eric Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Hi friends, This is not a FS ad, but more of a plea for thoughts on the best outcome for my beloved Yamaha S90. A bit of history - I bought the S90 when they were first on the market around 2002-2003 timeframe and it was a faithful gig companion for nearly a decade before I switched over first to a S70XS and later a NS2 as my main board. My S90 is special. It is loaded with 2 of the PLG-AN boards and 1 PLG-DX board, so I have nice polyphony for VA and FM covered. I spent years crafting a ton of awesome sounds that are still good by today's standards. I had my craftsman friend build me custom end blocks out of Bolivian rosewood to replace the stock MDF end cheeks that were getting beat up. These are beautiful. The S90 shows lots of signs of being used, but its keyboard action is perfect and it overall is a very functional unit. I also have a heavy duty custom Anvil-style flight case for it. I had been stacking it above my Hammond A-101 in my home music room, but a few shifts have taken it out of that position and now it is merely residing in the case in my gear closet. It feels like kind of a sad waste, but I don't really have a place to have it set up for regular use. Which begs the question I'm asking here: What should I do with it? Options I have considered are selling it - I don't know that the overall package is worth very much as the PLG boards are fairly niche and nowadays would not increase the overall value unless I had a very discerning customer. I also thought about pulling those PLG boards out and selling them separately, but do they even have value any longer? The beautiful Bolivian rosewood end pieces also add some panache, but in this day and age, who is really looking for an original S90? I had also considered donating it, but I don't want it to go somewhere where it will be underutilized or abused. Which leaves me with the option of just storing it in my gear closet and maybe breaking it out every few years to make sure it is still working. What would the forum do? Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffincltnc Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Donate it to a church where it will at least be played every Sunday and take a tax write off for it. Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Keep it. Eric I had one and it served me well, in fact I could still use it. The series going for myself up until 2009 when the XS came out and now there is nothing like it out now. "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_G Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Keep it AND play it ! Studio: Hammond XK5-XLK5, Roland Fantom 8, Kurzweil PC3A6, Prophet 5, Moog Sub37, Neo Vent, HX3-Expander, LB Organ Grinder Live: Yamaha CP88, Yamaha Motif Rack ES, Hammond SKX Pro, Hammond XB2-HX3, Kurzweil PC3-61, Leslie 251, Roland SA1000, Neo Vent2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I had one stuffed with PLGs as well. Always loved it. I donated mine to a school music program along with a bunch of other stuff. Out of all of it, I miss the S90 the most. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryjam Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I sold my S90ES and three PLG (AN, DX, and the one with modeled horns) and even the Mlan separately about two years ago on EBay. Im convinced the separate sales brought more $ than the bundled/loaded product would have. There was an active market for PLG-150 cards as late as 2 years ago. Barry Home: Steinway L, Montage 8 Gigs: Yamaha CP88, Crumar Mojo 61, A&H SQ5 mixer, ME1 IEM, MiPro 909 IEMs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 PLG (AN, DX, and the one with modeled horns) That was the Virtual Acoustic PLG150-VL. I had that one too. the "Sweet Alto" patch was ridiculously realistic, among others. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Give it to an aspiring young player who might not be able to afford a nice keyboard. Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeyMoe Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Give it to an aspiring young player who might not be able to afford a nice keyboard. This! Or donate to a church in need.... Montage 7, Mojo 61, PC-3, XK-3c Pro, Kronos 88, Hammond SK-1, Motif XF- 7, Hammond SK-2, Roland FR-1, FR-18, Hammond B3 - Blond, Hammond BV -Cherry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonizer Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I suggest one of the "donation" options. The fact that it is residing in a case in your gear closet speaks for itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 What would the forum do? I traded my S90 3 years ago, I believe, to another forum member who uses it for a weekly church gig. We were both very happy with the results of the trade. Nothing wrong with keeping it either. 6 months from now you might be really happy about that. Or not. C'est la vie. Best to you brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucktunes Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Learn how to use the Master mode on it. Do you have other synths/modules that you could control from it? Its really a good controller, especially if you like the keyboard feel as much as I do. Ive used mine in my home studio this way since retiring it from gig duty years ago. I have it MIDId to an EX7, TG500, and a Motif ES Rack. (I call it my Yammie Supersynth ) I have them all on different MIDI channels and use the presets on the S90 to call up different programs on the receiving synths. Layer them together, pan them apart and use the control sliders or a pedal to control their relative volumes. Or filter cutoff, panning, etc... You can create some massive sound layers this way! You may just fall back in love with your S90 again as a home studio instrument. ><> Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Give it to an aspiring young player who might not be able to afford a nice keyboard. In many major cities there are inner-city youth music programs. I donated my P90 to one in Vancouver a few years ago and it was much appreciated, for either their lesson lab, or for them to lend out to a student. Make a gift to enrich someones life. What else is it for? ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keysguy Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Sounds like you got your use out of it so donate to a school, church, or a kid starting out. The return smile will be a great payback My wife and I completed our wills and to save her the headache of trying to sellit I said donate my musical stuff to some educational institution. Pay it forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Give it to an aspiring young player who might not be able to afford a nice keyboard. +1 Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Giving the S90 to a budding muso would be great. Otherwise, sell the S90 and buy a cool processor like a Moogerfooger low pass filter. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Ferris Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Give it to an aspiring young player who might not be able to afford a nice keyboard. +1 +2 or a Church. I'm recalling in the early 2000s of donating my old Yamaha P150 to a HS in Burbank that had a very good Music program, and specifically for a Jazz band that won national awards at competitions. I went back after a couple of years to rehearse a Christmas concert and to my shock, my P150, which was in excellent shape when I gave it to them, was totally thrashed !! In certain octaves, many of the keys weren't working and it had an ugly electronic buzz coming out of the internal speakers. There was a huge hunk of plastic gone on one of the end pieces. It pretty much soured me on donating anything to a HS or a place where I thought it might be abused. Definitely a young individual or a church. Or maybe a Community or retirement center where more mature people are playing it. https://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris https://www.youtube.com/@daveferris2709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Ferris Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I don't know how active your area is, but I'm considering putting a notice here for free local pickup of my CP5, if and when I get the P515. I highly doubt I would have any use for it anymore. It would only be exclusive to contributing forum members that I recognize of course. And they'd have to promise to actually use it and not turn around and sell it...for what that's worth. Or possibly go on Facebook and see if there are any local gigging musicians that could put it to good use , that might not have the funds for a quality keyboard. https://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris https://www.youtube.com/@daveferris2709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quai34 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 You described it as a very emotional keyboard for you so, why not keep it? You sell when you don't have any use AND no more emotional connection...But that doesn't seem to be the case for you...The fact that it's a 25 years old instrument doesn't make it a bad one.... Stage 2, C2, NL2X+TC Pedals, P08+Tetra+H9, P12+TC Chorus D50+PG1000, 2 Matrix 1K, Proteus 2K, TX802, Streichfett, Drumbrute. Guitars:G&L Legacy, Asat X2, Ibanez Artstar AS153.Bass: L2000, SR1200&2605. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Not 25 years old. "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustar Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 It would be a fabulous embedded keyboard in a rehearsal room. Yamaha P-515, Hammond SK1, Casio PX5s, Motif ES rack, Kawai MP5, Kawai ESS110, Yamaha S03, iPad, and a bunch of stuff in the closet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfields Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Good stuff should be put to use. There's no controlling what will happen once it's out of your hands, but I think selling gives the best odds; most buyers wouldn't put up the money, even if it's just a little, for no reason. I couple years ago I sold an RD-500 that had been my main instrument for 20 years. It was taken away by a very enthusiastic craigslist buyer who needed it for a jazz gig that weekend. I was so happy to know it'd still be played--and by a real musician with a great left hand, based on his few minutes trying it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 Learn how to use the Master mode on it. Do you have other synths/modules that you could control from it? Its really a good controller, especially if you like the keyboard feel as much as I do. I'm an old school Master Mode junkie - I used this extensively on the S90 since I first obtained it, mostly controlling just one other keyboard, but also with some rack units along the way. LOVED IT and still miss it for live playing! There are a lot of great thoughts in here. I think I'll keep an eye out for a good donation target, but I may also rethink what I keep in my music corner, which used to be CP-80 + Hammond + NS2 + S90. I took out the S90 so I could bring my JX-8P back into the fold. That poor synth had been sitting in its flight case in my gear closet and as my first synth I bought in 1985, it needed a better life than living in a flight case. Another option I could consider is selling off the NS2 (I have three of them anyways) and putting the S90 back into the home rig. Also, someone suggested to me that harvesting the PLG boards from it could net me some surprisingly good cash. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I've been giving boards away. I like to donate to School programs or young local cats if possible. I gave a synth recently to some stranger on Facebook bi delivered it. I don't really want strangers coming to my place. I have too much stuff and paying storage unit rent to keep stuff I not going to use just doesn't make sense. I do have a MP5 in storage because my daughter wants .... Not sure why but she likes it. My S90XS is in storage. I really like the action. But I've been thinning the herds the last few years. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane hugo Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 [font:Comic Sans MS]The Church of hurricane hugo is always taking keyboard donations, lol.[/font] http://blip.fm/invite/WorkRelease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.