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As I consider upgrading my current digital, I’m also at the same time thinking about the ease of moving and transporting it when the time comes for us to change apartments. My current Casio PX-730 is console-type but functions much like a slab-type because it’s easily disassembled. The main piano body (with the keys and speakers) is light enough that it can be carried by a single person.

While I don’t think my next piano would be as light, what particular brands or models are friendly to moving? The piano would need to be transported by elevator and easily hauled into a smallish truck. I’m looking at mid-range models with better action and speakers (14w) than what I have now. I’ve heard that Clavinovas are quite heavy, for example. But is that a concern?

Thanks in advance for any input

I think there are just two different options: slab-type and furniture-type. Within these two categories I would say the differences with respect to mobility between different pianos are too small to really matter.

I had a slab-type piano for a few month last year but I was greatly annoyed by how it sometimes started rocking back and forth as I played (especially fast and loud stuff). I had an X stand. I heard the Z stands are more stable, but I would advise anyone who wants to go with that to try it out first (with fast and loud stuff ).

Other than that, slab-types are easier to move as there is no disassebly required. You just pick the piano up and fold the stand.

I have moved a console type Roland several times to my cabin and back. The keyboard part was easy to remove but is terribly heavy and a bit awkward shape so took some work but did finally fit on the back seat of a car (could not fit into the trunk). The stand needed a little bit of deassembling to fit to the trunk. I would say it's not too difficult to move one or twice and would be a lot easier with a truck or even a different type of a car. I assume some console type digitals are less heavy than my Roland. But there are also those that try to mimic real uprights, those may be more difficult to move... I think you should just check this out while buying. Just remember, the width of the keyboard will always be the same if 88 keys, so it's the other measurements that count. What makes my digital a bit difficult to move is the height and depth of the keyboard part. On the other hand, a digital can just be layed down on the truck floor without worrying about damaging it, while an acoustic shouldn't...

Check out the Yamaha Arius YDP-S52. It has the GH keyboard and 20W speakers. Compact and light enough to move by yourself if you're reasonably fit.

I wouldn't say that. In the group of console pianos, there are a few that are a good bit more difficult to move than other consoles. Most notably those that cannot be disassembled into main body and base. For example the Kawai CA9x pianos with the soundboard cannot be disassembled and are just as difficult to move as a small spinet type upright (at 80-90kg they are still a good bit lighter than even a small upright, but lack the usual handles on the backside, making them very difficult to carry).

Among console pianos, weight goes up with the price.
My middle-of-the-road Clavinova weighs 150 pounds.
The low-end models are much lighter.
The high-end models run around 200 pounds or more.
It's the same story with Kawai consoles.

If you're moving any of these across a room, two people can each grab one end of the unit and move it.

But to transport it to a different location ...

My moving company left it in one piece, wrapped in furniture blankets.

But if it were me (amateur mover), I might choose to remove the keyboard unit (heavy) from the stand.
The two separate pieces would fit in my car. As a single unit it would not. (If I owned a truck or van that would not matter.)

Simplified view: Check the gross weight and dimensions. This information is on the manufacturer's web page.
Decide for yourself whether moving such size and weight is within your ability.

And don't overestimate your strength
I moved my HP504 not long ago. While the piano in total has ~50kg (I think that's around 90-something lbs), the base probably has a little over 10 kg and the top ~40 (with packaging at least). Now 40 kg doesn't sound like that much for 2 people. And it didn't feel like it either when we tried picking it up. Now add to that the fact that the box doesn't have any handles, so there's no good way of grabbing it, and climbing 4 floors, and we got a lot more workout than we asked for.
We didn't realize this when we tried picking it up before deciding that we don't need help, but carrying it up a couple of floors really changed things.
For 2 relatively fit guys, a midrange console (like mine) shouldn't pose serious problems. But if one person is not that strong or if we're talking about something heavier (CA78, LX7, LX17, some higher end CLPs) than it may really be a good idea to get help.

When my Casio AP-650 was delivered I helped the driver move it off of the truck into my garage, and then I asked a friend of mine to come and help me get it inside and up the stairs.

"Hi, Bill. Could you come and help me move a piano into my living room?"

"Errr.... I guess so."

"It's a digital piano."

"Oh good -- my back feels better already."



This piano has a top and a base -- all of the weight is in the top which just slides into grooves on top of the base and is then secured by screws. I haven't moved it since I got it but it wouldn't be too difficult for two people to take it apart again and move it. It's more than I could handle by myself, though, but I'm not a very big guy and I'm not as young as I used to be either. *sigh*

I agree totally. Moving the Kawai CA9x units is really difficult as the back has nothing to grab and all you can use are fingernails under a tiny ledge in the back. I have dropped one doing that. Not good.

But, there is hope. Movers, with two men, use a harness on each and a flat belt that goes under the unit. That makes everything so easy. Hands on top to prevent tipping and to guide the unit. And away you go. Several style on Amazon. And $40 buys a fairly nice kit.

Good idea!
Three men and they still dropped my CA98 from the truck. no equipment was used.

The movers who took away my CA97 when I sold it (the movers where commissioned by the buyer) were really professional about it: They put a padded dolly right up to the left side of the piano, with a carrying belt going through underneath the dolly. They then tipped the piano on its left side (yes, on the short side), put the carrying belt over their shoulders, one end each, lifted dolly and piano together, and off they went down the stairs. It took less then 30 seconds for them to lift the piano and not a minute later they were gone down the stairs. The stairs have several turns that were really difficult to navigate when the delivery people initially carried the piano up (already out of its packaging, but carried "normally"), so I had been rather anxious to see how they would be able to negotiate the stairs on the way down, but that was no problem at all, with them carrying the piano on the short side, minimizing its footprint. And with the dolly strapped underneath the whole way, sticking out on both sides and with the wheels beneath, the piano was also protected against accidental bumps from a stair step. It really showed me the difference between professional piano movers and normal delivery guys.

There really is a BIG difference, eh?And the difference becomes even more evident when you watch the pros move a grand or a full-size upright, weighing in a 600+ pounds.

Here is an anecdotal tip for you to consider.

Since getting the HP508 there have been two occasions I have assembled the stand on which rests the piano works proper, "console slab" so to speak. The first was when it was brand new and installed the first time. It was during this time that I was disappointed to discover this pricey DP came with particle board wood pieces making up the included stand "kit". The main drawback to this kind of cheap wood is that over time it does not tolerate repeated installing / removing of the threaded screws used to attach the pieces.. After the initial installation, the holes in the wood through which the screws pass tend to gradually crumble/flake ( little bits of wood fall away) such that eventually the holes in the wood become a little bigger and the screws gradually have less solid wood to grip onto. This all became obvious during the second assembly subsequent to relocating my residence.

If you suspect you will go through several cycles of assembling / disassembling a console stand, you may want to investigate the quality of pieces included with the stand prior to purchas. Good luck.

Good point. And it pays to know and use the toothpick method to fix those loose threads.

Not knowing firsthand the toothpick trick, it looks/sounds like a viable & simple workaround. In my example, Roland could have gone a little further in the design stage by using a little Sauder knowhow.

As to the OP, regarding transporting a disassembled console DP, in the interest of caution I recommend keeping the original boxes in which it shipped, if practical; yes, they require storage space, and it helps to have some entry level Oragami-like training when it comes to packing the pieces in a manner that at least resembles how the factory packed for shipment, especially for the main/top piece.

Another way to resolve the thread stuff

Get some metal threaded inserts. Drill the hole the right size, glop on some epoxy inside the hole to give the particle board hole more strength, put some on the insert and thread it into the board. The reason to do both surfaces is to restore the epoxy you would wipe away with a fresh insert.

These are easy to install.. Can use a standard Allen Wrench to screw them in. These are available in any size depth or thread you want.

https://www.amazon.com/Z-Threaded-H...=8-5&keywords=flush+threaded+inserts

Now you're talking. Good tip! I expected metal inserts, hence the disappointment.

With all the DIY supplies out there these days, should be a relatively simple job to apply this kind of retrofit for those so minded.