Classic Yamaha Keyboards - What Should I Buy?

[ItalianStallion81]

What Yamaha synthesizers of yore should I buy based on terms of reliability and other issues?

My want list:
1. GX1
2. CS80
3. CS70M
4. GS1
5. DX7 or DX1
6. CP70 or CP80

The CS80 may be one of these I may want to avoid buying not just for its constant tuning issues, but also because it may have been among the largest synthesizers ever made (next to their own GX1), weighing 200 plus pounds.

But as far as tuning problems, what fixes should I make to it (after buying it) to make it last a long, long time? I know Richard Luebbing suggests as a long-term solution the installation of a heat pipe and a fluid-filled copper tube, and to keep it in a cool, dry place when it's running.

For a short period of time the CS80 was superseded by the CS70M, but exactly how reliable was the CS70M?

Next up is the GS1, which may be a precursor to the DX7 as far as frequency-modulated synthesis goes. It is the one that looks like a typical wooden grand piano.

But while the DX7 may have been among one of the most popular members of the DX family of synthesizers (the lower-cost DX9 was another), I'd much rather go for the CS80's true successor, the DX1, considered to be the grandaddy of the bunch.

My favorite Yamaha electric grand piano would be the CP70 (73 keys) or the CP80 (88 keys). But should I get a CP70 since it is the more common of the two?

Thank you,



Ben Edge (ItalianStallion81)

[D-Collector]

I would buy the DX1, if I had the funds to waste. Not only because the DX1 is my wet dream but the DX synths are stable and solid.

[V301H]

Get the GX1. You can play a different sound with each hand and another sound with your feet all at once.

[meatballfulton]

Get the GX1 because finding one for sale and paying for it will take up all your time and money.

[CfNorENa]

GX1 for sure. Why compromise?

[JohnTron]

GX1 for sure. Why compromise?

For $50,000!!! You could buy a luxury automobile or a smokin hot classic corvette for that price...it's funny, but I'd take the GX-1 over many classic cars myself. You'll probably pick up more hot chicks with the GX anyways...less mid-life crisis y. DO IT!!!

[Newtown]

I'll loan you one of my GX1s.

[ItalianStallion81]

I'll loan you one of my GX1s.

I wish I could take it from you, but I lack both money and space (same goes for the CS-80 and the GS1). A DX7 would fit better where I am.

~Ben

[Bohemian86]

Well from my many late night obsessive research sessions of all things P.A.S.S.( GX-1, CS Line), I would say the 70m is the best sound you can get for reliability and price. Excluding the DX synths. That said, ever consider a Yamaha E70? Its basically a dumbed down CS-80 synth in a home organ package. Got one in my basement and I think that's the closest I'll get.

[ItalianStallion81]

Well from my many late night obsessive research sessions of all things P.A.S.S.( GX-1, CS Line), I would say the 70m is the best sound you can get for reliability and price. Excluding the DX synths. That said, ever consider a Yamaha E70? Its basically a dumbed down CS-80 synth in a home organ package. Got one in my basement and I think that's the closest I'll get.

I believe the E70 is the same organ Pete Townshend used for the intro to The Who's "Eminence Front" if I am not mistaken.

~Ben

[JJQ]

CS-60!

Otherwise I have a friend contemplating selling the CS-80, and its stable as h**l, Ive played it many times thruogh the years.

But again, CS-60!

[Bohemian86]

I believe the E70 is the same organ Pete Townshend used for the intro to The Who's "Eminence Front" if I am not mistaken.

~Ben

You are correct, sir. I believe he also used a CS-80 on his first solo album as well.

[Sir Ruff]

I'll loan you one of my GX1s.

I wish I could take it from you, but I lack both money and space (same goes for the CS-80 and the GS1). A DX7 would fit better where I am.

~Ben

So then what was the point of your original post?

[ItalianStallion81]

I'll loan you one of my GX1s.

I wish I could take it from you, but I lack both money and space (same goes for the CS-80 and the GS1). A DX7 would fit better where I am.

~Ben

So then what was the point of your original post? :roll:

My point is, what Yamaha synthesizer should I buy (any kind) in terms of reliability and tuning stability, among other issues? I figure the DX7 would cover most of these bases. The GX1 (called Electone GX707 in its early years) is quite rare in that less than 100 were produced (some of them were given to other musicians several years later to cover repairs toward their original ones, such as Keith Emerson receiving John Paul Jones's as a spare, which Keith would still have after having sold his original GX1 to German film soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer; Stevie Wonder once had two GX1s, but sold one of them to Madame Tussaud's in Las Vegas).

~Ben

[CfNorENa]

The GX1 is quite rare in that less than 1000 were produced.

No way, man. Every time I go into my local Guitar Center, they have like two or three of 'em. Seriously, it's the board to get. No compromise.