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Home > Synth > Keyboard And MIDI Reviews > Yamaha > CP-30

Yamaha CP-30

Summary
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Manufacturer URL http://www.yamaha.com/
Ease of Use 9.6 (20 responses)
Features 7.4 (18 responses)
Expressiveness/Sounds 7.7 (20 responses)
Reliability 9.4 (18 responses)
Customer Support 7.7 (3 responses)
Overall Rating 8.6 (19 responses)
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Page: 1 2 3 (Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 reviews per page) Showing 11 - 20 of 21 reviews
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Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $300 used
Submitted 03/14/2002 at 05:36pm by Shawn
Email: shawn at theflavor<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
It's simple, but not limited. The blending, trem, detune, eq are all very straightforward. The keys play nice.

Features : 9
The differences between the piano sounds are subtle, but if you try different combos and through in some of the harpsichord sound, it can be pretty great. The trem is great and you can choose whether or not you won't it on both banks of sounds or not. The eq is only bass and treble, but it's fine. There's outputs for each bank of sounds, and one for both together.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9
I wanted a great, warm electric piano sound, and that's what I got. With tweaking, you can get the harpsichord to sounds a bit like a clav. The blending of sounds gives you some options. It's got a sort of percussive poppy slap if you really slamm the keys, but it's kinda cool.

Reliability : 9
It's without a doubt the heaviest thing I own. I hope I never have to gig with it regularly. But that means it's solid. The thing's old and seems in good working order...

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I'm not a keyboard player by trade, but I wanted something with a good sound that played well, and like a real piano. I'm very happy with it. I've done a little recording with it, and love the sound. I've seen lesser models going for more, so I feel like I got a decent deal. I wouldn't buy one that you had to get shipped, cuz the size and weight are prohibitive.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $0 used
Submitted 02/27/2002 at 11:19am by Chad
Email: beyond_42 at hotmail<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use. Just turn it on, and push some buttons.

Features : 7
Polyphony? I don't know, but the detune is awesome. I love to play with both in tune, and then slightly detune one so that the chorus effect kicks in. A little more detuning and you get a nice mental hospital sound. The tremolo on mine doesn't work anymore. And where can I get a pedal for the tremolo?

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9
It plays wonderfully for me. The range is very good. I can sound like I'm underwater, in outer space, and anywhere in between or beyond.

Reliability : 10
As sturdy as it is, I have no worries.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I got this free, and in almost mint condition. It was used by a church, so it was well taken care of. I like to run it through a Digitech RP2000 effects processor. A must for otherworldly sounds. I can create entire universes with this combination.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $150 used
Submitted 01/30/2002 at 08:07am by nick

Ease of Use : 10
I bought it quite used, with no manual, and was playing one of the best gigs in my life not 3 days later. You simply put your fingers on the keys and it sounds phat! Plus, unlike a Rhodes or Wurlitzer, it never goes out of tune, which makes up for it being such a beast(weighing about 110 lbs).

Features : 8
This keyboard is perfect for me, as I hate MIDI, menus, and anything that gets in my way (all my keyboards are from before 1980). I love the action, the sound (smooth, warm, and quite punchy). The detunable oscillators help thicken up the sound. It gets a ten for simplicity.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9
The sound is thick and very reactional to your playing. Its great for any music, especially jazz and funk. I especially like to run it through very light fuzz, just enough that the punch gets rawnchy. I also love it through analog echo machines, like in making tripped-out dub-reggae.

Reliability : 10
This is the only one of my keyboards that's always at every show (even though my chiropractor has advised against it). Its never not made a noise it was supposed to, or vice versa.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I've owned it for 3 years, and never once had any problem with it.

Overall Rating : 10
I'll probably be playing this bad-boy until MIDI digs its clutches into my cold, dead corpse. I love how you can fit almost any other keyboard on top of it (as well as setlists, samplers, mixers; and, as my band mates were so wonderful to point out, beer bottles and ashtrays). I love that Fela Kuti is the only other person I've seen playing one. If only it would just lose about 30 lbs.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: N/A used
Submitted 10/01/2001 at 04:39pm by Michael
Email: vierra<at>ncws dot com

Ease of Use : 10
Simple, like a Rhodes

Features : No Opinion

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
I just bought a Fender PA 100 (10/01/01) to use as a pre amp for my keyboards. WOW, what a differance. The cp 30 turned from a sterile sound to a lush sounding keyboard. The piano became very expressive.
I have become used to the feel of this keyboard a have found it confortable now. The reverb on the amp made a diffrence too.

Reliability : 10
Solid

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 10
Nice addition to my Rhodes.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $0 used
Submitted 09/16/2001 at 02:53pm by scott lindsey

Ease of Use : 10

Features : 7

Expressiveness/Sounds : 4
it trys to be a fender rhodes but falls way short

Reliability : 10

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 5
it is a very solid keyboard. the keys feel great but next to a fender rhodes it merely sounds like a cheap keyboard. the things weight will break your back. really heavy. someone gave it to me. do not buy if you have a lot of gigs cuz it will break your back and the stand is really weird.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: 160.00 (Canadian) used
Submitted 09/13/2001 at 11:20am by Jean-Guy

Ease of Use : No Opinion
9. The keys on mine are great. I find that it plays easier than the rhodes. the action is bouncy and very playable by beginner and pro.

Features : No Opinion
7. It's very simple with the options of comboing various piano's and harpsichords. Also the tremolo and the tremolo pedal input prove to be really useful.

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion
7.5 Once again the tremolo is really nice and warm. when played softly it is very mellow, but when attacked has that slight distortion like the rhodes. I would say good for funk and prog rock music. But definitely not a solo instrument.

Reliability : No Opinion
10. It is indestructable. While it is really heavy it is really strong. Mine itself has taken a few spills and has been spilt on and it doesn't even flinch. Definitely quality.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion
8. It is really heavy but if I lost it. I would definitely find another one. however if that was impossible a whurly or a rhodes would definitely cover the job.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $0 used
Submitted 07/21/2001 at 05:56pm by Bart Massey
Email: bart_massey<at>iname dot com

Ease of Use : 10
All analog, and very simple. The big feature of this piano is
two independent oscillators per key, for detuning. Have schematics.
Like all analog instruments, needs to be tuned on startup.

Features : 6
Full analog polyphony at two oscillators per note: four settings
per oscillator: three filtered triangles and a square "harpsichord"
setting. Tremolo per oscillator with adjustable intensity and speed.
Decay and pitch control per oscillator. Onboard base and treble
controls. Stereo balance. Supports sustain and tremolo footswitch.
In stereo out, one oscillator per channel: sounds *great*. Velocity
sensitive weighted keys with nice dynamic range; feels a bit odd, but
quite usable.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 8
This thing has a truly unique sound: somewhere between an electric
piano and an electric organ, with a tone color all its own. Listen
to any Supertramp album: it's the electronic keyboard responsible for
their signature sound. The keyboard feel is very good once you
get used to it.

Reliability : 8
If I had one in good condition, I would definitely trust it implicitly.
Mine is suffering after 15+ years: a couple of the oscillators have
developed bad noise, and the main amplifier seems to have some bad
pops in it. Physically, it's a tank (both by weight and sturdiness).

Customer Support : No Opinion
I have no idea. It was a gift from a friend who wanted it out of
his house many years ago.

Overall Rating : 9
I'm thinking about whether to keep this, because it's going to be
expensive to get reconditioned and I don't have time to do it myself.
If I regularly recorded or played gigs, I think I'd have one around:
there are some really unique things it can do, and it's good nostalgic
fun.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $200.00 used
Submitted 04/30/2001 at 09:12pm by Michael Vierra

Ease of Use : 10
Very nice.

Features : 5
The action is a bit hard on mine but livable.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 8
I love the simplicity.
It is pretty expressive for such an old thang.

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
It was worth the purshase


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 04/08/2001 at 12:16am by mick

Ease of Use : 4

Features : 8
good, old, and very nice action

Expressiveness/Sounds : 4
beautifully cheesy, but gets nice late 70s melloe sound from piano one and two on both channels. Also, try to dutune one channel slightly, creating a chorus effect.Also have a listen to the intro to the Doobies "you keep me runnin"----cp-30, i think so

Reliability : 10
very tough, nice mactac, i love it!!!!

Customer Support : 10
i couldnt see this thing needing repair.

Overall Rating : 10
hooked up to my amp, aaalllmmoossst sounds like a hammond in the mid bass register. Have a boss distortion to one output and a chorus to other, This makes a nice leslie effect between the two, if the channels are balanced right, the distortion has to be non sensetive and you have to have a two channel amp.


Product: Yamaha CP-30
Price Paid: US $400, a litlle too much.
Submitted 02/22/2001 at 06:20am by Timo Lemmetti
Email: timo dot lemmetti<at>greypro dot fi

Ease of Use : 9
It's an electronic piano so it's very easy to use. All you need is an amplifier or you can even plug it in your home stereo. Weights about 40kg and it feels even heavier. Can't carry it on own.

Features : 7
These were made 1979-198?, I think. It has 88 keys with hammeraction. Allthough hammers hit electronic circuits instead of strings. It has 8 layers of sounds, 4 for each channel. Tremolo effect, decay and bass/treble. No midi.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 7
Sound hmmm... I think with right kind of amplifier it could be very suitable for rock, pop and funk bands. As a solo intsument it's a little poor. The sound is more like Wurlitzer than Rhodes. At bottom register it's kinda organlike. Middleregister is the best. It's soft and warm when played carefully and attacky and funky when played hard. If you overdrive with your amplifier it's even better. Upperregister is a problem. Sound is very weak and it has no color. Also it's hard to get the whole register balanced cause the bottom's very powerfull and upper is not. Try to do the beginning of "Riders on the storm"! It's impossible. I found also hard to fit with my other intruments like organs and synths. Like it was always out tune. Weird. But comping with guitars, that's what I liked!

Reliability : 10
I could depend on this. It has a good vinyl case wich transforms to it's legs. No tuning just keep the dust out it's inside and there are no problems.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Don't have the expierence but I can imagine that it would not be easy to get the help from Yamaha.

Overall Rating : 7
I just sold it and will not get it back. But it is just beacause it did'nt fill my needs and took too much room in my small aparment. If I playd in a band I would probably try get a Wurli or Rhodes instead of this one. But still, it's kinda funny and believe that someone could be happy with this.

Page: 1 2 3 (Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 reviews per page) Showing 11 - 20 of 21 reviews

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