favorite keyboard you've owned

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

What's the favorite keyboard you now own or used to own ?

 

I've been through quite a few synths, digital, analog, sample playback. The one that has brought me the most pleasure and usefulness is an old Roland RD-250s digital piano. I don't know how Roland created these eight preset sounds but they sound organic and not like samples. They aren't as realistic as todays sampled pianos but they have unbelievable presence and a "weighty" sound that's good for competing with loud rock guitars. The one complaint I have about this keyboard is the chorus is not programmable like on the MKS-20 module version.

 

The vibraphone sounds like real vibes too and it's the one really convincing sound. I can't believe I'm still loving this keyboard so much after 15 years but I am.

[JimmieWannaB]

I'm dating myself, but my favorite keyboard has to be my first - a Farfisa Fast 5 pumped through a Leslie with a Vox Wah Wah (the original) modeling the sound. At 16, I couldn't afford a B3 so I emulated the sound as much as possible with this package. Yes, every keyboard that I had after was much better then the cheesy Farfisa, but as with that first kiss...

[Meriphew_dup1]

Roland Jupiter 8 or SCI Prophet 5.

[joegerardi]

For me there were 2:

 

My Prophet-10

 

and my Emulator III.

 

God, I still miss those boards, but would never buy either again, because they're too outdated.

[DJDM]

Juno 106, MKS-80 and my D-50. I could be a Roland Rep!!!!!

- DJDM

[sevush]

JimmyWannaB, a Farfisa through a Leslie was SO much less cheesy than through a "straight" amp. I did an RMI through a Leslie, that was also cheesy.

 

My favorite? In the past, Sequential Circuits Prophet T8 - 76 keys, great action (same as Synclavier), 8 analog voices, poly pressure (internally for the analog synths), beautiful wood cabinet, loadsa switches, knobs, LEDs...

 

Now - Yamaha S80. Great sounds, great feel, sliders, controllers...

[JimmieWannaB]

Sevush - I don't believe that anyone else was foolish enough to have an RMI! It was so bad that I choose to forget that it was my actual first. Ran it through a Vox Kensington Bass amp. Now there was a sound that sucked.

 

Currently I'm using an Alesis 6.1 along with a variety of soft synths and samplers. This works fine since I'm only playing for my own enjoyment, but I'd hate to try my setup on stage.

[marino]

Not just one!

 

In the past - Rhodes Chroma and Minimoog

 

At the moment - Kurzweil and Yamaha VL-1m

[Tusker]

My Steinway. It's just been moved because I re-did our floors. It's hard to walk past it's new location. It whispers ... "play me". And I succumb to it's charms.

 

Jerry

[Rick K.]

I know this won't sound too in.....But my favorite was and still is my QS7! It's totally reliable, consistent, and has some really good utilitarian sounds.

 

Rick

[RABid]

Rhodes Chroma for playing.

Minimoog for sound and learning how to program sounds.

 

Robert

[Krakit]

I gave this a lot of thought. I didn't want to answer to hastily.

 

You see, I have a Rhodes, a Hammond and a Korg K1 so I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't regret picking my Roland JX-8P as my favorite keyboard that I've owned. Especially since I want to replace my JX-8P with an MKS-70.

 

The action isn't that great and it's hardly the most powerful keyboard ever made. Only 8 note polyphony. I HATE the joystick for pitch and mod manipulation. There are no knobs or sliders for programming. So why is this axe my favorite?

 

The reason that my JX is my favorite keyboard isn't just the sentiment attached to it (my first real keyboard instrument) but how essential this particular peice is to my signature sound. I made all of the patches that I use for this board myself. So intuitive is this keyboard for me that I could just imagine a sound that I would like to make and after 20 minutes or so, I'd either have it exactly or close enough that I was happy. All without the benifit of the PG-800! The MKS-70 will let me pour all these custom patches into it and will let me rack mount. I have plenty of MIDI controllers that I like better than the JX as far as action, number of keys and pitch/mod controllers. So given all that I think that it's strange to pick a keyboard that I want to get rid of as my favorite of all time.

 

Any other peice of gear in my arsenal could be replaced easily enough. Even my Korg K1 (which is just as much a part of my signature sound as my JX-8P is) has no method for storing sounds, so any K1 would work. My JX has thousands of hours of work into it. All a labor of love. I'd hate to have to try and recapture all these unique and personal patches again from scratch.

 

To sum it up:

 

Roland JX-8P

[Jonah]

I really loved my Wurlitzer 200 A. Bought it from my high school for 15 bucks. Never really played out with it, but the board was fun as heck.

[MusicaL]

I love my Yamaha S80. I know it's not a vintage analogue or other snazzy keyboard, but it just makes me smile everytime I play it.

 

Albert

[realtrance]

Okay, since this has apparently turned into "your favorite keyboard is one of the supposedly cheesier ones out there" thread, I'll confess: I still love my Roland XP-80 as much as I did the day I got it (my first keyboard workstation).

 

I hear the Yamaha Motif upstages it in various ways, but there's a balance to what my XP-80 offers me, and a familiarity now with both its tonal range and its interface that makes it _comfortable_ for me in ways nothing else I play can be (yet ).

 

The fact I've had it and used it frequently over the past five years without a single problem also gives me confidence it's reliable.

 

rt

[Dave Bryce]

Gotta be the grand...I just l v e a real piano...

 

...always been my favorite axe, always will be.

 

dB

[Krakit]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

Gotta be the grand...I just l v e a real piano...

 

...always been my favorite axe, always will be.

 

dB

Some of us don't OWN a grand piano

 

Carl

[Steve LeBlanc]

heh...yep...Dave, Tusker and all the other KC members who own grands are lucky men/women.

 

I have to say my Rhodes because I play it more than anything else. But I loved my Prophet 600 (which I no longer have ) and believe it or not I really had a lot of fun creating sample sounds on my Ensoniq EPS, it has the weirdest keyboard action but once I got used to it I really liked it.

 

In the late 80s/early 90s I could do no wrong on my D-50...later I hated it and sold it, gladly. I'd kinda like to have one just for fun now but I'm shopping for something really cool.

 

I also love my Hammond M102...but of course.

 

Oops...I didn't mean to start naming all my keyboards but I guess I'm not sure...well ok it really is my 1977 Rhodes with stereo tremelo.

[rod76]

Juno106

[Superbobus]

At home? My 100 year old grand.

On stage? My Rhodes 54, totally revamped. Bought it for 500 guilders in 1998 (about 230). This board has made me smile and curse but now it's restored it's as good as new! And it sounds nastier then ever...

[Felix_dup1]

The two most beloved keyboards I've owned were my first synth - a Roland Juno 6, and an Ensoniq EPS.

[Mark Zeger]

Our rebuilt 1927 Steinway M, followed by my Rhodes Stage 88 (soon to be out of "mothballs" and set up in my studio).

[Sui]

I'd have to say mine is my old Roland alphaJuno-1. Was my first real synth, I played and programmed the hell out of it, it's taken a beating, been thru a bunch of gigs (and dropped twice in the parking lot) and I still use it to this day.

 

It sits well with my Juno-106 and JX-8P (both of which I also like a lot) and when it's time to come up with some nice analog strings and pads, I always turn to one of these three keyboards.

[coyote]

No question - my Hammond A100.

[Carlito]

My first synth. Chroma Polaris.Paid $600.00 almost 20 years ago.Stopped working after 3 years.Never fixed it.Sold it for parts.I still remember my favorite presets.

[R.S.M]

arp axxe my first synth could not really play back then but i could make all these cool noises wind birds chirping and thats what got me hooked on keys

[Tedly Nightshade]

The 1928 upright for sure! Just reconditioned old soundboard with new strings- pure bliss.

[Ungas_01]

Yamaha DX-7, Roland XP-50, Yamaha Grand..

[Bubbajazz]

Rebuilt Steinway A - the 6'4". I lucked out and really bought it from a first-owner little old lady.

[BP3]

My Mini! Still nothing like it. We'll see if the Voyager can compare.