The best looking modern stage piano

[lvercaut]

CP1 and CP4 for me.

[jejefunkyman]

SV1/SV2 for me of course ð The coolest modern looking digital pianos ever ð followed by the Vox Continental, also a very cool looking modern digital piano.

 

I also like the Grandstage, especially when looking at it from the back.

 

Wait, are they all Korg keyboards? Yes they are ð±ð±ðð!!

[jazzpiano88]

Rhodes MK-80. (Roland)

Cool thing was the Rhodes label on the front rather than Roland. People didn't know what the hell it was.

I donated mine to a school after picking up a Yamaha P200

 

http://www.muzines.co.uk/images_mag/articles/sos/SOS_89_10_rhodes_mk80__full.jpg

[TommyRude]

From an audience view, No digital piano looks good.

 

They have never, looked good.

 

They are a box on scaffolding with untidy wires coming out of the back.

 

On the money.

Yup. Further, would say it neither looks good or bad, it looks like a piece of stage equipment, could be a lighting board or sound mixer, or a table to hold papers or beers, or some piece of computer equipment. But wielded in the right hands, it becomes a very powerful weapon

[Biggles]

There is the further problem of product Identity.

 

Keyboard Manufacturers love to put their name on the back of the keyboard so the audience knows what is being played.

 

Or is it so that other band members can see the keyboard player is actually at a keyboard and not a painted box.

 

Whereas Johnny Guitar has his Stratocaster, Tele, SG, Les Paul etc and the audience loves them and knows what they play.

 

Its just cool being up front, its uncool being stuck at the back next to the guy on skins who is doing his best to drown every other band member out.

[Groove On]

I think stands are part of the problem. Most stage pianos look plenty fine or good enough. But the look is ruined by what it"s sitting on.

I agree, most stage pianos look better with a decent set of legs, even my Roland FP-30 (attached).

[Chris Towns]

I do think the Roland RD2000 with it's matching stand is a nice looking stage piano.

[eric]

I always liked the old Korg SG1D, the Roland RD1000, and the Yamaha CP1.

[Noah DC]

I"ve always appreciated the simple workman look of my CP4.

 

Somebody once tried to start a thread about what kind of curtain/'skirt' setup people use to cover all the bottom board wires and ugly stand poles. Thread didn"t go anywhere, but I"d still be curious about those options - maybe some wall made of tolex or just a jet black curtain like back when guys had big pianos or Hammonds in front of them blocking the lower view.

[El Lobo]

Somebody once tried to start a thread about what kind of curtain/'skirt' setup people use to cover all the bottom board wires and ugly stand poles. Thread didn"t go anywhere, but I"d still be curious about those options - maybe some wall made of telex or just a jet black curtain like back when guys had big pianos or Hammonds in front of them blocking the lower view.

Interesting idea. If somebody wants to market a black keyboard curtain -- adjustable length and width, with connectors or tabs or something to secure it, I'd probably consider it.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

For whatever reason, if we're talking pure aesthetics, the taller a stage piano is, the more of a turnoff it is to me. I like sleek and slim, a clean horizontal line across my platform stand. It's one of several reasons (most of which aren't aesthetic) I'm hoping to grab a CP88 rather than a used CP4.

[dje31]

Purely from aesthetics, in no particular order: CP1, CP5, GEM ProMega 3 & 2

[The Piano Man]

This...

[AUSSIEKEYS]

This...

 

 

Yep gotta say when this came out it rocked the portable piano market and me to the core. I always considered this the very beginning of true portable pianos. Thin, lithe and very light weight at the time (I think if I remember rightly 18kg). Although I didn't buy one (funds at time didn't stretch past what I had just purchased just before this came out but it pushed me later to buy the first Casio Privia which was same lithe long body but only about 12kg.

 

Technics to me pioneered the concept and I always give Technics credit for being the first..very first of the thin 88 pianos. A damn shame they couldnt have kept the momentum up. And with their other gear.

 

 

I still have a  Technics SX-WSA1 super synth and a KN2000 (which was ground breaking in its day for many gigging players here in Australia although I bought it many years later when cheaper just to have one as I never believed a home keyboard type of thing could Grab the attention of so many gigging players at the time)

 

Edit: and what about the hidden sound inside the P30 selected by a secret handshake (as you guys seem to say an Easter egg surprise?) Seems like the Yamaha Reface CP has a similar easter egg surprise.

[EscapeRocks]

Under the OP's "and other thought":

 

Create your own excitement, if that's what you desire.

 

My infamous Red PX-5S and Keylab 61 Black Edition on the stand I built using lighting truss.

 

Same combo but on my AX-90 Missile Launcher Stand

 

Think totally out of box.

Various setups of my modular and custom colored drum rack stand

 

 

 

 

Current Config for use with my computer rig

 

 

 

One thing to keep in mind is that all these are designed within the context of my band.

 

We play at places where people want to see a "Rock Show", where as Timwat put it, they're listening with their eyes.

 

When I do the one-off sit in, or solo acts, it's just a digital piano on a single tier Z-stand.

[timwat]

One thing to keep in mind is that all these are designed within the context of my band.

 

We play at places where people want to see a "Rock Show", where as Timwat put it, they're listening with their eyes.

 

When I do the one-off sit in, or solo acts, it's just a digital piano on a single tier Z-stand.

 

That's such a good point, not to be minimized. Context and audience expectations dictate the direction to go w/ visuals. David could probably rock a Corvette red grand shell as an homage to Cain's whale, but the awesome Gibraltar rig would upgrade any rock / modern KB rig appearance.

 

Jazz rigs, other genres might benefit from some deliberate thought and design in another direction - depends. And of course the money from jazz gigs is so rich we can really go crazy with the visuals.

 

No matter what genre, seems to me the biggest aesthetic upgrade I've made to my stage rig appearance:

 

1) Smile

2) Make a physical effort to communicate to the audience that I'm enjoying playing music for them

3) Look like I'm having a good time myself

4) Refer back to #1

 

 

Tim

[Fairstar]

.... so many people have come up to me after going to high profile gigs saying "hey, the keyboardist was using one of those red pianos like you've got". The average audience member or even average band player has no idea about the nuances of modern keyboards.

 

To them red is the new black...

[Mighty Motif Max]

I actually love how the Kronos 2 looks (the one with wood panels). Both from the audience perspective and from the player's perspective (though I haven't used one at an actual gig). It just looks classy.