I hope we don't do this as a forum community

[ksdaddy]

I'm not a pianist. I sit down to a keyboard and muddle through a handful of chords with one hand and try to connect them with a single note run with the other. I don't read music, never taken lessons, and likely never will. I do enjoy having keyboards around, and true to my nature that is evident in stringed instruments, I have no aversion to dragging more home. 

I had a 1920 Mendellsohn upright piano given to me in 2012. It was more or less in the way downstairs so I gave it away in 2018. No regrets about that act, as it went to a young teenage girl who fell immediately in love with it. Old pianos are offered to me on a regular basis, so I will have another.  Taking it down cellar will be a challenge. But we did it once, we can do it again.

I've got a few cheesy keyboards, including a 90s Yamaha, a 90s Casio, and a 1983 Lowery Micro Genie (hardcore cheese right there, complete with puffy silver case that looks like a bowling bag). Last year I did buy a Casio digital piano, which is pretty amazing. It "sorta" feels like a real piano; it's close anyway. And I can move it easily and don't have to tune it, so there's that.

A couple days ago I was given a 1967 Hammond J-110, a very basic transistorized organ in tuxedo black, and pristine other than some hardcore oxidation  in the key mechanisms. 

My observation is this: Over the years, I have owned many OTHER keyboards and organs. If I go to a group or forum connected with a certain brand or style of keyboard, the reaction is guaranteed to be exactly the same: How much did they pay you to take it away? You need to haul it to the dump. Pee-yoooo, what's that stink? That model was a POS from Day One and you need to run.

Every. Single. Time.

It matters not what I buy or LOOK at. I found two old pianos (not free) that were CLEARLY upscale and very expensive units from 1900-1920. These were not junk. I googled them and they were held in high regard by the industry when they were made. But you can already guess the reaction from the piano forums. "Stay away from these old pianos unless you're willing to pay a piano technician a hundred dollars to go to the person's house and assess it, give you a 4 page report with an estimate of what it will take to be on par with Liberace's piano." I 'get' the idea that old pianos can sometimes be a money pit, but according to them, any piano I've stumbled upon is, by default, pure junk because it doesn't say Steinway.

What kind of standard are these people using?

It would be like us saying the Les Paul Custom is "okay" and the Standard is alright if you are so poor that you are resorting to eating the family pet, and if someone offered you a Studio, you should call the police. Melody Makers are not guitars. They are ad hoc weapons or firewood.

Do we do that? Please tell me we don't. 

I have the view that, even though there is a pecking order in instruments' values and desirability, it would make me a pretty crappy human being if someone came on this board and was happy about buying a used First Act and I told them what a piece of junk it is. I would HOPE I would be more likely to offer little tidbits on how to make the most out of what they bought, as to setup or small improvements they might make. 

Rule #1, make music with what you have on hand.

[rct]

I have a Hammond XK-1.  I'm not even sure you can buy it anymore.  It is their own digital knockoff of their own Hammond sounds, B3/Leslie in particular.

I put it in the recording system and yes, it makes my knees just as weak as the real B3 and Leslie I used to keep my Sloe Gin and my ashtray on.

Mention it in a Korg or Yamaha or Roland place?  No way.  It's trash.   I've never understood them peoples and I'm glad to hear someone else is befuddled by it all.

I think guitar playing is a more personal act, we can have more influence over a guitar than we can over a set of keys.  In that sense, all keyboards players are exactly equal and pissing all over the other guy's gear is all they got.  We always talk about how the player makes the guitar, maybe they feel bad that they can't say that.  I don't know.

But no, we don't do that here, not at all.

Well, sometimes reality causes someone to inject a bit of caution into some discussion based on their experience.  But not just outright trash talk.

We should make a single thread just for trash talk, trash talk anything.  Could be some good comedy.

rct

Edited March 28, 2020 by rct

[Larsongs]

It takes all kinds.. Like other Forums this one has all kinds too......

[jdgm]

Upright pianos need to have a metal frame - I got given a wooden-framed one free in the 90s and shortly after getting it indoors I realised I'd goofed.  Funnily enough when I was young  we did have a family piano, a metal-framed upright and it came to me when Dad died; eventually I sold it for about £80 in the early 1980s as it was big, dark and took up room. I know now I should have kept it but I was forced to have piano lessons as a young kid and hated it.    All I have now is an old DX11.

I think the difference between ksdaddy and the people he is talking about is......(perhaps)...for ksdaddy every instrument has a soul and/or some sort of voice to be discovered.  

(EDIT) Case in point:

 

Also (most times) someone put effort and craft into constructing it and that should be respected. 

 

Edited March 28, 2020 by jdgm

[Filbert]

In any social situation where you have a gathering of people of disparate ages, interests and environments you end up with some good, some bad and some indifferent. The internet makes it easy because it is inherently easier to be an arse in an online setting. This forum is no better or worse than any other I have posted on and am a member of. There are some people who post valuable and constructive info and some people who don't. Learning to gauge and filter out the noise to signal ratio is an important skill set.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Filbert

[Pinch]

I don't think we do that. I think everyone's pretty respectful to one another here. 

As for Les Paul models, I don't even have a Standard. In spite of this handicap, I turn my frown upside down. In recognition of this, Gibson really should send me a Standard (honeyburst, as little weight relief as possible), to encourage this humanitarian approach I'm spearheading. 

No, wait, the Classic with the zebra pickups would be perfect. See? I'm willing to settle. 

Am boring even myself now, so... Night-night... 

Edited March 28, 2020 by Pinch

[kidblast]

Pianos are different beasts entirely.  We had a 1920s Marshall Weston  that was in the house when we bought it in 89.  Like yours it was just "there".  I had a tuner come in and tune it, and he assessed and told me exactly what it was, what it was worth, and what he could do with it.  He was honest, and just told me the score.  It was not expensive when it was new, and was not collectable, or a "desirable" piece.  But a decent piano for learning on.   He also found it had a cracked sound board.  or what ever that is...   We eventually called in a company to move it out, the only option to get it out was to take it apart (how it GOT there was a crane thru a second floor window. - true story)..  So these guys came in, and with a few sledge hammers and some sawzalls, took it out in pieces.

I have a Yamaha digital console that I bought in 2005 very similar to a Clavinova   it sounds amazing.  

As a side note, we just had a house fire Friday,   All are safe and sound, but there is a lot of damage, on our second floor where the fire broke out. 

I did recover that piano (today) as well as all the rest of my stuff at the house during this past weekend.

17 guitars, 4 amps, another Yamaha P series stage piano in my down stairs studio.  I didn't lose a one.  A miracle really.

I don't play snobbery with people and what they play or can afford.  I will advise those who ask how to get the most out of it setup wise, and what to expect out of it in regard to how long they can use it till they out grow it if the are just learning regardless of what it is. 

I've a very good friend who is a great player, and he typically just plays Korean imports,  in particular ones from the periods in time when they were probably better than others,  (mid / late 80s, and I'm sure he knows his stuff). 

in all the years I've gigged with this guy  (since 1978) no one ever told him he'd sound would sound better on a more expensive guitar.  Even though he can easily afford high end instruments, he chooses to not sink the money into them.  He buys them off Ebay, cleans em up, fixes what needs to be fixed makes em play/sound great, then sells them to make way for more and repeats the process.  He's retired now, and has plenty of time on his hands.  So this works for him, and I think he does just fine with that.

Edited March 30, 2020 by kidblast

[Retired]

4 hours ago, kidblast said:

Pianos are different beasts entirely.  We had a 1920s Marshall Weston  that was in the house when we bought it in 89.  Like yours it was just "there".  I had a tuner come in and tune it, and he assessed and told me exactly what it was, what it was worth, and what he could do with it.  He was honest, and just told me the score.  It was not expensive when it was new, and was not collectable, or a "desirable" piece.  But a decent piano for learning on.   He also found it had a cracked sound board.  or what ever that is...   We eventually called in a company to move it out, the only option to get it out was to take it apart (how it GOT there was a crane thru a second floor window. - true story)..  So these guys came in, and with a few sledge hammers and some sawzalls, took it out in pieces.

I have a Yamaha digital console that I bought in 2005 very similar to a Clavinova   it sounds amazing.  

As a side note, we just had a house fire Friday,   All are safe and sound, but there is a lot of damage, on our second floor where the fire broke out. 

I did recover that piano (today) as well as all the rest of my stuff at the house during this past weekend.

17 guitars, 4 amps, another Yamaha P series stage piano in my down stairs studio.  I didn't lose a one.  A miracle really.

I don't play snobbery with people and what they play or can afford.  I will advise those who ask how to get the most out of it setup wise, and what to expect out of it in regard to how long they can use it till they out grow it if the are just learning regardless of what it is. 

I've a very good friend who is a great player, and he typically just plays Korean imports,  in particular ones from the periods in time when they were probably better than others,  (mid / late 80s, and I'm sure he knows his stuff). 

in all the years I've gigged with this guy  (since 1978) no one ever told him he'd sound would sound better on a more expensive guitar.  Even though he can easily afford high end instruments, he chooses to not sink the money into them.  He buys them off Ebay, cleans em up, fixes what needs to be fixed makes em play/sound great, then sells them to make way for more and repeats the process.  He's retired now, and has plenty of time on his hands.  So this works for him, and I think he does just fine with that.

I would love to learn how to play piano. My wife has an really old one downstairs and way out of tune. She hasn't played since she was little. My oldest sister plays and taught music in grade school.  Yeah, all my guitars are cheap between $300. to $400. Since I was 13 I always wanted a Gibson but could never afford one. At 60, when I retired from the Railroad my son wanted to go to Guitar Center to look and in the used section there was a Gold Top. It looked brand new. They had a sale tag on it for $1,445.00 on it. Checking it out there were no signs that anyone ever played it so I just had to get it. The salesman didn't even know what it was and said another guitar shop couldn't sell it so shipped it to GC. They thought it was a 2012. I wanted a retirement present  for self and bought it and as I was loading it in my car, a guy chased me down in the parking lot wanting to buy it back.  Told him no and went home to email Gibson service with the serial numbers. They sent me, It was a 2007 Gibson Standard that sold new for that year; $3,450.00, plus the guitar was in mint shape but no warranty. So it took me 66 years to fulfill my dreams. Thanks to Guitar Centers screwup. Again, sorry to hear of the fire the're Kid. Glad you all made it out safe. 

[Twang Gang]

I don't think we trash other people's gear very often on here.  I usually go by the old saying "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".  I don't know much about pianos, took lessons for a few weeks when I was about 7 years old.  Parents decided I was too young (didn't practice much) and I didn't mind stopping.  The one thing I have learned is that almost every time you move a piano it goes out of tune.  They are so heavy that pushing them around or lifting them up stresses the board where the strings are attached and they go out of tune. 

[kidblast]

as I was loading it in my car, a guy chased me down in the parking lot wanting to buy it back.  Told him no and went home to email Gibson service with the serial numbers. They sent me, It was a 2007 Gibson Standard that sold new for that year; $3,450.00, plus the guitar was in mint shape but no warranty. So it took me 66 years to fulfill my dreams. Thanks to Guitar Centers screwup. Again, sorry to hear of the fire the're Kid. Glad you all made it out safe. 

Excellent!  Talk about opportunity knocking,  good for you!!  If the folks at GC were so lazy and negligent to have that little of a clue, we'll  that's the way the cookie crumbles...

 

[Murph]

We're pretty good with each other.

We're only arseholes to people we don't like.

[Retired]

21 hours ago, kidblast said:

as I was loading it in my car, a guy chased me down in the parking lot wanting to buy it back.  Told him no and went home to email Gibson service with the serial numbers. They sent me, It was a 2007 Gibson Standard that sold new for that year; $3,450.00, plus the guitar was in mint shape but no warranty. So it took me 66 years to fulfill my dreams. Thanks to Guitar Centers screwup. Again, sorry to hear of the fire the're Kid. Glad you all made it out safe. 

Excellent!  Talk about opportunity knocking,  good for you!!  If the folks at GC were so lazy and negligent to have that little of a clue, we'll  that's the way the cookie crumbles...

 

Thats what I thought to. Seems, later I found out that a new employee hung it in the used section and was later fired for it.  but once there, they had to sell it for the price tagged.