The best, most useful and enjoyable keyboard you ever bought?

[AUSSIEKEYS]

ALESIS QUADRASYNTH and then a  PIANO PLUS. To me at the time the game changer. Im a fanboy of the Quadra range.

 

Other than firstly on electric pianos the first synth i started with was a Korg Trident when they were current. I loved its split layering of 3 seperate synths that could overlap the 3rd. This to me was the most important thing in those days no other synth offered a function as nicely implemented as thus on such an early synrh. I considred it a Synth Ensamble rather than just a synth.

 

So i was always on the lookout for synths that could do that ...zone with overlap that the Trident weaned me on. Zoning was not heard of much then

 

I bought a Kurzweil K1000 thinking the zoning it touted could do that but it could only zone linearly not over lapping (unless i was doing something wrong). Not talking simply layering but different key ranges.

 

Enters the Quadrasynth. I bought that and was blown away by its zoning and generally great sounds. I was in zoning heaven and it was easy to operate. At the time i liked the feel of its keys 

 

I upgraded to the piano plus version as i found an unused one cheaply a drummer had bought on a whim. The original one sold off easily so all good.

 

I still have it today and To be honest id still gig with it today but for its weight which is too heavy for me to lug in a roadcase (health reasons) and although i havent used it in years i remember after changing to an earlier Privia i had (i think it was a PX300 anyway before getting a Privia PX330) that the quadrasynths keybed just felt horrible. It was fine in its day but id struggle enjoy the feel now i think??

 

Having said that years ago i bought a used QS6.1 hoping to use it above the privia to get what I lost in zoning. Thats how much i loved the quadras but alas it has a slight output hum that is just too much for me to accept thru a PA. Not bad enough to make it unenjoyable at home but thru a PA it annoys me.

 

I do have a few quadasynth racks but they take up a top tier anyway hence the QS6.1 I bought as it can instantly access any combi at a few button presses which the racks stupidly cant do. Why no 10 digit keypad or similar.

 

I did use my Alesis nanosynth with the privia but alas no zoning but amazing sounds in a matchbox that could sit gaffered on the privia without a 2nd tier.

 

Ironically the closest thing i feel to a quadrasynth in zoning but with my privia feel is the Casio PX5s. Alas i decided not to upgrade to it when it came out as i had just purchased the PX330 (replacing the earlier Privia i gigged with) and couldn't justify the loss id take although my wife was pushing me to buy it when we looked at it in the shop. 

 

The Casio PX5s was everything i wanted in a gigging keyboard only lacking easy access to combis (the lack of a 10 digit keypad or similar is a shame but its the way of so many keyboards now sadly)

 

Now to reduce weight of individual carrying, for an 88 bottom tier i look at Numa Cocal 2x but limited zoning so if adding a 2nd tier for zoning ability the incredibly lightweight Korg Angry (Kross) on top.

 

The Kross would get me my quadrasynths zoning ability but again at a loss of 10 digit input as it too has difficult access to combis.

 

Quadrasynth was ahead of its time

 

You are reading another Aussiekeys tome

 

 

[LarsHarner2]

I am actually going to go with a module I loveed- the Korg SG Rack- perhaps I wished I would have gotten the SG Pro X but used my Rack with a fatar and loved it.

I am also going to go with my Nautilus

[bill bosco]

not the most practical but always my most enjoyable to play on is my A100 , second place to be a tie , my trusty 12 year old P85 digital

piano , i love the action on it , and my Viscount Live which i end up playing on the most since it's parked next to my computer . i'm currently

a you-tube enrollee . the most useful would be my MODX 7 , except for organ , it's got everything i need in a keyboard  , and it's light as a feather

[dickiefunk]

Yamaha CP88

[churchkeys]

Current Love- Yamaha S90 ES. Before that, DX7, Wurly, Rhodes Satellite, and First Love - a Howard Baldwin Combo Vox killer with coupler.  

[churchkeys]

5 minutes ago, churchkeys said:

Current Love- Yamaha S90 ES. Before that, DX7, Wurly, Rhodes Satellite, and First Love - a Howard Baldwin Combo Vox killer with coupler.  

“It don’t do no good to step on the seat cause the crabs can jump 10 feet anyway.”  Found this scrawled in a bar gig bathroom somewhere on the road in the Midwest in the 70’s. 

[tnelson]

My Baldwin SF10, built late 60's during a high point for Baldwin. Got mine for a song in 1992 from an estate sale, restored to sonic and visual beauty by Shawn's Piano in CT. Maintained and regulated by Chris Towne, superb piano tech in CT, rebuilt in 2013 by Shawn's team with new Abel hammers, new dampers. Moved with me to CA in 2014, and now maintained by superb Bay Area tech (and composer) Christopher Johnson. The SF10 is usually considered a poor cousin to the Steinway B.  Maybe, but this Baldwin is so perfect and sweet...It's been my partner for study, exploration, home sessions and rehearsals for decades now.  My best investment ever....

[seratone]

I'm with the Korg X-50! - I used it on top of a Nord Electro 4d - Now a Yamaha YC61. These patches : Padtropolis, Universal Choir, Liquified, Night Sky are really useable - some of them can be heard on Eno produced Coldplay albums. I don't use it for piano's (unless it's a special effect - with lots of reverb), don't use it for Organ, Just the spacey Pads - that's what the YC is for on the bottom. It's very lightweight - has handles - and John Paul Jones used one in Celebration Day.

[Outkaster]

None of them

[Stokely]

Probably my current Nord stage 3 compact.  It of course has limitations but my needs creep right up to them without crossing over    I would have killed for this board back in the 80s. 

Speaking of the 80s, my JX-10 I had in the mid-late 80s was my first real nice synth and I loved it.  I didn't treat it as well as I should have, it saw many gigs and I was young and stupid (old and stupid now, but I digress).  It did have a recurrent issue with key contacts going out--which perhaps was dust that I could have avoided.   I paired it up with an E-mu Proteus (with a 2nd keyboard at times) in the late 80s and that was quite the rig for its day.

 

[Paul Woodward]

My Roland W30 got used to death on stage and in the studio back in the day. Don't think any other keyboard has been as useful overall as that. I seem to have just dabbled with stuff since.

[analogman1]

My Electro 5D. Does everything and no matter the gig, it never stays home! 

[stillearning]

In the 60’s - Yamaha YC-30 Organ

In the 70’s - ARP Quadra

2000’s - Korg 01/W ProX

Now - Nord Stage 3

[jazzpiano88]

1.  Rhodes Suitcase 73  (1980- 1988)

2. Roland Mk-80  (1989 - 1999) - controller to a rack of various stuff.  Essentially a KX-88

3. Yamaha P200/250 (1999- 2013)

4. Yamaha CP300. (2014-2018)

5. Montage 8/M8x (2019 - present)

 

Best ever is a tie:   Yamaha CP300,   Montage M8x

 

[Haem]

My Roland FA08

Not being very technical, I’ve found it very user friendly. Playing in a band it’s great to be able to create a studio set for each song using lots of splits, layers & great variety of sounds. It’s a light keyboard and I like the weighted keys. I know it’s been replaced now by Fantom 08 but I can’t see there being any massive improvement. I’d welcome any thoughts on this? 

[Stokely]

I think the tonewheel organ is better in the Fantom--this may not be an instrument of need.  I was set to buy my buddy's FA07, thinking it had the same organ as my former VR700, but it wasn't in the ballpark for whatever reason and I decided not to buy.  I don't think the regular fantom started out with the tonewheel engine, it was added later; not sure about the Fantom-0.

There may also be a difference in synth tech but I though the FA synths sounded good when I tried it out.

[CyberGene]

CK61 is certainly among the most useful keyboards I’ve had. Not the best in any single area but the greatest all-rounder taking in mind also price, weight, size, speakers and battery-power ability. 

[J.F.N.]

I'm very happy for my Kurzweil PC3 76, it's definitely an extremely versatile workhorse, and I totally adore the keybed, I hope one day I will be able to take the time to deep dive into its VAST universe!

 

Another favourite is my Prologue 16, with the multi oscillator takes me back to the realms of Prophet VS, which is on my top 3 of all times favourite synths, and I can't wait for Uli to announce a full 16 voice version release with their version of it. The only thing I really miss on the Prologue is aftertouch, how could they miss out on that, channel pressure has been around for a looooong time!

 

 

[The Piano Man]

I like having:

 

1) a do it all 88. That’s my Kurzweil PC3a8

 

2) a gig worthy 73/76. All I have here is a very old Rhodes 760 which is overdue being replaced. I’m saving for a Hammond SK Pro 73

 

3) a very lightweight and compact 61 with plenty split layer options. I currently have a Korg X5d which I will probably replace with a Kross 2.

 

 

[Delaware Dave]

Beside the Hammonds it would be the Ensoniq SD1.

[K K]

Korg Kronos 2

MIDIboard v3

140 lbs of fun.

[Polychrest]

Most enjoyable: the Hammond M3 and Leslie 145 I used for a while in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.  Most useful: the Nord Electro 2 I bought around 2002 after a long hiatus from gigging.  Its sound quality, versatility and portability were remarkable for the time. The best: still looking for it.

[lsj]

korg polysix.  played the hell out of it.

[Tom Williams]

I don't know if I replied in previous years, but my current chronological list would be:

1970s -- Farfisa VIP 345 -- I could even play piano parts on it, after a fashion.

1980s -- Ensoniq Mirage -- Picked it over the DX7, and never regretted it.

1990s -- Ensoniq EPS Thrteen-minus -- band in a box.  I ran two of 'em at a time.

2000s -- Alesis Fusion -- If only it weren't so buggy, it did a little of everything.

Now   -- Kurzweil PC4-7 -- Hammond, check; piano, check; E-piano, check; Orchestral strings, check....

[Paul Woodward]

Wow, I forgot about the Fusion. I had the 8HD which was setup in a shop next to the Korg Oasys. It was a 'budget' version of the Oasys (in terms of sound engines and workstation functions), price slashed massively soon after launch then discontinued quite early in it's life. Didn't Rick Wakeman demo it at one stage?

[D. Gauss]

"Claudia", she's a mid 1950's Baldwin Model M Baby Grand in amazing shape.

[J.F.N.]

3 minutes ago, D. Gauss said:

"Claudia", she's a mid 1950's Baldwin Model M Baby Grand in amazing shape.

 

If i ever decide to get myself something like that, there's only one name coming to mind to call it/her; Jolene...

 

😊

[D. Gauss]

Just now, J.F.N. said:

 

If i ever decide to get myself something like that, there's only one name coming to mind to call it/her; Jolene...

 

😊

 

Ha! Indeed.  I got the Baldwin basically for free from a very nice woman named Claudia who's mother had just passed away and was selling her house and entire contents... hence the name.  I only had to pay for movers, a tech to look at it before i even considered moving it, and some very minor adjustments once moved. 

[RABid]

My first synth was a brand new MiniMoog Model D. I moved from drums to keyboards and joined a band with a future Nashville guitarist. To keep from being blown off of the stage I turned into a speed daemon on the Moog, but it was not without issues. Oscillator 2 loved to drop out of tune at the worst time, and the pitch bend would come to rest at a different position depending on if you bent a note up or down. For tuning consistency I had to always bend up, never down. This did nothing for my stage fright. When I decided to be a full time keyboardist I bought a MemoryMoog and a Rhodes Chroma. While the MemoryMoog fixed the issues of the Mini, it was the Chroma that was a revelation for my playing. The Rhodes keybed forced me to slow down. The amazing pair of levers along with velocity and release velocity taught me to "play the note" rather than see how many notes I could shove into a measure. Whomever programmed the original patches was a genius. I attached sustain, CV and momentary contact switches. I could pull of tricks like using the switch pedals to progress through program changes, or on really busy songs, I could play a chord in advance, then use both hands on other keyboards. When it was time for that chord to come in I would press a switch with my foot and it would play. It was a time when I was not confident in my talents, feeling that I was on stage because keyboardists were hard to find. But we were playing the biggest clubs in the city, and during breaks it seemed there was always someone coming up on stage to ask me how I got a certain sound, or how I pulled off convincing screaming guitar leads with an analog synth. Thanks to the Chroma I evolved into a valuable commodity, and eventually came to realize it. 

[ImproKeys]

Nord Stage 2 HA76