I'm definitely of the "plain Jane" philosophy, though it is almost impossible to find something without countless useless features. At this point I am leaning toward Roland F-140r. No particular Roland bias other than the fact that we already have a conferencing hub that works with them (the thing that allows the teacher to listen to each piano individually), and that is what we have had since the old Wurlitzers bit the dust. From what I have seen, it seems that the choices are basically Yamaha and Roland for this type of setup.
Looking at our existing inventory, it seems they are starting to break "hammers" at 13 years old (those are the newest old ones, remainder all purchased 5 years ago). I pulled a few hammers, and they are all cracking. Replacements run $6 each for the part, meaning about $600 for a complete replacement (unless there is a quantity discount available somewhere - the source I found is Full Compass). And by that time they are developing other issues, like notes that blast out at you, which I guess would mean replacing sensor strips or something. Bottom line being that replacing a few of these hammers is probably as far as I would consider going prior to replacement.
So at this point I am looking at establishing a 12 year cycle, purchasing 2 a year for our 24 instrument lab, at a current price of about $1100. An interesting newish (I guess) feature is that these pianos can be "twinned" - the keyboard split in half with each half at the same pitch, meaning that two student could play at the same time on the same piano (obviously limited in range, but enough for beginners). That might be especially useful for our "Music Prep School," Saturdays, where children are taught all sorts of music lessons in our music department facilities (community outreach, opportunity for music ed students to make money and get experience, etc.)
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Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm@unm.eduhttp://fredsturm.nethttp://www.artoftuning.com"We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda
Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2016 12:39
From: Michael Hagen
Subject: electric piano lab
I too am involved with providing input as to replacing our current lab with new instruments.
Very interested in the 'trade in' program Keith had arranged with the local dealer.
At the time our university's first purchased a digital lab I was the Kawai dealer. I offered a great deal on wooden keys and nice action keyboard, but with only 12 or so sounds-"plain jane" so to speak. IMO perfect for a lab that is mainly used to teach non piano players basic skills. The University opted to get top of the line Yamaha Clavinovas with auto drums, single finger, 300 sounds, etc. These features were never (very rarely) used at all.
My question to the group is, what basic instruments are being used in these labs? Plain Jane type keyboards or instruments with 'bells and whistles'?
Michael Hagen RPT
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park CA
hagen@sonoma.edu
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Michael Hagen
Rohnert Park CA
707-664-9857
Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2016 09:38
From: Keith Kopp
Subject: electric piano lab
It has been our experience that a more overriding determination of when the keyboards need to be replaced is not as much how long will they last but when can you get the best trade in value. Digital keyboards become dated in a very short period of time. We learned our local dealer would give us the highest trade value if done within 5 years. The cost to replace and upgrade was very small and the maintenance cost was virtually nothing. The dealer loves to have a "university used keyboard sale." In fact, one dealer wanted to turn them every two years giving us trade in value that was high enough that we could not have rented them for less. If a lab fee were charged it could almost make the cost of the instruments zero.