Electric grand piano

An electric grand piano is a particular type of piano manufactured and marketed by Yamaha, Kawai and Helpinstill during the 1970s and 1980s, although experimental instruments of similar type were made as early as the late 1920s. Unlike a digital piano, an electric grand has hammers and strings. What makes an electric grand unique is its means of amplification, which is done via pickups under the strings (like an electric guitar). This method of amplification yields a smaller, lighter piano, and therefore easier to transport (these pianos are still substantially heavy, however — they can weigh in at roughly 300 lb or 130-140 kg). The amplification-via-pickups method also bypasses the difficulty of having to mic a conventional grand piano, and thus makes an electric grand easier to set up with a sound system. However, production of this type of piano ceased in the 1980s with the advent of the digital piano.

Electric upright pianos were also produced by all three manufacturers mentioned above, but are generally acknowledged to have an inferior sound to that of the associated grand model.

The band Keane uses Yamaha's CP-70 exclusively in its music and the Edge of U2 also uses one. Jeff Frankenstein, from the Christian rock band Newsboys, also has begun using a vintage CP-70 in recent years as his main keyboard.

Helpinstill models

*Roadmaster 64 (64-note upright)

*Roadmaster 88 (88-note upright)

*Portable Grand (88-note grand)

Kawai models

*EP-608 (76-note upright)

*EP-705M (75-note upright with MIDI output)

*EP-308 (88 note grand)

*EP-308M (as EP-308 but with MIDI output)

Yamaha models

*CP-60M (76-note upright with MIDI output)

*CP-70 (73-note grand)

*CP-70B (like CP-70 with revised action and electronics including balanced outputs)

*CP-70M (like CP-70B with MIDI output)

*CP-80 (88-note grand)

*CP-80M (88-key grand with MIDI OUT)

External links

* [http://www.cathedralstone.net/Pages/YamahaCP70B.htm Information about the CP-70]
* [http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/cp70/ More information about the CP-70]