy but it was always doable; but for the last few years I have been much happier since replacing it with the 33-lb. MOXF8, just so much quicker and easier to move around even without wheels (and I can get away with using a soft case), if it's a compromise it's worth it to me, just makes gigging life easier. Anyway these days there are many under-50-lb. options for a weighted-88, you should look into at least some of them; if you find one where you don't feel the action is a compromise you might be happier.

Rich Forman

Yamaha MOXF8, Korg Kronos 2-61, Roland Fantom X7, Ferrofish B4000+ organ module, Roland VR-09, EV ZLX12P, K&M Spider Pro stand,

Yamaha S80, Korg Trinity Plus

 

 

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I don't do stairs.

If I said that, I would never get a gig... ever. I don't even remember the last time I played a gig without going up steps. Heck, my apartment is on the second floor (no elevator). No one wants to be on the ground floor here anyway cuz of da centipedes. Back in Alaska I had a few venues without steps, but dollies don't work in the snow anyway.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Did it for years with my S80 which was 52 lbs., I'm not an especially strong guy but it was always doable; but for the last few years I have been much happier since replacing it with the 33-lb. MOXF8, just so much quicker and easier to move around even without wheels (and I can get away with using a soft case), if it's a compromise it's worth it to me, just makes gigging life easier. Anyway these days there are many under-50-lb. options for a weighted-88, you should look into at least some of them; if you find one where you don't feel the action is a compromise you might be happier.

 

Gigged with an S80 for 10 years in a SKB case(sold it in 2010) and acquired a Korg CX3 a year before I sold the S80. The 37-lb CX3 was packed in a 35-lb flight case. For a year, I had been schlepping around those 2 beasts as they were my primary blues setup. Now, my blues rig consists of a Nord Electro 5D and Casio PX5S, and my back couldn't be any more happier.

 

Kronos 88 Platinum, Yamaha YC88, Subsequent 37, Korg CX3, Hydrasynth 49-key, Nord Electro 5D 73, QSC K8.2, Lester K

 

Me & The Boyz

Chris Beard Band

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Use grip gloves. Really helps take the stress and grip off of your fingers. Lifting 50+ lbs is easier. I have a pair from Home Depot @ $5.00.

This is true! I got some good ones at Costco. I call them my Spider-Man gloves. Especially useful for carrying Apex stands and On Stage metal tubing contraptions.

The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers

 

People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin

 

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