Hey guys. I play an 88 key SV-1 with reverse-color keys, and I absolutely love it. I grew up playing piano, but set it down for 20 years to play guitar. Now my guitars are collecting dust, and my SV-1 sees all the action. I'm not great yet, but I was happy to find it was like riding a bike getting back into keys, plus I'm supercharged with a couple decades of theory and mileage. Man, I'm having fun!
Now I think I want another piano; something to compliment the SV-1. But I don't know pianos like I know guitars yet. I'm hoping some of you folks might have some suggestions. Below is a little more info to better describe what I seek...
-Quality is paramount. I only buy the best insrtuments. I've discovered not all synths/pianos sound the same, much like guitars. I want full-bodied, professional sound, faithful recreations, or original vintage gear.
-Most things I play have a blues/jazz/classic rock sound.
-I want it some for ambient sound, maybe Pink Floyd-ish sounding.
-I want to be able to stack these keys over my Korg, so it ought not be another huge thing like the SV-1.
-I'd rather not pay full price; a commonly used, time-honored instrument I can find on Craigslist would be good.
-I want a well-weighted keyboard, like the SV-1. A semi-weighted key might be alright, but whatever it is the touch must be the highest quality.
Good 2nd keyboard?
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floydkahue
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:45 pm
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SanderXpander
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 7860
- Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:23 am
Nord Stage 2 76 keys?
Not huge, excellent vintage sounds (organs, clavs, Rhodes etc) and pianos.
While the layout is different from most other machines, there's very very little menu diving since nearly everything has its own button or dial, making it very quick and direct to use/edit. Possibility to expand the "synth" section with basic samples/bread n butter sounds from the free Nord sample library, or roll your own.
Probably one of the very few that ticks all your boxes.
EDIT: except of course for price, but you did say quality is paramount.
Not huge, excellent vintage sounds (organs, clavs, Rhodes etc) and pianos.
While the layout is different from most other machines, there's very very little menu diving since nearly everything has its own button or dial, making it very quick and direct to use/edit. Possibility to expand the "synth" section with basic samples/bread n butter sounds from the free Nord sample library, or roll your own.
Probably one of the very few that ticks all your boxes.
EDIT: except of course for price, but you did say quality is paramount.
Another piano wouldn't be an obvious choice to complement the SV-1. The SV-1 already does piano, and piano-related sounds well.
Do you mean you want another piano with mostly piano-based sounds, just to give you a choice against the SV-1? Or do you want another keyboard with different sounds to provide a contrast to the sounds in the SV-1 ?
Pink Floyd made heavy use of electric pianos (Rhodes and Wurli), plus Hammond Organ and various synths. SV-1 is as good as anything you can buy at electric pianos, but it is not so good at organs and synths. However, most keyboards that specialise in organs and synths that would complement the SV-1 don't have piano-style weighted action. Nord Stage 2 is probably about the only board I can think of with a weighted action, including piano, organ and synth sounds, and "knobby" front panel.
Even then, though most of the knobs have several functions - it's just too complex a beast to provide one knob per function like the SV-1.
I'd say you're better off getting something that is good at pianos (SV-1), something good at organs (Hammond SK1/2 ?), and something good at synths (Prophet 08/12 ?), rather than trying to get a couple of boards that both do everything.
Do you mean you want another piano with mostly piano-based sounds, just to give you a choice against the SV-1? Or do you want another keyboard with different sounds to provide a contrast to the sounds in the SV-1 ?
Pink Floyd made heavy use of electric pianos (Rhodes and Wurli), plus Hammond Organ and various synths. SV-1 is as good as anything you can buy at electric pianos, but it is not so good at organs and synths. However, most keyboards that specialise in organs and synths that would complement the SV-1 don't have piano-style weighted action. Nord Stage 2 is probably about the only board I can think of with a weighted action, including piano, organ and synth sounds, and "knobby" front panel.
Even then, though most of the knobs have several functions - it's just too complex a beast to provide one knob per function like the SV-1.
I'd say you're better off getting something that is good at pianos (SV-1), something good at organs (Hammond SK1/2 ?), and something good at synths (Prophet 08/12 ?), rather than trying to get a couple of boards that both do everything.
PaulR
Korg SV-1 88
Kurzweil PC361
Korg SV-1 88
Kurzweil PC361
+1 for the Nord Stage.
Top notch build Quality,they are not cheap for sure but you get what you pay for with Nord and if you only buy the best,there probably is very little else to compete with the Nord Stage both in terms of quality and as a live performers instrument in the same price bracket.
The stage has a good range of sounds aside from the pianos and organs,although not to everyone's tastes,and the ability to create and load your own samples and create sounds with the synth engine to layer and split with the pianos/organs easy to navigate your way around without trawling manuals 99% of everything is accessible on the front panel or at least those minor few other functions a secondary shift button away for live needs there's very little need to menu dive whatsoever other than the basics like global settings etc,things that you wouldnt bother using in a live situation,I never navigated any menu pages in the stage during a set,good set of effects too,compliments the SV well(I use both together live) I also use the SV1 audio inputs,this has made my external mixer redundant too as I route the stage into the SV and SV into the PA mixer board they have a different feel to the hammer action,Korg is a little more spongy than the Stage but I like both actions
One thing I like about the SV design is that you can situate it on a bottom tier of an ultimate support apex stand and have another keyboard atop of it without struggling to see the panel of the SV1 or having them set at stupid heights apart in order to see the lower synth/pianos panel previously in live use I had to use a quik lok stand in order to angle the top keyboard to see my lower pianos fascia but I prefer to play both horizontally the SV and Nord seem to be a nice match,even if some Might see it as overlap.
Also check out the Nord Electro series,I think they do a hammer action in these too your still getting the clavia build quality and functionality,
The stage whilst an excellent board might be a little overkill for your overall needs,the electros will give you at least a little of what the stage has without overwhelming what the SV has to offer.
I'd also endorse the above suggestion of the Prophet 08 it perhaps won't give you the traditional pianos you want but will open your sound palette synth wise for ambient sounds also don't discount the Roland Jupiter 80 too,it's not weighted but has a great synth action feel and covers pretty much everything sound wise and a great performance instrument.
Top notch build Quality,they are not cheap for sure but you get what you pay for with Nord and if you only buy the best,there probably is very little else to compete with the Nord Stage both in terms of quality and as a live performers instrument in the same price bracket.
The stage has a good range of sounds aside from the pianos and organs,although not to everyone's tastes,and the ability to create and load your own samples and create sounds with the synth engine to layer and split with the pianos/organs easy to navigate your way around without trawling manuals 99% of everything is accessible on the front panel or at least those minor few other functions a secondary shift button away for live needs there's very little need to menu dive whatsoever other than the basics like global settings etc,things that you wouldnt bother using in a live situation,I never navigated any menu pages in the stage during a set,good set of effects too,compliments the SV well(I use both together live) I also use the SV1 audio inputs,this has made my external mixer redundant too as I route the stage into the SV and SV into the PA mixer board they have a different feel to the hammer action,Korg is a little more spongy than the Stage but I like both actions
One thing I like about the SV design is that you can situate it on a bottom tier of an ultimate support apex stand and have another keyboard atop of it without struggling to see the panel of the SV1 or having them set at stupid heights apart in order to see the lower synth/pianos panel previously in live use I had to use a quik lok stand in order to angle the top keyboard to see my lower pianos fascia but I prefer to play both horizontally the SV and Nord seem to be a nice match,even if some Might see it as overlap.
Also check out the Nord Electro series,I think they do a hammer action in these too your still getting the clavia build quality and functionality,
The stage whilst an excellent board might be a little overkill for your overall needs,the electros will give you at least a little of what the stage has without overwhelming what the SV has to offer.
I'd also endorse the above suggestion of the Prophet 08 it perhaps won't give you the traditional pianos you want but will open your sound palette synth wise for ambient sounds also don't discount the Roland Jupiter 80 too,it's not weighted but has a great synth action feel and covers pretty much everything sound wise and a great performance instrument.
--Korg Nautilus~~Korg Modwave--Korg SV-1-Korg Wavestate--