Piano & Keyboards

Portable keyboards against 88-key digital pianos:

the first has 61 light keys, hundreds of sounds and built-in rhythms, and Casio’s CT-S line or Yamaha’s PSR-E line is where most people start. Arranger keyboards such as Korg’s Pa series or Yamaha’s PSR-SX add full accompaniment styles that follow the left hand, which is why the one-person band at a wedding or a turno carries one. A digital piano trades all that for 88 weighted keys and a handful of good piano sounds and comes as a slim slab on a stand or a furniture-style cabinet. An acoustic upright or grand has strings, hammers and a soundboard, and needs a tuner rather than a socket. A MIDI controller makes no sound of its own and sits more naturally with DJ equipment. Families choosing a first instrument sometimes weigh a keyboard against a nylon-string classical from guitars.

Hammer-action keys for a child in piano lessons:

the key action decides more purchases than the sound does. Hammer-action keys are heavier in the bass and lighter in the treble, as on an acoustic, and they build the finger strength a teacher expects. Children who start piano through the UCR’s Etapa Básica de Música, which takes pupils from age seven at sites such as the Turrialba campus, are soon asked to practise on 88 weighted keys, so a 61-key keyboard only works as a stopgap. For chords and pop songs 61 keys are plenty, but make sure they are touch-sensitive, because the cheapest models play every note at the same volume.

Budget 88-key brands and the Yamaha or Kawai premium:

a new touch-sensitive 61-key Casio is around ₡175,000, and weighted 88-key pianos start near ₡260,000, but at that end of the shelf the names are Artesia, Aierke or Cademe rather than Yamaha, Casio Privia, Roland or Kawai. People shopping for a used digital piano search by brand, so a Yamaha or a Roland finds a buyer quickly and holds its value, while a budget brand competes head-on with its own new price. A used 61-key keyboard moves only when it clearly undercuts a new one, because a new one is cheap and easy to find.

Testing a second-hand keyboard key by key:

play every note, softly and then hard. On a digital, a key that fires at full volume however gently you press it, or stays silent, usually means a worn or dirty rubber contact strip; it can be cleaned or replaced, but price it in. Plug in headphones to check the speakers cut out, and turn the volume up to listen for buzzing. Ask for the original power adapter, since a mismatched one can damage the board. On an acoustic, look for cracks in the soundboard, moth-eaten hammer felts and rusty strings A piano left untuned for years may need its pitch raised before a tuning holds; loose tuning pins mean it never will. For a serious acoustic, pay a piano technician to look before you pay the seller.

What a keyboard buyer asks before driving over:

the brand and the full model number, first of all, because people search for “PSR-E383” or “Privia”, not “keyboard”. Say how many keys it has and whether they are weighted, and list what comes with it: adapter, pedal, stand, bench, case. Photograph the whole keyboard from above, the back panel and any scratches in daylight, and mention dead or noisy keys up front. When the piano belonged to a child who has stopped lessons, it is often barely used and complete, and saying so in the title helps. For an acoustic, give the brand, serial number and height, the date of the last tuning and the floor it is on: whoever takes an upright from a second-floor apartment in Escazú has to arrive with enough people to carry it down the stairs.