Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards My new Privia PX-870 has arrived!!

Yes, it took forever to get my new PX-870 delivered to our little island off the north coast of Newfoundland, but today the courier driver showed up with our big parcel! It was a bit of a struggle for the driver and myself to haul the large/heavy box out of the van, down our steep driveway and into the house, and then I immediately went to work unpacking all of the pieces. It took me longer to unpack/unwrap everything than it did to actually assemble it... I think it took about 35 minutes to put it together. About the only problem I had was in sliding the bulky (heavy!) keyboard into the side channels, as my arthritis (not to mention my additional spinal issues) was loudly complaining the entire time. But I got it all together in short order, and I must say that it was really a breeze to assemble. Everything fit together precisely and easily, and once it was all assembled I just sat there and admired the whole look of it! It's a beautiful design; quite minimalistic and elegant, and although I have only played it for just a few minutes so far, I am quite smitten with my early Christmas present to myself!

By sheer luck, both my "Stage-One" piano bench and "Auray" LED piano lamp also arrived today, and I must say that I am loving how it all looks. Very nice indeed! Due to my diminished health I was pretty worn out and in pain by the time I got it all assembled and put in its place in our living room, so I'm now back in bed to recover, but I can hardly wait to get back downstairs again to play my new digital piano! Or at least try to... I can already tell that it's going to take me a long while to re-develop my skills, back to the level I was at many years ago. Plus I now have pretty bad arthritis in every joint of my fingers, (both hands) and I can only hope that my return to playing with help to limber them up again, rather than make them possibly worse. I recently read somewhere that doctors believe that playing daily (without overdoing it) can bring some degree of relief for rather severe arthritis sufferers, so only time will tell. But I can glean after just the very few minutes of playing, that I have not really forgotten much of what I had learned all of those years ago. I played a little Mozart and Chopin, and although I'm admittedly a bit rusty, (understandable, considering my health issues and of course the length of time away from a piano) I was very pleasantly surprised with what I was able to do within the first five minutes or so. Perhaps not as quick nor as polished as in the past, though that is completely understandable.

But I do have serious concerns about the arthritis. This has worsened quite a bit over the past few months, and right away I could tell it was going to get painful in no time at all, so I will have to really try to pace myself, and hopefully get the pain and stiffness under some control. I'd be interested I hearing from any of you who may have arthritic fingers, and if you may have any advice for dealing with it, so that I can hopefully go on to play this instrument for years to come.

So, I've got the piano where I want it to go, and it fits there nicely, but as our TV is mounted quite low on this same wall, (right behind/above the piano) I need to find a new spot for the TV, so hopefully that will be tomorrow's project. It looks kinda goofy at the moment, with
the music stand blocking the bottom few inches of the screen, but once we move the TV I think this will be the perfect place for the piano. Once I'm feeling a bit better, (hopefully tomorrow) I'll try to take a couple pics of it and post them on here, to show you my little setup.

So far, I've not played around with any settings at all; I have only briefly tried the default piano sound and that's it, but I've got to say that the audio quality from its 40-watt amplifier/four speakers is way better than I had expected! It probably helps that it's in such a small room too; all I know is that it surprisingly sounds really nice and authentic!

So, for this old guy it's been a pretty full day, and I'm currently back in bed to rest my messed-up spine, but I'm so stoked to be returning to playing after such a long dry spell. I realize that this could be a very long, slow process, and it's still unknown just how much my arthritis will affect my ability to play, but I will just have to pace myself, take baby steps. I am long-retired and thus have all the time in the world to get my skills back! I'll likely have ton of questions in the coming days, so hopefully I won't drive you all nuts! More later!

Messed up spine? Me too. No problems at all until June 8, and then wham. Spinal stenosis. Upper leg pains mostly. Mainly left side.

Fortunately sitting is pain free. So the piano is a pain-free activity.

Best wishes for you, for your back, and for your piano.

Glad to hear it arrived in pristine condition, Glen. And that you are pleased with it.

I'm so sorry to hear this, MacMacMac. But I'm relieved that it's not an issue while you are playing, thank goodness! Mine is the result of a serious accident in the workplace many years ago, which unfortunately has kept me mostly bedridden (~20 hours/day) ever since that time. It will be quite a challenge for me to try to get back to the piano after all this, but we shall see how things go. My upper spine (C-1 through C-6) took the brunt of the impact... these vertebrae are crushed beyond repair. This has also caused blindingly-painful, daily cervicogenic headaches, as well as permanent nerve damage to both hands. And then there's the newly-diagnosed arthritis affecting my whole body, and all of this is on top of 6 years of severe Polymyalgia Rheumatica, which causes major swelling/intense joint pain, mostly in my shoulders and hips. Oh, and did I mention the severe Restless Legs Syndrome and equally-debilitating IBS? Yup, I'm falling apart at the seams, but I'm determined to get back on the piano!!

I have a tv mounted above my piano and use it to display the backing track programs I use (iReal Pro, Band in a Box). It depends what kind of music you plan to play, but it could be handy to have a big screen for a display.

Wow. You've got it BAD.I've also got C5/C6 and C6/C7 herniations, but a short lie-down relieves the pain. My wife has the same, but for her a nap is no remediation. And she has chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. So things rather suck around here.

Still, it all pales next to your ailments. I hope some enjoyment at the piano will slightly offset the medical misery. Best wishes.

Congrats on the new piano!!! Exciting times! Take it easy and get into it slowly. You don't want to add Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) to your list of ailments!

camperbc, would you be able to post some pics of your new piano in its new home?

Hoping you will be able to enjoy your new piano despite the health issues!

Thanks! I'm hoping I'll be well enough tomorrow to begin to familiarize myself with all of its many features.



Exciting for sure! Yup, I'll definitely be taking baby steps, because I'm a bit worried that my fingers could get worse instead of better.



I will try to take a few pics of it tomorrow and post them on here. And if I'm still laid up tomorrow, I'll take them as soon as I am able. Yes, I am so looking forward to playing on this!

Congrats! There's nothing like NPD. (That's "New Piano Day" ... ) I had the PX-830 for several years, and really enjoyed it. Enjoy!

Yes NPD is indeed a beautiful thing... I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!!!

Oh good! Glad your piano arrived. As you recall, I have the same model .👍

It’s my good fortune you enjoy writing.lol I’m looking very forward to reading your updated thoughts about the 870!

You’re very fortunate you played years back. Like you said, you were actually able to play stuff right away...even surprised yourself... How nice!

I’m 60 and starting from scratch AND have various joint issues. So, I have a journey ahead. I just hope the body holds up.

Had my second lesson yesterday and watched a variety of YouTube vids the bast couple weeks. I’ve been playing 1 to 2 hrs a day. I’m already MUCH better than I was 2 weeks ago.LOL.

Again, looking forward to reading your thoughts and opinions on the Privia 870.

Muskie

Good for you, camperbc. I hope you enjoy your Casio as much as I enjoyed mine. It was a great servant. And, good luck to managing your physical issues.

Thanks, Muskie! I'm happy to hear that you're starting to get the hang of it. Like they say, practice makes perfect! Sorry to hear that you have some health issues too. I hope you will be able to continue to play without being in too much discomfort. Yes, I'm already really enjoying the PX-870. I haven't figured out even half of the settings yet, but all in due time. One thing I have noticed though, is that even with the sustain pedal fully depressed, it doesn't really seem to have much sustain effect, at least not for nearly as long as I remember the acoustics going on for. I haven't been able to find any setting for adjusting this, so I may just have to get used to it. Also, it seems that I really have to stomp on the pedal to get it to sustain. Sometimes I think I have it fully depressed, but it still isn't pushed down quite far enough to do its job, so I must then push down even harder. It will just take some getting accustomed to, I suppose.



Thank-you Ralph. Yes, I have more than my share of physical limitations, but one way or another I'm going to make this work... though I'm sure it will take me awhile to get back into my groove again! But hey, that's half the fun!

And as promised, here are a couple pics I just snapped of my new baby.

Congratulations, hope you enjoy it.

I bought the PX 870 last November and I love it.

I used to have a Kawai MP10, sold that and got a Kawai MP7.

I’m not going to lie, both had superior key-beds than the PX 870. But like you I have arthritis, and it hurt playing them.

I can play my PX 870 much much much easier and with less pain than either of the Kawai’s, hence I really really enjoy playing it.

Get the piano ap if you have an iPad (don’t know if it’s on Android), makes setting up things like the metronome much much easier

Soinds like you might have faulty pedals, my right pedal works exactly as you would expect it to, don’t have to push down hard etc. Double check cables in properly.

Looking good there, Glen.very nice.

When I depress the sustain pedal I get substantial sustain. Basically the same as holding the keys down. When the pedal is lifted, the loss of sustain is obvious.

You may wanna double check to see that cable is fully seated, if ya haven’t already. If you’re not getting sustain, maybe that pedal set is faulty.

I just checked. I get the same amount of sustain from holding a key down as I get from holding the pedal down. Which I’d guess is the way it should be.

PS.... The weight of my leg placed on the sustain pedal is enough to bottom it out.

Thanks Muskie, it seemed to me that I wasn't experiencing as much sustain from the pedal as I would get if I were to hold down a key, but I could just be mistaken due to my unfamiliarity with the instrument. I'll check it out again in the AM and report back with my findings.

This photo is now my tablet's new wallpaper... what a great looking digital piano!

FWIW --

_If_ the PX-870 is the same as the PX-350, there's a menu item in the "Other Parameters" group, called "Half Pedal Effect".

That number is the MIDI value that the damper pedal sends, when it goes through the half-pedal position.

You should be able to hear the change, if you hold the damper pedal in the "half-pedal" position, and play a note repeatedly, as you change the parameter.


I found that one half-pedal position (between "off" and "on") was enough to get good results.

If you've been used to an acoustic piano, you'll find that the Casio sound decays faster. So you'll pedal (or half-pedal) more, to compensate for that.

If it really starts to bug you, you'll be on the road to a VST which has decay times that match an acoustic piano. Pianoteq solved the problem, for me.

. . . But don't go down that path yet.

Enjoy the piano!