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"Good digital piano on a tight budget"

Hi Graham,
 
I am looking to buy a digital piano for my 14 year old daughter, who started a couple of months ago and at the moment is on the level of about the 1st grade.  She  enjoys playing the piano and intends to continue throughout her school years at least (about 4 more years), after which time, I guess, as most children, she is going to be busy doing other things in life.  Don't think there is intention to do it professionally.  I'd prefer to go for an absolute minimum:  good weighted keys with sensitive touch, good sound of a (grand?) piano - no 'bells and whistles' please - and (for my peace of mind) a desk with a lid.  I've read your on-line book -THANK YOU!
 
And I am on a tight-ish budget.  I've rather set my mind on a new German brand of Classic Cantabile from Musikhaus Kirstein in Bavaria, since it ticks all the boxes for me and the renews (on their German website) are very favourable.  As most people, talking about German products, I am thinking about thorough craftsmanship, attention to detail, quality and reliability.
 
I noticed that you've mentioned this new brand in your list as the one not sold in UK, but I spotted it on Amazon UK's website AND there are people in UK (well, one so far) who bought it and are happy with it.  I was wondering if you know more about this brand and could alert me to any disadvantages/unsuitability?
 
If you can't say anything about Classic Cantabile, would you kindly recommend any other options?  To put things in perspective, I'd have to point out that no matter how tempting your website offer on Classenti CDP1 is, and  I rather like the sound of it on your website,  for my situation it just would be 'wishful thinking'.  I'd love to buy it, if they'd have a lower budget model, but as I understand it is one of their basic models anyway.  My max stretch would be £350, anything above would have to be with an interest-free payment plan.
 
Would you share your thoughts about this?  Thank you.
 
Elena Innes.

Reply/ Hi Elena

If you can only spend £350 then you have quite a
restricted choice of pianos.

There certainly aren’t any I could confidently
recommend to you around this price point.

To get something a lot better than the Classic Canatabile
you would need to go up about another £75 - £100.

Two pianos worth considering are the Korg SP170S
and Broadway EZ101.

The Korg has a  nicely weighted key touch and an OK  
sound. But it comes in a small, portable-type casing.
This type of casing reduces the tonal quality and
power output quite considerably.

The Broadway is a standard digital piano that has
a solid cabinet and 3 pedals. The speakers are
large and powerful. I recommend this piano if you
could stretch your budget to it.

You can see the Korg and Broadway here:

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/korg-sp170.html

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/broadway-ez101.html

Yours pianistically,

Graham Howard

 --

"I'm looking for a cheap digital piano for about £300"

Thanks so much for your digital piano buying guide. Problem is that I only have
about £300 to spend.

I had looked at  the Yamaha NP V80 and V60 models but note from your guide
that this is a light weighted digital piano/keyboard and to me it feels like a
keyboard and very unlike a piano.

Neither I or my husband are pianists - other than a few lessons as a child and
we liked the idea that it would teach me how to play some songs as we were
hoping to self teach to have a bit of musical fun at home with our little one
currently 2 who will, I'm sure, want to play too (supervised).

Perhaps I'd be better with something more like a piano than a keyboard e.g.
the Casio CDP100 or Thomann DP-50.

Can you recommend anything on the keyboard front I should look at to compare
favorably on price/quality than the Yamaha NP V80 and V60? The idea being that
if we get good use out of it we can get a more expensive digital piano with a
piano feel in 3-4 yrs as my little one gets older.

Regards,

Amelia

Reply/ Hi Ameila

I'm not comfortable recommending pianos that
cost under £400...

This is because cheaper materials are used,
and corners cut, in order to keep prices down.

This results is an inferior piano that has an
unrealistic touch, a poor sound, and unstable
reliability.

I recommend looking at pianos from £500 upwards.

You can get pianos in this price range on an
interest free deal, or a 'Rent-to-Own'.

You can read more about these options by
clicking on the links below:

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/digital-pianos-interest-free-finance.html

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/piano-rental.html

If you simply must spend less than £400 then
take a look at these pianos:

Gear4Music8826

ThomannDP30

CDP100

Yours pianistically,

Graham Howard

Further/ Hi Graham,

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your advice. I think we are going to
leave it for a year and save up so that we have a more realistic amount to
spend.

I am concerned I might regret buying a cheeper digital piano as, as you say, it
won't have the quality and sound I am looking for. I don't want to rush into a
purachase- a cheap keyboard would buy us a year to decide if we really need a
piano.
Also if my daughter does anything drastic to it whilst she is tiny it won't
matter, and she can have it to play with after we have bought ours!!

Regards,

Amelia

Resources:  |  Which digital piano to buy

I'm a self taught guitarist of 10 years and have a good ear for music (in my youth i was in the choir of Blackburn Cathedral from treble down to bass). I'm not looking to perform gigs but i do like to sing and play the guitar and want to do the same on the piano......strictly home / family performances! haha
 
If i had a choice i would probably go for the Classenti P1, but i have a budget of up to £500 and therefore this one is not really an option. I have been looking at the Yamaha P95 and the Korg SP170 and for a long time that was my choice of 2 however i have started looking at the Chase CDP 216, but there is very little in the way of reviews on the iternet. My dilemma is that whilst i appreciate the quality of the Yamaha and Korg will undoubtedly be better, the chase has some additional features and some extras and still comes in at about £450.

Tom

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