O/t - Keyboards

[Eddie the Seagull]

Hi all.

My Mum has asked for a Keyboard for her 63rd birthday.

So it doesn't need to be too technical (she thinks 'BlueTooth' is what an ill cat gets - OK?)

She was, however, a bloody decent pianist - on the real thing - 25 years ago, playing a lot of Johann Strauss etc. (I was learning Depeche Mode & chopsticks at the time! )

Any recommendations for a 'realistic' type of keyboard.......please?

£100 is my ball park figure.

 

[Jello]

I_need_a_new_keyboard_my_spacebar's_knackered
Oh_not_that_type_of_keyboard

 

[Eddie the Seagull]

Cheers buddy - I was waiting for that :thud:

Ho Hum...............

 

[Charles 'Charley' Charles]

Are you still in Crowborough? There is a piano/keyboard shop just outside Portslade train station, really aren't musically minded so can't give any advice but may be worth a try

 

[Titanic]

Any keyboard for a genuine pianist needs, as the barest minimum, to be 76 keys and semi-weighted touch sensitive action (ideally, but not within your budget, you would want 88 hammer action keys).

It should also have both sostenuto and damper pedals - ideally in a solidly built unit rather than dangling on the end of a cable.

Other factors are amplifier/speaker quality, a decent stand (type depending on whether it is mobile or permanent), headphone socket, any other 'bells and whistles' in terms of different sounds, drum patterns, auto-harmonisation etc...

It's a massive choice - but you MUST get the player to choose the touch and sound.

A quick bit of research would suggest that a budget digital piano (suitable for a pianist) is from around the £500 mark - you might be lucky and find a decent secondhand model for £100'ish.

If you are going to go for the new £100 'keyboard' option PLEASE make sure that it meets your mum's expectations - because it is a totally different kettle of fish than playing Strauss on a proper piano!!

 

[1066gull]

Go for the Qwerty.

 

[Eddie the Seagull]

Are you still in Crowborough? There is a piano/keyboard shop just outside Portslade train station, really aren't musically minded so can't give any advice but may be worth a try

I am, indeed, still in Crowborough. My Mum, however, lives near Liverpool now.

Thanks anyway

 

[Eddie the Seagull]

Any keyboard for a genuine pianist needs, as the barest minimum, to be 76 keys and semi-weighted touch sensitive action (ideally, but not within your budget, you would want 88 hammer action keys).

It should also have both sostenuto and damper pedals - ideally in a solidly built unit rather than dangling on the end of a cable.

Other factors are amplifier/speaker quality, a decent stand (type depending on whether it is mobile or permanent), headphone socket, any other 'bells and whistles' in terms of different sounds, drum patterns, auto-harmonisation etc...

It's a massive choice - but you MUST get the player to choose the touch and sound.

A quick bit of research would suggest that a budget digital piano (suitable for a pianist) is from around the £500 mark - you might be lucky and find a decent secondhand model for £100'ish.

If you are going to go for the new £100 'keyboard' option PLEASE make sure that it meets your mum's expectations - because it is a totally different kettle of fish than playing Strauss on a proper piano!!

Thankyou very much for your advice here - even if I don't understand most it.

I think I'll re-adjust my budget

I have told my Mum to go to a proper shop in Liverpool to choose the right 'touch & sound' to her liking.

Oddly enough my Mum & her sisters went to the same school as John Lennon (my Dad, a year older than him, even warned him off them!)

Cheers.

Eddie