Anyone else here play keyboards?

I know this is the Tele forum, but this is the Other Instruments sub-forum! I don't really count myself as a guitarist - I'm a multi-instrumentalist specialising in keyboards and bass - but I can play adequate rhythm guitar in styles from blues to reggae, and I love guitars. I just don't play them in public!

I'm particularly into vintage keyboards, especially electric pianos. For about a year I was using a Wurlitzer 200 electric piano (see my av) owned by my band, but we had to retire it for a number of reasons (weight, unwanted noises, fragility) and I used a Casio WK-3000 instead (it has a surprisingly good Wurlitzer sound), This November I got a Nord Electro 3 for my 50th birthday(!), and I now use that alongside a Roland VK-7 organ (again owned jointly by the band) and a Stylophone mini-synth.

Here is a link to my band's website : The Skanx (http://www.theskanxband.co.uk) - we are a 9-piece ska and funk band based in south-east London.

I also play bass guitar, electric upright bass, ukulele,chromatic harmonica and percussion. But not all at once...

I might be you in reverse, I can play piano with moderate proficiency but I play guitar for a living. I do appreciate keyboardists who play really well so I don't play piano in bands. When I was a teenager playing in rock jam sessions in the late 1970s there was always someone with a Fender Rhodes and a couple guys would have the Leslie Speakers with a Hammond B3:shock: I miss those days, in the 1980's everyone shifted over to DX7s or Oberheims. The Rhodes suitcase is one of my favorite instruments to jam with, they are great for jazz. of course there is a lot less weight to deal with when you use a keyboard controller hooked up to a computer, but I like weighted keys like on a real piano better than plastic keys.:cool:

I'm a keyboard player too. I took piano for years as a kid but didn't play for about 25 yrs. Couple years ago my band decided we needed keys on a few songs so I got a Roland and hit the woodshed. I'm not great but I get the job done. I found I enjoy playing very much. I'm not crazy about dragging around keys and guitars though. My current stable of instruments includes a Roland AX09, and a Casio ctk-something. The casio is great because the sounds are really dead on. It also has organ drawbars which is really cool. Still it feels flimsy so at some point I may upgrade to another roland. We are in talks with a real keyboard player so it may not be necessary.

I also have a neat old Roland EP10 electric piano. It was the fist Roland keyboard as far as I know. It works cool but needs a little work asthetically. Right now it takes up room in my studio. I'd gladly give it away free to anyone that wants a project or something to jam on......provided they come and get it.

I too play a bit of keyboards in our band. Mainly basic string/Organ parts to fill out some arrangements. I am envious of those that can play keyboards properly though. I am onother user of the Casio WK3000 - a suprisingly good keyboard from the lower end of the market. Do they still make these? I've had mine for 9 years now.

I am another user of the Casio WK3000 - a surprisingly good keyboard from the lower end of the market. Do they still make these? I've had mine for 9 years now.Well, they don't make the WK-3000 any more - it was replaced (in turn) by the very similar 3200 and then the 3300, and then last year by the WK-7500 which has real drawbar sliders. Even the last one has now been eclipsed by the brand-new XW-P1 (I can never remember that one) launched at the Winter NAMM show, with (finally) 8-position drawbars and an analogue-style monosynth with portamento! It's good to know that Casio are still flying the flag for serious but less monied keyboardists.

Piano player. Took lessons for about 3 years as a kid and then again when I got out of college. I really don't play a whole lot of piano anymore (too loud in a a smaller first floor layout) but I consider myself a pianist first and a guitar player second. I am a self-taught guitarist but not a self taught musician.

Anything I ever learned about reading music, scales, chords and music theory was rooted in my piano lessons. I consider myself on the side of the fence that is "pro" learning to read music and learn music theory. It allows you to "speak the language" in terms that are quantifiable.

Yep, just pretty basic keyboard skills. Gigged on a few occasions on organ, thats about it.

I play guitar, bass and keyboards in bands. I have a couple keyboards - Peavey DPM, Kurzweil SP76 and Alesis QS6 but right now I'm playing keys in a coverband so I use the Alesis mostly live since it gives me the most sounds for the lightest package.

This is the Casio I use. There are 9 drawbars. Its not exactly gonna give you the B3 sound, but still pretty close considering they are around $300 or less.

http://www.casio-intl.com/emi/high_grade/ctk7000/

Total hack here and I haven't played much keys live in recent years. Do enjoy plunking around though, and occasionally track with them. I have an upright piano at the shack, as well as a Hammond polyphonic melodian and an old 70's Crumar Orchestrator that I picked up at a pawn shop for 75 bucks... the string sounds are fat analog but the "piano" patch is beyond horrible.

One of my best buds repairs vintage keys and electronics for a living. He's always got cool stuff around the house... Hammonds, Rhodes, Wurlitzers, you name it. Lately he's taken in a couple of Hohner Clavinets for repair, and then cut some tracks after they were up and running. Tell you what, once you hear the real deal, digital emulations ain't even close.

One of my best buds repairs vintage keys and electronics for a living. He's always got cool stuff around the house... Hammonds, Rhodes, Wurlitzers, you name it. Lately he's taken in a couple of Hohner Clavinets for repair, and then cut some tracks after they were up and running. Tell you what, once you hear the real deal, digital emulations ain't even close.

You're right. But they're heavy.

Wish your buddy lived closer. I'd give him my old electric piano. It might be a fun project for him!

Looks like this.

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/_inc/picview.cfm?synthid=986

Looks cool Mike! I'll show him the pic, see if he has any insight.

I play a little bit of keys aswell. My main intrument is guitar but I can play bass, keyboard, organ (foot pedals too), drums, and a little bit of harmonica. The only thing I don't do is sing. (I wish I could, but everytime someone tells me to sing I just say this.) "I can play every instrument on that stage, but I can't sing." I wish I had some cash for a leslie. I love a classic hammond sound. I own two hammonds, an Aurora Classic, and an original M100. (Actualy an M143, but it's the same thing in a different cabinet.) I would love to get a leslie, but I don't have the money or the room for it honestly. I think most rythym guitarist can play atleast a little bit of keyboard. I'm a lead guitarist, so It's hard for me to add in keys.

I learned some piano back when I took music theory in college, but I've never played in public. I recently got a USB controller and once I get the laptop fixed I'm going to get some software for some vintage keys sounds and see if I can do anything beyond block chords. I once played with a B3 player. He was the loudest thing on stage. But what a sound! I wish I could live next to Steve Winwoods Leslie cabinet for a while. If I ever get a deal on a good Hammond, I'm gonna buy it if I can play it or not.

Besides guitar, I play Lap Steel, Mandolin, Bass, Tenor Banjo and some percussion.

Yes, more than guitar. I remember playing Wurlitzer electrics in theory class in college. Nice sound. Currently, I play an old Roland JD-800 the most, but I also have a bunch of other sutff, like an ARP 2600 and a Juno-106. Some of it is passing from vintage to antique. And I recently got (for free) an upright piano from an ex-girlfriend (like 25 years ex). She's got arthritis and can't really play any more.

keys are my main instrument, but i'd rather play guitar ...

I'll take up some bandwidth.

I was a music major so I ended up with some reasonable theory and keyboard playing basics during those years.
So...I could play some chords in a basic jam session and can do my own keyboard tracks on my own material but I would only insult the instrument if I went beyond that.

Carry on....

I'm primarily a keyboard player, having played live with a number of bands, even toured as a keyboard player.

I still have a Hammond + Leslie and Access, Korg, Novation and Roland synths.

I especially love the Access stuff, loath VST synths.

Even though I'm better at keyboards, I really like the organic nature of guitars and valve amps.

I wish I had a real piano but space, neighbours and money ...

Interesting replies all round! Thanks, everyone.

I am basically self-taught, starting with rudimentary guitar chords (with the help of Bert Weedon's famous "Play In a Day" book) at the age of 12. I built a horrible electric guitar when I was 14 (it looked like a squashed Flying V and played like a pig with strings on ) and a fairly playable bass (an EB3 copy) the following year. Before long I was playing bass in bands at school, and teaching myself piano based on the guitar chords that I knew.

When I was 18 I bought a Hohner Pianet T electric piano and a Roland Cube 60 bass amp, and started playing keyboards in bands as well as bass. When I moved to London in 1981, I found plenty of bands, and I have alternated between bass and keyboards ever since.

My musical roots are in the Blues (I played piano for Mississippi John L Watson's Odyssey Blues Band for a number of years in the late '90s) but I've also played everything from electro-pop to traditional jazz to reggae over the years.

Here are some of my musical projects, past and present:

Mix It Up (1980s electro-pop duo) (http://www.alphabeck.co.uk/music/mix_it_up/)
Solo multi-tracked blues material (http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/simonbeck)
The Skanx (current band in which I play keyboards) (http://www.theskanxband.co.uk)

I've joined a band recently under the guise of being a keyboard player! My only keyboard at the moment is a Casiotone MT-100 which is great for old Krautrock drum sounds and skuzzy Farfisa organ sounds. However the band I've joined want me to play Fender Rhodes sounds through multi-tempo delays. I will have to figure something out.

I've joined a band recently under the guise of being a keyboard player! My only keyboard at the moment is a Casiotone MT-100 which is great for old Krautrock drum sounds and skuzzy Farfisa organ sounds. However the band I've joined want me to play Fender Rhodes sounds through multi-tempo delays. I will have to figure something out.

Some of the newer Casios like the CTK7000 will get you some decent sounding Rhodes sounds for not so much money. I use the Rhodes/Temolo setting with some sustain pedal for "Riders on the Storm". Pretty convincing.

I have a Mark II 76 stage that never gets played enough...

121352

I have a Mark II 76 stage that never gets played enough...

121352I'll come round and play it for you! I'm in Penge, SE26...:wink:

Another KB hack here. Played some really simple stuff on an old Jaguar and a Farfisa in the 60's early 70's. I was going to kick start again, but life keeps gettin' in the way. I currently have a Casio WK-3200 and a Nord Electro 2. The Nord blows me away. What sweet sounds!

The Nord blows me away. What sweet sounds!The Electro 3 is pretty amazing too. You can download sample sets onto it, or even make your own. Recently I've been experimenting with sounds sampled by Clavia from an old RMI Electra-Piano, a 1960s/1970s electronic rather than electric piano. By adjusting the attack and release settings on the Nord and using the onboard EQ and chorus, I've been getting sounds similar to the Novachord, Hammond's incredible 1939 polysynth. Cool stuff. In my band I just use the Nord's Wurly and Clavinet sounds though.

I used to play keys as well as be the guitarist in my band in HS

Now I'm just lead guitarist in our working band

BUT I own a Vox Jaguar Organ, and have a Wurlitzer 200A on permanent loan to me (which my band uses)...I owned a BEAUTIFUL hammond M3 a couple years ago, and trucked it around with my band at the time for 1 song...eugh, sold it and wish I hadn't!

Now my band collectively owns a Roland VK-100 which suits the bill perfect, great compliment to the Wurlitzer!


Ah yes...I also own a wurlitzer "leslie" just set up for guitar though!

I'll come round and play it for you! I'm in Penge, SE26...:wink:

: ) or I could come round and jam with you on your double bass....

I started with piano lessons as a child, and forgot all about it for years. Picked up the ukulele then the banjo in my pre-teens, then started on guitar senior year in high school. When I played in bands, I got a farfisa (with the cool orange keys) to complement the music.
While in my first marriage, I had the opportunity (thrill really) of working for ENSONIQ. I started assembling keyboards, and worked my way up through the company until I was writing the musician manuals and designing sounds. In that position, I usually got the first of every product made so I could write the documentation.
My forte was world instruments and I picked up a LOT of ethnic instruments and learned to play them, so that they could be sampled. The "unplugged" phase of acoustic music ended all of the electronic keyboard-based music, and pretty much was the beginning of the end for Ensoniq.
Unfortunately, most everything I have from Ensoniq has felt the ravages of time, and I need a new keyboard/workstation. I'm getting the urge to orchestrate again.

Cool story DrTom : )

I've played keys for 30+ years on and off, and guitar for about 6 years, I suck at both. When I was a lad I could hold my own in a couple of the Prog bands and a wedding band I played in. However, now it's all therapy.

My keyboard is a General Music Pro2 (GEM Pro 2) and I have an old Krumar lead synth too.http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/JSalch/GetAttachment111.jpg

Learned piano as a kid - like most people - but never really loved it. Once I picked up a guitar, forget the piano.

I think I like instruments that have a vocal, rather than a mechanical, feel - being able to put vibrato, bends and inflection. I took up guitar because I loved singing but when my voice broke I went from voice of an angel to voice of a gutter so guitar was a way to sing without singing.

I'm getting the urge to orchestrate again.If I get one more musical instrument, I think my wife will threaten to orchestrate me. :shock:

Or something like that...