Yamaha CP300 Stage Piano

Other than being well-priced, right from the start I was never a fan of Yamaha acoustic pianos. Thus back in the 1980s it came as no surprise when their digital instruments failed to impress me. In my opinion Yamaha pianos sounded too 'wooden 'at the top end. They had none of the 'singing' tones common to European pianos like Bl thner, B sendorfer or Bechstein.

However, after moving into an apartment in 1996 I was obliged to get a piano that took cans and chose a Technics PR900, which in my view was the nearest thing to an acoustic piano. It sounded like some of the best German pianos I had played.

Nevertheless, early incarnations of this model had a very annoying background 'static', only noticeable when the piano was silent. By 1998 this static had been fixed by Technics. But in 1996 it was driving me so crazy that I sent the PR900 back to the store and got a Yamaha P-150 instead. Although this one didn't sound as good as the PR900 it only made the sounds it was supposed to make. Accordingly I lived with it for 12 years until, last June, a well-known firm of house movers damaged it beyond repair.

As a result I now have a Yamaha CP300 and am, on the whole, delighted.

I am pleased because, while still not a patch on the Technics PR900, the CP300 'sings' a lot more than previous Yamaha pianos. And, of course, being a Yamaha, it is very well-mannered. There are no strange electrical noises to worry about. CP300 is also a fine MIDI/XG tone generator and much more capable than the P-150. The only major gripe I have is that CP300 does not come supplied with a music rest. You have to purchase that as 'an accessory' for about £30. As you'd expect, none of the music stores I tried had one in stock. It had to be ordered direct from Yamaha.

On the plus side, CP300 does have a detachable power lead and a panel lock. Very often when thrashing the P-150 you could easily hit one of the buttons and the settings would change. But not any more.

Other things I like about CP300 are: balanced XLR outputs; the half-damping feature; comprehensive mono-jack ins/outs and connections for other types of effects pedals; the built-in amplification, not common on this style of piano; the adjustable action; and the ability to connect to a computer using USB, which allows using CP300 as a multi-timbral tone generator.

Consequently, for people like me who live in an apartment and don't have room or the pockets for a boudoir grand acoustic piano by one of the German manufacturers cited above I would say that CP300 at around £1500 is probably the best compromise. In fact, I was so confident that CP300 would suit me that I didn't even bother playing it before buying it. Later, when the instrument arrived, I was not disappointed in any way.

Just bear in mind that, apart from a music rest for CP300, unless you have one, a suitably robust stand will be required on which to sit the instrument. I use a Quicklok 'X 'type stand. But Yamaha does a special stand costing about £150 also available as 'an accessory.'