zephonic Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 I'm looking for an acoustic piano to buy, and per chance stumbled upon this Kawai EP-308 which seems to be something of a CP70 competitor? Anybody know about this thing? Quote local: Korg Nautilus 61 AT | Yamaha MODX8 away: GigPerformer | 16" MBP M1 Max home: Kawai RX-2 | Korg D1 | Roland Fantom X7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose EB5AGV Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Pedals-less? 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defeofiuza Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcmarc Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 1 Quote Wurlitzer 200A, Steinmann upright and numerous electronic disposable instruments⦠Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mills Dude Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 5 hours ago, defeofiuza said: Holy 80's Batman! I actually had this on VHS and vinyl back in the day, "GRP Live" I believe it was called. Totally forgot about this. Rittenour plays the Synthaxe on one of the tunes. Not really jazz, GRP was representative of the "smooth jazz" era well except for the Elektric Band records. I remember enjoying that tune in particular and always assumed it was a heavily processed CP-80 but on closer listening the sound is quite different. CP-80 has a more "twangy" sound. I'm sure it weighs as much, if not more, as a CP-80. 2 Quote Mills Dude -- Lefty Hack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 3 hours ago, Dave Ferris said: Bob Malone is one of the greatest r&r piano players I've ever met....man he can play ! Sweetheart guy too. That was some wonderful playing. And great use of a "floor coupled to a mic stand" as a kick drum. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Julian Colbeck has it listed in Keyfax 3 as introduced in 1983 - a little late to the acoustic-electric party. I vaguely remember the EP-308 because I was CP80 shopping around that time - when I started playing piano bars. The Kawai was bigger, heavier, and much more expensive - so I ruled it out. It seemed to address some of the shortcomings of Yamaha's CP series though - with better action and longer strings. Don't remember ever playing one, but it sounds pretty good in the above videos. Kawai also made an upright version the EP-608, and they MIDI'ed the 308 later on (from Keyfax). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kawai James Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I can share some scanned brochure PDFs of the EP models, if there is any interest. They are not super detailed, but quite fun to look at from an 80s design perspective. Cheers, James x 3 1 Quote Employed by Kawai Japan, however the opinions I express are my own. Nord Electro 3 & occasional rare groove player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephonic Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Kawai James said: I can share some scanned brochure PDFs of the EP models, if there is any interest. They are not super detailed, but quite fun to look at from an 80s design perspective. Cheers, James x That’d be fun, yes! Quote local: Korg Nautilus 61 AT | Yamaha MODX8 away: GigPerformer | 16" MBP M1 Max home: Kawai RX-2 | Korg D1 | Roland Fantom X7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Kawai James said: I can share some scanned brochure PDFs of the EP models, if there is any interest. They are not super detailed, but quite fun to look at from an 80s design perspective. Cheers, James x Definitely! I see online it weighed only 317lb I also see references to Queen using it (versus a real AP on tour)? Maybe still too early for a MIDI controller. Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kawai James Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Okay, here you go: https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP1_150dpi.pdfhttps://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP2_150dpi.pdfhttps://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP3_150dpi.pdf Enjoy! James x 4 1 1 Quote Employed by Kawai Japan, however the opinions I express are my own. Nord Electro 3 & occasional rare groove player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Nice! Kawai, like Yamaha, went with the squawker horn terminology for the speaker system. Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analogaddict Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 On 1/20/2023 at 4:59 AM, Kawai James said: Okay, here you go: (…) James x Thanks for the brochures! I have an EP-705 in my studio..! 🎹🔥 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyFF Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Wow- Kawai was really serious, designing a piano system that would be better than the Yamaha no mind the weight! And a dedicated speaker system! And a flight case! Makes me wonder how many dollars went into designing a system that would ultimately have very few sales- Quote Numa Piano X73 /// Kawai ES920 Yamaha Melodica and Alto Recorder QSC K8.2 // JBL Eon One Compact // Soundcore Motion Boom Plus Win11 laptop // iPad Pro 9.7" 32GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EP308 Posted March 19, 2023 Share Posted March 19, 2023 I’m in the process of refurbishing a Kawai EP 308 that I recently acquired from Christopher North’s (AMBROSIA) former manager in LA. I’m in Denver. This particular piano had been in storage for 35+ years and was in excellent condition. Kawai made an unfortunate error when specifying the design of the hammer heads more specifically, the composite/cork-like material used as the core material underneath the synthetic leather caps. Over time this material degrades and literally crumbles. Therefore, I had to rebuild every hammerhead except keys 81-88 which used polyurethane rubber. Why Kawai chose not to use this P.R. material in lieu of the cork-like material is unknown to me. (NO REPLACEMENT HEAD FROM KAWAI OR ANYONE ELSE ARE AVAILABLE. AND NO, YAMMY’s CP 70/80 heads DONT WORK…for those inquiring minds 😉). Consequently, the sound may be on the “bright” side of voicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EP308 Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 On 1/19/2023 at 8:59 PM, Kawai James said: Okay, here you go: https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP1_150dpi.pdf https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP2_150dpi.pdf https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP3_150dpi.pdf Enjoy! James x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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