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Roland GP-3 - tiny baby grand format digital piano


ElmerJFudd

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I often toy with buying a piano shell, like @EscapeRocks, to house a digital piano... y'know, to up my stage presence.  Maybe I've been thinking about this wrong.  This Roland approaches a sweet spot of visually flashy yet portable... well, about as portable as lugging a piano slab and a shell.  These things probably aren't road worthy, though.  

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I quite like this. I could definitely see one in my church.

 

The video was kind of refreshing. 🙂 Clearly the main presenter made no pretense of being a flashy virtuoso. He just explained it in simple terms and then brought in a couple of players. Pretty cool.

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I went to Roland's web site and looked it up to read the specs.   They are a little on the sparse side - no info on what kind of technology is used.   That is, is it sample based?  Modelled?  Doesn't say.   The demonstrator in the video above didn't mention the escapement, oddly.   Both the featured musicians didn't mention it either.   Still, it looks interesting.   I'd be interested to try it out.  $4k is quite a lot, though, it better be good!

 

I also appreciated the demonstrator's brevity.   He used "nice" about 750 times, though!  😀

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, Mike Davis said:

The video was kind of refreshing. 🙂 Clearly the main presenter made no pretense of being a flashy virtuoso. He just explained it in simple terms and then brought in a couple of players. Pretty cool.

 

When I heard the chap i thought he sounds like an Aussie which Surprised me but then i saw It was an advert from Better Music

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15 hours ago, Floyd Tatum said:

I went to Roland's web site and looked it up to read the specs.   They are a little on the sparse side - no info on what kind of technology is used.   That is, is it sample based?  Modelled?  Doesn't say.   The demonstrator in the video above didn't mention the escapement, oddly.   Both the featured musicians didn't mention it either.   Still, it looks interesting.   I'd be interested to try it out.  $4k is quite a lot, though, it better be good!

 

I also appreciated the demonstrator's brevity.   He used "nice" about 750 times, though!  😀

 

I would have to think that their best acoustic piano was the V-Piano and at 85 pounds and $6K they couldn't have sold very many; so my guess is that the V-Piano technology is the basis for this model.  I always thought that the V-Piano sounded killer, but weight and price in my view made it the inhibitor.  So they move down the price and moved up the weight....  As I peruse sales ads you can get a decent used piano (upright, grand, spinit) for peanuts.  Some people give them away free just to get them out of their house.  Yeah, grands and uprights are heavy to move but typically it's set it and forget it, meaning you move it and set it up once.  This one being 126 pounds is like moving a leslie cabinet, do-able but a P-I-A.   What I'd like to understand from many manufacturers is:  where do they get their product ideas from?  I can't even count the number of times where I see a new product offering and think "Is there really demand for this?".

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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44 minutes ago, Delaware Dave said:

… This one being 126 pounds is like moving a leslie cabinet, do-able but a P-I-A.   What I'd like to understand from many manufacturers is:  where do they get their product ideas from?  I can't even count the number of times where I see a new product offering and think "Is there really demand for this?".

You’re absolutely right that it’s just barely movable. Not for gigs 🙂 I think the demand would be from people wanting to use them in churches and living rooms.

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They have a line of these "furniture" digital "grands", and have for years. What's to say this isn't just the same as what they already have, in a more compact shell? Was there a mention of new tech, or anything at all to distinguish it from the other two models (GP607 and GP609)? Maybe less speakers?

 

As far as demand, maybe this is targeted at those with a studio apartment wanting sonething more than a slab? This is why I'm not in the marketing field!

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1 hour ago, Reezekeys said:

They have a line of these "furniture" digital "grands", and have for years. What's to say this isn't just the same as what they already have, in a more compact shell? Was there a mention of new tech, or anything at all to distinguish it from the other two models (GP607 and GP609)? Maybe less speakers?

 

As far as demand, maybe this is targeted at those with a studio apartment wanting sonething more than a slab? This is why I'm not in the marketing field!

I think Yamaha and Roland and the others address a market for digital pianos that are furniture and will fit in modern and classic interior design. The focus is on charging a premium for the design and look - not so much on the instrument having their most current action, sound engine or speaker system. There are other models that cater to people who want the very latest technology - Avant Grand, Novus, V Piano Grand come to mind. 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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26 minutes ago, D. Gauss said:

save 4k.  get a free baby grand made of real wood on craigslist , gut it and put your keyboard of choice in it.

I have a beautiful looking small (5’10) grand that I never play. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve thought of that. 

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Rod

Here for the gear.

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I can't imagine this is the demographic they were thinking of, but the other use case I can see for this is a lower-midlevel touring artist where Playing the Piano is a big part of the performer's identity and showmanship, but using a full-size grand is out of the question.

 

...or you can just do what a lot of other acts do and have a shell made, I guess!

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Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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52 minutes ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

 the other use case I can see for this is a lower-midlevel touring artist where Playing the Piano is a big part of the performer's identity and showmanship, but using a full-size grand is out of the question.

 

...or you can just do what a lot of other acts do and have a shell made, I guess!

Shell is a way to go, definitely. (See also: EscapeRocks). 

 

I wonder if Roland have constructed the thing so it's a standard slab piano inside a shell, and the two can dismantle for easier relocation?

 

Cheers, Mike.

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1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Shell is a way to go, definitely. (See also: EscapeRocks). 

 

I wonder if Roland have constructed the thing so it's a standard slab piano inside a shell, and the two can dismantle for easier relocation?

 

Cheers, Mike.

I wonder how well a GP-3 vs. a premade shell disassemble and reassemble repeatedly.  If either have machine screws and metal anchor holding the legs and/or pedals in place that would be miraculous. 

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Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I'd wait for the Merriam Music review on YT to get an evaluation and real technical details, for example which other keyboard model it corresponds to. Stu knows Roland and has reviewed a very similar model (the DG30) from Kawai.

 

However, the Roland Support Channel already has a video which demonstrates the GP-3 in in parallel with the new RP-107 so my it seems they use the same software at least. The RP model uses the SuperNATURAL Piano engine and the PHA-4 Standard Keyboard with escapement but with only a 2x8 W output according to the Roland spec sheet. Strangely enough, the GP-3 spec sheet is a lot more unclear about those details.

Myself, since both GP-3 and DG30 is quite pricey but small enough to look like toys, I'd recommend getting a GP-607 or a Yamaha CLP-765GP if you have the space for it. None of this models are portable grands anyway, for that you need a quality keyboard and a shell like the DutchGrand.

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Supernatural piano engine

PHA4 with updated (faster) high resolution velocity sensors

App to get around settings (otherwise accessed with button hold and key presses)

Some sort of surround sound method used on the headphone out

MIDI recording but no audio recording on board 

Two speaker system - the speaker port in the faux soundboard is only for looks. 

Least expensive grand type in their line, but there are better offerings from Roland in other form factors.  

 

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Wow, the original PHA-4 action must really suck hard, if as that guy says, this new PHA-4 "pales in comparison with Roland's grand hybrid key action" but is a "significant improvement over the previous generation [PHA-4]" I guess everyone with a Roland DP having the original PHA-4 should immediately trash their instrument and upgrade! How could Roland have foisted such a crap action on us?! /s

 

Sounds like that Riverton video guy is reading straight off a Roland press clip at times. This is more of an ad than a review imo.

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