Yamaha P120

Yes, that's right. I paid $750 for the P120 new about one year ago but I get special pricing and that price is also WITHOUT a trade in. You should be able to buy it new for $900 (if you have a great relationship with a retailer and can dicker) to $1100 if you just ask, "What's the best you can do on the price?"

I'm a punch and play kind of guy. If I have to fuss with knobs or buttons much, the keyboard is useless to me. If you can push a button you can get a sound. I use only four voice settings and their variations.

The Pianos are stunning, I usually use Grand Piano 2 because it cuts through the mix and is a little bright like an upright piano and is excellent for The Blues I play. Reverb set to Hall 2 and Effect to Delay.

Electric Piano 2 - Great Wurly and Rhodes sounds. I prefer to use the Variation button with this setting with Reverb to Hall 2 and Effect to Tremolo.

Electric Clavichord - I use the variation with this Clavinet, also. I didn't think I would use it much when I bought it but it does have its place. Very funky and great in a band setting. Reverb at Hall 2 and Effect at Phaser.

Jazz Organ - OK, it isn't a B3 but it does have a place. Using Jazz Organ and the Variation button you will get "The Leslie" to speed up and slow down without changing the tone. This is very important because on most boards like the Roland RD 170 it does change the tone and is useless. From the bass up to about an octave and a half above middle C is a good range for the B3 sound. Get much higher than that and it isn't a very realistic tone. Set Reverb to Hall 2 and Effect to Delay and you will even get the B3 key click.

For the best dynamics in playing set the Touch to Hard.

There is one drawback to Yamaha and that is the settings are not stored when you turn the keyboard off. It would be nice if it did that but I can setup the voicing, reverbs and effects I use on the P120 in less than a minute. It would also be great if the Yamaha had Stretch tuning like Rolands for solo playing in tune from the lowest to the highest notes.

Much of this has been covered. Polyphony is great with no loss of notes and I use a lot of sustain pedal, trills, slides up and down the keyboard (when appropriate) and octave and intricate bass patterns.

I love the keyboard action. Not quite like a grand or upright but similar and the best and most realistic piano action available on a piano with a plug.

The sequencer is very good and I have yet to run out of notes while using it. I only use it to hear how I sound and how a song is coming along. Very easy to use.

I play and sing The Blues and the P120 fits the bill perfectly for me with my settings as listed above. I play solo and with two Blues bands.

I have had friends play Rock and Classical on it and they love my P120, too.

Velocity and Aftertouch? Play it like a piano and the P120 does what it is supposed to do.

Onboard effects are excellent!

Reliability and can I depend on it? I live off of it. I gig sometimes up to seven days a week and sometimes twice a day. I am a simple man and I use the P120 without a backup and without any other keyboards.

I have never dealt with Yamaha. I haven't needed to. I have used Yamahas for over 15 years and NEVER had a problem with them. If I did, I would shoot it to put it out of its misery and buy another one.

Yes, I would buy the P120 again. Last time around I couldn't decide between the P90 and P120. I'm glad I went with the P120 because I forgot how nice it was to have built in speakers for use in hotel rooms and quiet practice playing.

I have been playing over 45 years and I'm 53. I have owned a lot of keyboards over the years. From old Wurlys, Rhodes, Vox Continental, Kurzweil, Ensoniq, Roland, Korg but I have been playing Yamahas for at least the past 15 years.

I make my living from playing and singing The Blues. This piano has everything I need and then some fluff that others might find useful.

When I started playing Yamahas the lineage I have owned has been a Clavinova (chopped without the stand), a P80 and now the P120.

Last time around I compared it to Roland's RD700 and RD170. I also bought the RD170 and kept it for about three months as a backup and practice piano because the P120 stays in the van between most gigs. I sold the Roland because I just didn't like the action or piano sounds.

The two Roland features I liked were Stretch tuning and memory for the settings but I can live without it.

I usually use the house or festival PA but I also own and play it through a Crown amp, Mackie mixer and Yamaha speakers.

Just turn on the power, and switch it on. Some other features can be a little tedious to get to, but if you just want to play - Its Perfect.

With a 64 note polyphony, intricate classical pieces won't be cut off. The keyboard action is the best i have tried. The effects are nice too. It also has an on board sequencer (not that i've ever used it before).

The Grand Piano Patch#1 is simply amazing, and blows away everything in the price range. The other Grand Piano Patches are also beautiful. The Rhodes on this board are the best i have heard in any stage piano - period. The string patch is also desirable.

I have had mine for 6 months, and have run into no trouble what so ever. I would definately use it at a gig without backup.

Never had to use it.

I would buy this board over any other stage piano. It looks beautiful (I have the Black and Mahogany Wood style). I have been playing it for 6 months. I compared this board to the Roland RD-170 and the Kawai ES3, the Yamaha P120 was much better in just about all areas. I chose the P120 because of the Piano sound mainly, and it also looked stylish. Sometimes i wish it had more powerful speakers, but that doesn't matter anyway, just play it through an Amp, Headphones or a PA system and you get the desired result.
You won't regret buying the Yamaha P120!

Pretty easy, as long as you have half a brain and can read. Clearly a big LCD would have jacked the price up by at least #100, plus in the long run they wear out. Can be a bit frustrating having to go through all the menus, but you'll live.

You can change the sound to any specific taste, it basically has everything you'll need.

Most authentic piano sound i've heard from a digital piano. Its simply the best.

Its lasted for 1.5 years now, without anything (and i mean anything) gone wrong. so far its been perfect, and i travel a lot too.

Never needed to use it!

I'd recommend it to anyone. sounds and feels like a proper piano, and with a good speaker system, sounds like a quality grand.

the ease of use is more like this way: u press power and u can play. its as easy as that. since u cant go easier then this i rate it 10

ok polyfony = 64 - good to handle all those difficult classical things. the keyboard action is the best avaliable. its like a real piano: if u can play this, u can play piano its as good as that.

ok the sounds: the pianos sounds astonishing. i dont think there is anything for this price with such good piano samples. it works well for classical pieces, piano 2 for rock music.

o would use it on a gig. it does everything u want a stagepiano to do. and u can trust it.

yes.. I will buy it again. it helps me making music!

Ridiculously easy to use (for the basics). More complex features require more complex button pressing. Its a stage piano, and everything is geared towards that function, as it should be.

This is the best keyboard action I have had available to me.Price is not the issue, it is better than cheaper and more expensive models. I was given an unlimited budget recently and still chose this (for the second time). Nothing equals a good grand yet but this is the closest there is. Incidentally, it is far superior to many inferior acoustics. As has been said, it is an improvement on the P80 which I used to enjoy. It has addressed the crucial touch to response issue that was somewhat dull in the P80.

Excellent sounds. Choose your weapon carefully. Default sound is a great solo instrument but the second piano cuts much better in the mix. The other sounds can be handy, let's not write them off as useless. Outstanding harpsichord, though hellishly difficult to articulate with normal touch.

Its lasted a year so far and counting. Nobody likes "wall warts": someone in Japan thinks these are a great idea. Experience tells me this is the first thing to break down. PS Does anyone own any of these boards long enough to really know its true reliability? And who has the patience or inclination to carry a "backup" to gigs. The wall wart on my P80 gave in on a gig some time ago. I kicked it many times (yes, really!) and eventually it resucitated and lasted the night.

Its probably a call centre with three staff, one of whom is an expert, the others having no clue. I would love a call centre manned by professional P120 users. hmm

I always look for reviews written by pros. So, if you're interested, I am one who is well used (concerts, broadcasts, royal events etc). I have spent much time ensuring my equipment is the best available. Yamaha P120, Roland synth, Oberheim/Viscount Hammond and Roland amp. End of story.

Very easy to use, power on and play!!


The only thing that is less user-friendly is the internal settings (MIDI, pedal settings...), but that's not settings you change frequently.

I use it with MIDI system and is very effective.

The primary reason I bought this piano is that I wanted a light-weight piano, realistic touch, and built-in speaker, nothing more. There extras are only extra values for me (onboard 2-track sequencing, some more or less useful patches, 50-classical-pieces piano demo)...

People would say that there is not enough patch, not enough controllers, etc.... But here what I would say: this is primilary a piano and not a workstation nor a synthesizer.

In this unit, you've got a real-action hammer piano, the very best I know so far.

The piano is very realistic (knowing that you can't have a gigabyte of sampling). There's 2 classical pianos, 1 pop-piano, one honky-tonk (however sounds just like a chorused-piano).
A 80's pop eletric piano sound (would be useful if we were in the 80's). Very good Rhode-like piano.

You don't have any controllers (mod wheel, pitch...) but I never saw an acoustic piano with that neither. 8)

You can gig easily with this piano with its onboard sounds (not so bad rock organ, soft strings, vibes...)

You can split and use a bass for the left hand and piano right hand (or any other combination).

There's no aftertouch. You have 4 velocity curves (fix, hard, medium, soft).

Build solid, made for gigs or home playing.

Never dealt with customer support. Probably because of a very good product!

If it were lost, I'll have another P-120 (hoping insurance would pay me that one!!)

The p120 is so easy to use. The user interface is excellent.

This piano is amazing. It has 64 notes of polyphony. The key action is superb! It feels just like a piano. The action is smooth and connects to the sounds perfectly.

Absolutely Superb. The pianos are superb! They are 3 layer piano sounds, with sustain, key off, string resonance, and soundboard modelling. They sound just like a real piano. All of the other voices are superb too, especially the electric pianos.

The onboard Effects are great. The phaser effect for the EP's are great.

Extremely Reliable

Never had to deal with customer support, but im sure they're excellent.

If this was stolen, I would buy another p120 right away. This is a superb product and I love it! I tried out the p250, p200, and p90 and I didnt like them at all. Then I tried the p120 and I fell in love. Yamaha, thank you for the p120! It is a superb product!!!

This stage piano is very easy to use. The buttons are well lit and marked. The display screen is excellent!

This piano is excellent! The polyphony is 64, which is excellent. The keyboard action is absolutely amazing! The GH weighted action keyboard is superb. I can not tell the difference between a real piano and this! The effects are excellent and it has an onboard sequencer.

The sounds on this piano are AMAZING! The pianos are excellent. I can not tell the difference between a real piano and this. Believe me, I have been playing piano and I am classically trained. The EP's are also superb and all the other voices are absolutely amazing! It works excellent to the touch and aftertouch/initial touch. Great sounds! Best there is out there.

This piano is very dependable. I would use this on a gig without backup. It is built excellent.

I have never had to deal with Customer Support. There site is very good with lots of info, though.

This is a superb stage piano. If this was stolen, I would go get another one of these. The sounds are absolutly the best and the GH feel is outstanding! This beats all the other products out there. If you buy this, you will not regret your purchase. AWESOME JOB, YAMAHA!

Very easy, unless you want, say, a CP70 or Farfisa sound.

It's all good, and the feel of the keys is fantastic.

I have to add my two cents, after reading the review below. Couldn't agree more about the sounds. All gigging musicians need are keyboard sounds! Don't need cutsey choirs, don't need drums, don't need guitars...none of that crap. I DO need a CP70 sound, a Yamaha sound for chrissakes, and it's not here. Yamaha: make us a stage piano that's compact and lightweight like this one (with speakers) or the P90 (without speakers), put your great keys on it, keep your professional looks and styling, BUT FILL IT WITH KEYBOARD SOUNDS! Leave the General MIDI crap in the keyboards you market to home users! PLEASE! I'll buy two of them!

Don't know yet, of course.

So so. They're a big corporation, and they don't really have time for their customers. Not nearly as bad as Roland, though.

Ditto the review below this one. Yamaha makes the best stuff. I like Roland synthesizers OK, but they play up the "groove" hype WAY too much. And I'm not into cute, flashing lights. Korg stuff sounds just OK, and their keyboard actions are unplayable. I'd like this one better without the faux wood crap, but at least it's not silver with pink blinking lights.

But it's all about the sound, isn't it. Or at least it would be, if the decent sounds were here and the stupid drums were gone. I wish manufacturers would take a hint from Clavia: make a keyboard with good keyboard sounds in it, and NOTHING ELSE! Give the other sounds to people who will appreciate them, and don't inflict them on professional keyboard players. (Don't model Clavia's aesthetics, though! Red might be good for Shonen Knife cover bands or Derek Whatshisname, but not for the rest of us.)

I think if it had a pitch and mod wheels and a power cord jack instead of a goofy wall wart and a CP70 piano sound this would be perfect product. When are manufacturers gonna get it right? The P120 was close but not it. All people want for a stage piano is great Piano sound, great CP70 piano sound, great Rhodes sound, great Wurlitzer sound, great Clav sound and maybe a Roland MKS20 piano sound for the 80's stage piano sound and that's about it. I really like the on board effects. Guitar, Bass, Drums, Strings and Choir sounds even Vibraphone are silly on a Stage Piano and are a waste of ROM space that should be used for the above mentioned sounds. Maybe if they did have to add aditional sounds it should be a Tron String, Flute and Choir but not guitar, bass or any other sound like that. The UI is very simple and user friendly which makes it ideal as a stage piano for live performance.

Here's the real LOW DOWN in my opinion on manufacturers:
Korg- Better construction than the Kurzweil but not as good as Yamaha. Korg has a muddy lame sound due to their quality of their samples are low and Korg is nothing with out their effects engine. Try bypassing the effects section on a Triton or a Korg Stage Piano and you will see what I mean. Korg is all about their effects engine and it fools many people in the music stores into thinking it is a great product but when they play live with a band , it sounds muddy and cheap. Cheesy Fatar style keyboard action too.
Kurzweil- WAAY over rated by V.A.S.T. nerds. Why? because they have to justify why they spent so much money for such a big piece of crap. Cheap flimsy construction, cheesy Fatar style keyboard action, too many unnecessary bells and whistles, too dependent on the effects engine. Again bypass the effects on a Kurzweil just like the Korg and you will be in for a big surprise.
Roland- a little better construction than a Korg or Kurz but not as good as a Yamaha. Keyboard action still feels a little worse than the Yamaha. Roland products have always been very slanted towards LA Studio use- which I kind of don't like. Their marketing scheme is similar to Korg's. Although their stuff is not as dependent on the effects engine they still horseshoe EQ the hell out of everything to make it sound synthetic. They boost the treble and bass which again impresses people in the music store but in a live situation sounds like ass. Roland has a plastic Japanese like sound and focuses on drums and other silly shit that I'm not looking for on a stage piano. How bout leaving that stuff to workstations huh Roland? Also Rolands User Interface is totally offensive to professionals. Everything Roland makes now looks like "Johnny's first keyboard" all disco ghetto tronic with all their cheesy pink flashing lights and crap it looks totally slanted towards rookies and the novice "groove" market- whatever the hell that is. Even their most expensive so called top of the line stuff still has a very novice beginner vibe.
E-mu- was cool in the 80's
Kawai- I wouldn't rely on one with all the recalls-
Alesis- totally cheap and unreliable
Yamaha- the best construction, least amount of unneccessary bullshit, the best feeling keyboard, the least hyped up, the TRUE WORKHORSE for PROFESSIONALS.
That's why true pros use the P200 or P250 or the P120. I love Yamaha. I have owned every keyboard on the planet at one time or another and I am a professional touring musician and I now only rely on MOOG and YAMAHA and that's it because those two companies are the only ones making decently built products that are actually made by musicians for musicians designed with functionality and quality in mind at all times not silly marketing gimics. I laugh at all those Korg Triton/Roland Groove box idiots- what a pile of junk for people who don't know any better. All the fools that have been victimize

It's a Yamaha- should be the best.

There's actually real live people at Yamaha unlike weird Japanese droids over at Roland and crazy hot headed fools over at Kurzweil more interested in promoting their V.A.S.T. cult and rituals.