I’ll lay my cards on the table. I am not musical, I can’t play any instruments whatsoever. I have no knowledge of musical instruments.
Mrs YP would like an electric piano. We used to have an upright, but it had to go when we moved house. She has quite an ability to play, and for Christmas / Birthday / Special Day I’d like to buy her a new one that can sit on a bench (i.e. apparently she doesn’t want one on a base or stand)
I’m trying to surprise her, so am asking no questions. Research suggests either Roland, Yamaha, or Kawai as being the major makes. However I have no way of knowing of the quality of any one over another.
It won’t be cheap, but cheaper than my bike or cameras! I have a budget of about £1K.
Surely someone on here will have more than my zero knowledge, and be able to offer some suggestions.

People with non electric pianos will hate you and call you a “cheater”.

Ah, no, wait, i’ve got that wrong haven’t i?? 🙂

I bought a Yamaha P35. It’s full size and plays like an upright and sounds good through pa or headphones. Quite a bit cheaper than your budget but couldn’t honestly see what else I’d need over and above the P35

Whereabouts are you, there’s what looks like a nice condition Yamaha Aurius YDP163 going on Gumtree just outside Edinburgh for £400.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/pianos/yamaha-ydp-163-digital-piano-black-like-new-%C2%A3400/1356050875

FWIW, there’s a decent amount of personal preference involved in sound and feel. If you have a decent shop nearby that’ll price match it’s worth going in for a chat and a listen/try out.

I have a Korg SP250 (there’s one on eBay for 500 s/h: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Korg-SP250BK-88-Key-Popular-Portable-Piano-Package-Black/282945131665?hash=item41e0d81491:g:Dx0AAOSwKFpa5kwr).

When a pianist who supports a local choir had a play on it, he was miffed as he’d just bought a Yamaha P90(?) and he was disappointed as his didn’t have as many voices, but the keyboard feel was just as good as his. He said that although the Yamaha made a nice sound, it was a bit limited to sounding like a piano, whereas the Korg does a good job of sounding like a piano, organ (pipe), organ (hammond-style), strings, etc etc.

I’ve played for a few years now and the variety of voices have been a great benefit, it wasn’t something I was particularly looking for, but it’s nice to be able to play in a voice that emulates the original track (if you’re playing a cover).

We have an old Yamaha electric piano which I’m guessing is worth almost nothing now but plays and sounds great. Model is Yamaha P100. Imagine on fleabay they’d go for peanuts.

Here’s another one. They cost 750 new…….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Korg-SP250-Electronic-Keyboard-Includes-cover-music-stand-manual-and-pedals/383223916127?hash=item5939ece65f:g:858AAOSw3nNdrbwt

Edit – Yamaha electric pianos seem to hold their value, so not as cheap as I thought!

I’ve got a roland FP30. :thumbsup: from me.

I have a Yamaha P45, but I’m just someone who wants to be able to bash out a tune with headphones on, not a proper piano player. I went to a digital piano specialist to buy it and asked the guy in the shop to demo it, and I suggest you do the same; at the time I bought it there seemed to be a degree of price fixing so there was no point in shopping around online for a discount. Some things to think about – keyboard quality (obviously) – a bit more money will get you one with wooden keys which may or may not matter, speaker quality – can it do the bass notes? (not an issue if you’re mainly using headphones), polyphony (the P45 does 64 max, better pianos do more), pedal quantity and quality – the single pedal that comes with the P45 is pretty crap, and then the minefields of voices and connectivity – the P45 has a few voices and connects to my iPad for Garageband which is enough for me but some people want bells and whistles. TL:DR, you may be entering a minefield if you’re not a piano player.

Our local music shop has a slightly battered Kawai in for £150.

Pro Solo in Burnley if you’re anywhere near…

Nord electro/piano/stage to the budget of your choosing.

Mind blowing through nice monitors

Nord Stage range are certainly en-vogue with top bands at the moment. They must be doing something right. Great looking kit too.

I think this sounds like a great idea – a really thoughtful gift. I would be concentrating on getting something fairly middle-of-the-road in terms of tone, though, and an agreement with the shop that it can be returned at a later date if your Mrs is dead-set on something different.

They all can sit on a table or whatever, but a stand is way better to use.

Good luck.

any excuse for davos

I sold my US les paul to buy a nord electro 6d 61

absolutely the right thing to do, les paul was sat in its case for years and now I can’t wait to get home to play my electro everyday. Having played every keyboard on the market I consider Nords very special if a bit niche

Neighbours might not agree

Nord are proper high quality gear and brilliant samples, with a price tag to match but for a home occasional player they feel like overkill. the Korg and Yamaha’s seem like good options – the main issue may be the height from the bottom of the base to the key level if it’s going on a table etc because in order to play comfortably you need a straight wrist (like typing on a PC keyboard)

Mrs Rider as a beginner has a Casio Privia and it sounds great. Weighted key action is impressive, even for the budget model. I bought used so we had money left over for lessons. Worth thinking about. Also, there are very good deals around

https://www.rimmersmusic.co.uk/casio-privia-px760-digital-piano-black-p21722/s22101?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=casio-px760-privia-digital-piano-px760&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImZ3qydDG5QIViK3tCh0JWwPfEAQYAyABEgJJvPD_BwE

Read some reviews?

https://music.casio.co.uk/casio-privia-digital-piano-px-760bkc5