Want to Buy a Piano Keyboard

Hit a pawn shop. I got one from a pawn shop way back in the 90's for less than half the new retail price. It was a little older but still worked just fine. When I was done with it I sold it right back to the very same pawn shop.

I did get asked about the 'Blues Brothers' inspired musical number quite a bit...

Also - get a weighted keyboard. It really makes a difference to how one plays. It will cost more (and be heavier) but you'll get a more piano-like experience from it, including more real control over the sound envelope (as they say) during play.

Layla Nahar said:

Also - get a weighted keyboard. It really makes a difference to how one plays. It will cost more (and be heavier) but you'll get a more piano-like experience from it, including more real control over the sound envelope (as they say) during play.

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This. If he's looking to play piano building the right muscle memories is really important. Conversely, piano's can be ridiculously cheap (like free) if you have the room for it and someone to help you move it... many someones (and lifting straps help a lot!).

Of the two id say the ypg-535 if only because it comes with headphones so you wont have to listen to him playing scales and chopsticks all the time. If you're willing to pay full price find a GuitarCenter and visit their keyboard section. They can get all decked out and by the time you're done you will know more about keyboards than you ever cared to.

They usually have some pretty good sales around major holidays and the 'year-end so we don't have record it for our taxes' inventory audits. I once got a 350$ Ovation acoustic for 200$.

ETA guitarcenter has the ypg-235 for about 300$

One thing I noticed wasn't mentioned in those Amazon links was tone sets. As in, does your husband just want to play something that sounds like a piano, or would he like to play around with organ tone sets, string tone sets, etc.? My keyboard (a cheap one, not all that great, so I won't bother saying what it is) has 100 tone sets included. Granted, a lot of them aren't all that nice-sounding, but I love playing around with different sounds.

Now, I may have just missed that detail on the Amazon pages (I didn't look very long), but if your husband might enjoy multiple tone sets, well, it's something to consider.

I'd also second the suggestion to go into a music store. Don't feel pressured to buy on the spot, but definitely ask them as many questions as you can come up with (and have a notepad and pen to take notes!). Around here, music stores love to give you the best (honest) advice they can, simply to make sure anyone who comes through their doors is happy with them, and thus trusts them enough to drop a significant chunk of money if they decide to buy something.

Oh, and yeah - even if you want to order it online, talk to the local music store people first anyway (perhaps over the phone if you're definitely set on ordering online...). They have a wealth of information, and generally, if they have something in stock in the store, you should be able to find a reputable seller online for the exact same keyboard.

I think you may have made a wise choice. Ive paid less for cars than what they're asking for some of those keyboards.

Yep, probably better to ask him what he wants. I mean, if someone bought me a guitar, there's every chance that it wouldn't be what I would've bought for myself, y'know? Musical instruments are so varied these days.

As someone who just purchased a $500 keyboard just last month, I offer this one piece of advice: If you are serious about it and see your self going far, and that doesn't mean preforming at concerts and what not, but just something you would do on a near daily basis, then I think it was 100% completely worth it to just spend a decent amount on a high rated/quality piano keyboard. Not only that, but its always even more worth it to just get a keyboard with a full range of keys (88), offers a larger variety of sounds to expand off of. Not only that but if its an electric one, which is sounding like what you guys are going to aim for, be sure to check out the number of sounds that it can have being played at once, I forget the term. This last bit is personal preference, but weighted keys to me are very worth the extra money, since they simulate a real piano.

Fruitbat said:

Thanks for the help, everyone. We ordered the Yamaha DGX-650 with all the trimmings. It's the one he decided he wanted, so if it's wrong at least it won't be my fault!

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Just looked it up, that's actually not a bad choice. Especially with the stand, hope he enjoys!

Yamaha has a good reputation, too.