Best Stage Piano for under £1k

[Dubs]

Hi All,

I'm in need of a stage piano. I've owned a Clavinova CLP-411 for circa 15 years so am well used to this particular style of electric piano and ideally I'd like something that feels similar. I've played a couple of Yamaha's locally and really liked the feel of the high end stuff (£2k+) but can't realistically stretch to that.

Priorities listed in order of importance:
[list]
[*]Action/feel
[*]Piano sound
[*]Weight
[*]EP sounds
[/list]
Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

PS Merry Christmas.

[JTUK]

We went down the Nord route and found it scored well in all but the action and that was with the Stage ll 76 which is supposed to have 'realfeel'
Kurweil did a useful mini key and sounded great but you wont get your acoustic piano sounds out of it along with playablilty...same with the Kronus 61.
I think you should get an old motherboard and run it from a laptop or somewhere with an external sound bank... with your budget.

[BassTractor]

Normally, I'd keep concentrated on Yamaha for electronic pianos (and have a look at Roland as well and totally forget Orla), because of everything you mention except weight maybe, and because of their legendary longevity, but...
The new lead free solder mentioned in another thread may mean the legendary longevity is no more.

At any rate, Yamaha seems to still be very good, and most probably a safe bet.

However, in addition to the Yamahas, the Kawai ES7 might just be a dark horse in this market segment, and a viable alternative. I've tried out a range of Kawais lately, and must say I was initially positively surprised - especially by the keybed and "fake ivory" key feel, which incidentally is offered by other brands as well on some models.
Have not done a thorough test yet.

Another possible dark horse within your budget is the Korg SV-1.
It's lauded, but I have no personal experience with it.

[Wil]

You might be lucky enough to find a Nord Electro 3 with hammer action for around a grand. I am no piano expert but owned one and to me the action felt great, the sounds were top notch and it was very portable. The chap I sold it to had experience with the SV1 and said it was a very good unit but more limited soundwise than the Nord and less portable.

[Dubs]

Cheers all, the Nord Electro 3 and Kawai ES7 look like potentials, just need to try them out somewhere.

[Dubs]

The Kauai ES7 is top of the list at the moment, just need to try it!

[skej21]

[quote name='Dubs' timestamp='1419585446' post='2640991']
The Kauai ES7 is top of the list at the moment, just need to try it!
[/quote]

If you're lookint at the these models, maybe look at the Korg SV1. The keyboardist in my band swears by his and it sounds perfect for everything we play!

http://youtu.be/H_BPiScinrk

[xgsjx]

I'd 2nd trying out the SV1. Been tempted by it the few times I've played it.
Might be worth trying the Roland FA08 too. Not a stage piano, but the piano sounds are fantastic and I found the keybed pretty good. Though it is @ £250 over budget.

[Dubs]

Thanks for the suggestions all. Played the Kawai ES-7, loved it, but heard/read too many horror stories of people having numerous issues with theirs either straight out of the box brand-new or after only 12 to 18 months of use.

Bought a Roland FP-80 in the end, way over original budget but loved the feel and sound, and the unit itself feels absolutely solid as a rock - should stand the test of time! The Concert Piano sounds incredible; probably the best sounding DP I tried in the end.