Kustom K88

It is very easy to operate

Very sparse features, but what it has is good. It has real wood keys and a real piano feel. The built in case is great and it has good heavy hardware and pedal. It was designed to be used by touring musicians. The trewmolo is good as is the tone control. Don't care for the plastic slider controls as they are fragile.

As a stand alone unit it sounds ok, add digital reverb, maybe a chorus and an eq and it is great. The tone is fat and easy to manipulate with effects. The touch sensative keys are real good.
Only one sound, but well thought out.

No worries here as it is very rugged, all but the slider controls.

Not available

I use it in the studio all the time, the more I use it the more I like it. It is great for solo or accompaniment. I would definitely buy another if mine were stolen. BUT if you are not into analog sounds, then you will not like this keyboard. If you like analog sounds, then you will be ok with it. It does not have memorable sounds like a Rhodes, but thats the point, it doesn't "color" my recordings real hard with a certain vintage sound. It has a middle of the road sound. Some who hear my recordings think they are listening to an acoustic piano, others think it is a good analog piano, still others think it is a modern digital. What I am trying to say is that its one sound is very easy to work with, and when matched with modern digital effects, creates almost any piano sound I could ever want. The main reason this piano was not a sales success is it was introduced at the beginning of the digital craze and all things analog were relegated to the junk heap of obsolete designs. I love mine.

Electronic Piano from early 80s that never goes out of tune. One sound but effective. Includes bass, treble, and tremolo controls. Tone and tremolo controls are switchable via lighted pushbuttons.

It was built in the early 80s so there's nothing here beyond tone controls and tremolo. No MIDI, sorry. The keyboard is a weighted action made by Baldwin pianos and it feels like the real thing.

There's only one piano sound. The piano sound is "tubby" and it worked really well with a guitar band. Much better than the Rhodes piano I used to have, that could never cut through guitars. Compared to today's ROMpler pianos the K-88 is badly outdated. What is surprising is the piano-like timbre for the time (1980), it was a TOS design (never goes out of tune) but not only did it have the usual 12-tone dividers, it divided into untempered harmonics. These harmonics were strategically summed at different keys to get the piano timbre. At the time every other electronic piano sounded electronic, but the K-88 sounded quite natural. They even left the top 21 notes undamped, just like a real piano does.

The overall sound is muddy and begs for EQ. I used a Moog parametric EQ on it to great success, sorry I don't know the settings that was a long time ago. The stock K-88 piano sound is static, it sounds a lot better with slight phase or chorus. I put it through a Leslie 760 rotaining cabinet and that was sweet.

It never broke even with heavy gigging, although the silver keyboard contacts had deformed and oxidized over time. The contacts are fine springs which tend to stretch out and mistrigger so be careful when buying one.

Before I sold my K-88 I replaced all the contacts and it worked a lot better. Kustom still had the contacts in stock but that was back in 1990, so I don't know if they still have parts.

If you want an 88-key electronic piano with weighted action, a headphone jack and you're not going to cart the thing or use it for MIDI, the K-88 is a good fit especially at today's prices of $150. I paid $350 for mine back in 1983. It does weigh 150 lbs and is a real bear to carry, today's electronic pianos are much more reasonable. It would be perfect for an apartment or a cocktail club, plus it never goes out of tune.

The K-88 comes in its own flight case, the lid becomes the stand and the support legs and large handscrews bolt to the lid wso they can't be misplaced. Definitely a two person job for setting up and it is real solid, you can bang on the thing like Jerry Lee Lewis. This is one of the few pianos that don't bounce when you slam the thing. The top of the piano is a large flat surface and is perfect for stacking other keyboards or a recorder. Every piano player that tried my K-88 loved the piano feel.

Going from the Rhodes to the K-88 was a joy, especially with that lovely Baldwin keyset, it feels just like a piano. I replaced it with a Kurzweil MIDIBoard and ROMplers for obvious reasons. The K-88 is a good electronic piano, but there are not too many places for it today. Unlike a Wurlitzer or Rhodes piano, it doesn't have a unique voice that people desire and pay more $$$ for.