Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Keep Sohmer 45 Console or Casio GP-300?

This is my first post and struggling with making a tough decision on keeping my only-ever piano, which is a Sohmer 45” Console or getting a Casio GP-300. At 50-years-old my Sohmer needs some work and probably new strings in the near future. I started looking at posts for digital pianos and tried the Casio GP-300 yesterday and liked it very much. I’m nearly 65 now and not attempting to start a piano career at this point.

There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding the Casio GP line. I have not tried any of the other makes, which I know are quite expensive. The GP-300 is at a good price point for me. New strings for my Sohmer are about $3,500. So the decision on spending so much over the worth of the piano comes to play. I’ve always wanted to own a nice grand and the GP offers 3 incredible pianos.

My struggle is actually trading in the piano that I love for one that offers things I’ve always longed to have and play. Unfortunately, I don’t have space for the two instruments. For the past 40-years I’ve played in recorder ensembles and I host a group of 8 players regularly.

My question is did you struggle to make the change to a new instrument? I have some nostalgia issues and feel like I’m giving up and old friend for a new one. I never thought it would be such a tough choice. What do you think?

I'd really try to keep the Sohmer unless the amount of work is prohibitively expensive. They were nice well made pianos. And if it's your first piano it has sentimental value.

A $3,500 repair on a piano that's worth $500 (or less) is a tough pill to swallow, nostalgia or not! And once you do that, other related repair needs may appear and the tuning stability will be really wonky for a year as the strings stretch. 50 years is a reasonable home lifespan for a piano like that.

If you were feeling sad about giving the piano up, I'd suggest not trading it. Sell it privately for a low price, or give it away to a deserving beginner. If you were to donate it to the family of a school-age student, have the student hand write a thank-you note, or something that will build character!

With the exception of maybe one piano I've ever owned (and there have been more than I'd care to admit at this point, both acoustics and digitals), I've never felt an emotional attachment to the instrument - it's just a tool. And I try and have the best tool for the environment, expected use, my preferences, and budget at that moment in time.

Well, instead of restringing the piano, you could do this!

I'd go for the GP-300 for sheer functionality, and if I felt some real nostalgia, as a transitional thing, I might keep the piano for sentimentality as a piece of furniture and decorate it appropriately,

Interesting... What will be the price of such a work?

The work that needs to be done on that piano is not worth it. The GP-300 is a great instrument that will serve you well, Don't worry about reviews. Folks get very passionate when it comes to piano's. Digitals are no exception.

If you like it buy it.

I own a GP-400 and I play it quite a bit when my family is in the house. I just feel bad practicing when they are all around and have to listen to me.

It is a great piano that I love playing.

The piano sounds good but the action is the problem. I’m thinking I should do a little recital and make a video with me performing on it.

My church didn’t want it. They just purchased the top of the line Yamaha Clavinova. But a student might appreciate it. I like that suggestion, thanks.

I have NEVER seen this done. Wonder what the cost is?

Where did you purchase your G-400? I went to Living Pianos in Santa Ana who only have the 300 and 500. I am actually interested in the 400 as it is similar to the 500, except a matt finish. I thought the 500 sounded and played a little better than the 300.

I will probably have similar problem within few weeks, as I will have very good tuner/repairman. And my initial voice goes for top digital.

It's not worth to spend so much to repair the piano and you do not know what the final effect will be. And for the money you can often buy good used upright or even much cheaper

I think this is spot on. A very old piano could become a money sink-hole. Replace it.

I totally agree and thanks.

Unfortunately, my very excellent technician retired and I called who I thought was someone good, who sent an apprentice, with no experience with repairs. He did a good job with tuning, although he had to return to address 10 keys where the unisons were off.

Ugh. Not so good a job with tuning if so many unisons were off! He tuned until it was properly out-of-tune!

Ten bad notes might point to a bad tuner. But it could also indicate a bad piano. Sometimes notes won't hold tune because of loose tuning pins in a worn pin block. That's death for an upright piano.

Did the tuning hold long after the re-tuning? You didn't say.

I was trying to be positive since there were many keys that were very good, lol.

The piano holds a tuning extremely well. I wasn't able to go over all the keys while he was still at the house and notified him that same evening with the problems. I'm very picky with tuning and warned him that I have perfect pitch. He said he never had anyone ever call him back in his 18 months of working. Usually, I go over every note while the technician is still there. Being also a violinist and recorder player I'm ALWAYS sensitive to tuning. After his return visit the piano is perfect and has held. It only goes off about 3 cents in a 12-month period, but even that bothers me. What is harder to tune are two recorders playing together. Breath control comes into play for each note. It can take an ensemble up to 4 years of working on tuning to be really good.

You might really enjoy the harpsichord sound on the GP-400, if you're working with recorders.

I don't know how good the GP-400 built-in harpsichord sound is. But you could use the GP-400 (or any other MIDI keyboard) to control "virtual instruments" running on a PC. That would open up many harpsichords, clavichords, "organ portatifs", and other nice things.

IMHO, what you'll miss, if you sell the Sohmer, is the complexity of sounds from an acoustic piano. Digitals tend to sound "cleaner" than acoustics. Since the GP-400 has "string resonance", it might be OK. If you can _control_ the string resonance with some menu setting, try making it stronger or weaker than "factory" -- tastes differ.

Faced with a $3,500 restringing bill, I'd probably donate the Sohmer to a good cause (or person). I sympathize with your feeling of "letting go of a good friend".