Yamaha CP25

[DenCV]

So way back in the early eighties I had a yamaha CP25 as my piano in my rig. Loved the thing! It had a rhodes type sound that really cut through on a lot of the fusiony stuff we were doing. But it had the coolest action out of anything I've ever tried to this day (I'm a bit odd though, I love a rhodes action). Well, I got totally out of music for maybe 15 years, and sold everything I had except a clav and an ms20. With ebay and craigslist I've managed to buy back and retry everything I used back in the day, except the cp25, they just never showed up. Well finally maybe 2 years ago one did, for around a buck and a half, so I grabbed it. Got it home, sure enough the action was as great as I remembered it. But the sound sure wasn't. Things have come a long way. I took it to a blues jam, and we all had a lot of fun with it, but there was no room in the studio for it, and it was a lot heavier than I remembered it, so it got a corner of the garage and sat there packed up until tonight. I decided it would make a good bedroom instrument to just go over scales before I went to bed. No distractions, only notes. But it does sound bad! I'm kind of wondering what the possibility of turning it into a midi controller is? It was definitely pre midi, but there has to be a way? ANybody have any experience under the hood of one?

 

[Shamanczarek]

The somewhat larger but very similar CP35 has a pre-MIDI Keycode interface which allows it to control a Yamaha CS70M Polysynth. It doesn't send Velocity, just Note-On and Note-Off. A couple of the Yamaha SK series Keyboards also have the Keycode interface so one of those could be controlled by the CP35.

 

The CP35 does pretty good Rhodes and Harpsichord/Clavinet-like sounds especially considering it doesn't use samples. There are two independent tone generators each with it's own audio output. You can slightly detune one generator or set them to different intervals up to a couple of octaves apart from each other. Then there is on-board analog Tremolo, Flanger and adjustable Decay which comes in handy for Clavinet simulation and other effects. A major drawback is that the CP35 is only 16-voice polyphonic and the CP25 drops from 16 to 8-notes when in Dual Mode. But I agree, it has a great-feeling velocity keyboard.

[Adan]

I had either the CP25 or 35, can't remember which. Really not a bad keyboard for it's time. I agree the rhodes was useable (for it's time), and the piano had a sort of soft quality that made it sound pretty decent in the mix, though not much like a real piano. But that keyboard was heavy. My 16-year old back didn't mind, but still it was pretty absurd for having non-weighted keys.

[drawback]

I had a CP30. The best features were the lid, that split in two halves and became the stand, and the large flat top for all kinds of stuff.

[Markyboard]

CP-30 was my first electronic keyboard, worked 2 jobs during college summer break to pay for it. Loved that thing for years although it was noisy with all the key "bleed". I recently helped a guy on Gearslutz troubleshoot some bad notes on his board. Learned that the custom divide down chips are no longer available from Yamaha. The nerve of some companies.

 

It was fully polyphonic which was really cool.

[DenCV]

That's a bummer there's no velocity sent, so much for it beinmg a midi controller. And Adan,. they were weighted, not sure if as much as a real piano but definitely more than semi.

[StratoTude]

I have started the restoration of the Yamaha CP25. I'm ready to shield the upper backplane. My question is how do I remove the standoffs, see attached pictures. I realize they are old and I don't want to damage them. I don't know how they are installed so I'm sure how to remove them. In my experience, I have seen similar standoffs that screwed in or pushed in. Thanks in advance.

[David Emm]

I bought a used CP20, which was a terrible mistake. It sounded like Kong-sized ass to me, even with everything kicked in. It was also a 100-pound beast, inexplicably attached to a serious wood frame. Hernia! That practice is part of why the CS-80 was a 200-pounder. It took the appearance of the SY85 for me to halfway forgive Yamaha for that boat anchor. Now, their digi-pianos are outstanding, but the CP20 was the hunchbacked cousin who lived in the basement and ate fish heads by choice. Brrr!