Hi,

Does anyone have any suggestions as to possible places/companies that would be able to locate a Yamaha CP70B piano for sale in the UK? I keep checking eBay but they rarely appear on there (hence mad frenzied snipe bidding when they do!). I'd really love to get my hands on a good condition model, but don't really know where to even start looking... a quick web search has revealed absolutely nothing.

Where do you look if you're after vintage electric pianos/synths? Scotland would be ideal, but I suspect it'll be London or the south that is the answer...

Alternatively, if you've got a CP70B you'd be willing to part with, get in touch...

Cheers,
Mart.

Synth Service Centre in London may well have something like this, or know a man who does.
0208-961-7890 (usual disclaimer)

Dave.

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Lots of Ataris which keep on going, 12 Kurzweil 1000 modules, a bunch of hardware synths. Still recording to tape -the old ways are best.....

RL Music are good at sourcing gear on request.

James Walker at Synth Repair Services also gets clients' gear in, and sometimes they are for sale, and as he predominantly deals with 'older' gear he could point you in the right direction.

The odd studio clear out also helps and Malcolm Jackson's list can be helpful although it deals mainly with outboard, mixers etc. Not cheap but an email to him might also help.

There is also Vemia , a kind of ebay for musos. They always have synths etc in their listings.

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Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

Thanks for those suggestions guys! I've fired off a couple of e-mails asking for information, will see if anything comes back. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know!

An update - of the answers I got back, nobody really had any suggestions other than eBay or the SOS reader ads (I've had one there for a little while now). Really are proving to be a bit like golddust!

I noticed that there's a CP80 listed on eBay at the moment - however, being that its London-based and I'm Scotland-based (and don't drive) it looks like its going to be a non-starter. The size and weight (the piano is heavy enough to begin with, but comes with flightcases too!) will just make any form of shipping completely prohibitive.

Any suggestions on shipping methods that won't be completely ludicrously priced?

Unless you've lifted one yourself, misunderstanding the exact costs of moving a CP70/80 from A to B is easy.

They are not light. You're talking about 100Kg.
Each section is bulky and heavy enough to require it to be a two-person lift.

You can't get one in the back of a Golf, so hiring a van is pretty much a given (once, I managed to get my 80M into Hyundai Pony. Had to move the front seats forward. Driving was interesting, as I had the steering wheel virtually in my mouth!!!!).

I sold my 80M to a guy from Newcastle who turned up in a Merc estate. It only just went in. God knows how he got it out after the 200 mile return trip!

The 'ludicrous' transportation cost probably allows for a van, diesel, two people, time and a slight chunk of profit to offset the eBay costs (come on, we all do it, don't we?).

Try talking to the seller to see if there are alternatives that you can both live with.
Alternatively, get a quote from DHL and/or UPS for pickup and delivery of two large and bulky items weighing 50Kg each.

HTH.

Stu.

P.S. There's no mention of a PSU in the eBay ad. You might want to check that Yamaha still have them available. That'll probably set you back £100. I paid £80 for one for my 80M about 10 years ago.

Mart,

If you REALLY want a CP, I'm afraid you're gonna just have to bite the bullet and expect transportation to be almost as hefty as the piano itself - as mpostor points out, even when disassembled, they are still big and heavy and awkward and require at least two strong people to lift and preferably a trolley to move it any distance. Those flightcases are only going to compound the problem (but will protect it in transit).

I had a CP70B and it took two of us to get it in and it nearly killed us. And God help you if stairs are involved!! It was delivered by a courier company used to moving all sorts of stuff around and it nearly killed the two poor buggers getting it out of the truck! When I sold it, the guy brought a Landrover to take it away!

That particular CP looks good. Condition seems ok and you're unlikely to find many CPs up for grabs these days. The band Keane use a CP70 prominently and they had trouble sourcing a spare even with their resources. They now use samples as a backup/alternative.

CPs require real committment. They are physically quite large as well so require a fair bit of space. You are also going to have to find a tuner who can cope with them - not all standard piano tuners know how to tune them because of the differences in the strings (apparently they can't be tuned like an ordinary piano). You have to also consider things like replacement strings - I don't know if they're still available now. If they are, I doubt you can replace just one or two dodgy strings - it might require you to change them all. Then there are things like tuning pegs and how well it retains the tuning especially at the age they're at now. And you ARE going to have to make a trip to see and try the one on offer - you can't just buy it on spec coz you could be buying a 40-year-old lemon! In other words, you can't just 'fancy' getting a CP!

As attractive the real thing might be, there are plenty of alternatives available today unless you REALLY must have the real thing ... which I can understand.

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Hi Mart,

I got my pride and joy - a CP-80 - after placing an add in the wanted section of the SOS website. Turns out the chap that was selling it didn't want the hassle of advertising and would check the wanted adds every so often. He was based about 5 miles away from me and actually ended up delivering the piano in his truck for me. He gave it a service and it was in excellent condition.

Yamaha still maintain a comprehensive spares list, but they charge a lot. You can buy strings for around £40 each. Some people argue that the original yamaha strings are the only ones that sound 'right' - certainly you can't just stick a conventional piano string in and get 'that' sound. However, I found a good tuner and he has his own string maker. I get new strings for around £10 each - which is good as I break about one a month. I gig with the piano 4 or 5 times a month (though several of those are at one location - which makes transportation easier). The problem with CPs is when you start to rock out you can really hit the keys... and then you lose a string.

There are lots of people watching ebay pretty closely for CPs - I heard that Keane were purchasing as many as they could - I believe they have 10 or more in different states of repair in different parts of the world now - but I might be wrong.

Good luck!

Matt

Quote:

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And God help you if stairs are involved!!

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Ah, it's all coming back. Got my 80M from a guy in a second floor flat in Soho. Wouldn't recommend stairs.

Tuning.

Indeed. At a push, you can plug a CP into a guitar tuner and get a string in tune. Don't do the whole piano that way otherwise you'll find out that 4ths and 5ths and even octaves sound odd. Get the A at 440 and work hamonically from there. Takes a while but can be worth it.
I bought a tuning wrench (or whatever the real name is) from a local piano dealer.
Getting an out of tune key in tune is easy enough. Just find the string that's out and tune it back. Then ensure that the other string is the same. This involves listening carefully to the 'beating' of the strings. When the 'beating' stops, they're in tune.

TIP 1 - Although the lid is flat, don't put anything on top. When the need to tune a key arises (and it will), it's a pain to have to move things around.

TIP 2 - For some reason Yamaha secured the lid using 5 screws. This is a pain when it comes to getting to the strings and tuning pegs. Remove the four screws at the sides and leave only the one in the middle at the front. The lid can still be screwed shut, but it will now only need one screw removing in order to gain access. Keep the other screws handy, in case you sell it or go on the road...


Speaking of which, if you're going to do that, make sure you have roadies with health insurance, or do what I did and get a Nord Electro and leave the black beauty at home or in the studio. All the sound (did the A B test and it was very, very close) and none of the weight. You can pick it up with one hand!

Or there's always the Kurzweil PC2X with the Classic Keys ROM board. Check out the samples at http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com/Product.php?product=45

I think Gabriels Melt is the one you'd be after, although the untreated CP80 sound is there as well.


I sold my 80M through choice (the wife told me to choose a room with a piano in it or a room that could be used as a studio). If I had the room I would consider buying another one, but not at the over-inflated prices they are going for now.

I'd rather get the Kurzweil and keep the space (and the happy wife!).

Stu.

P.S. There's one in the SOS ads at the moment. Keighly isn't too far from you is it? Not compared to London, anyway...

Thanks for those responses there guys! To be fair to the seller of the CP80 currently on eBay, he had put it down as "pick up only" because of the bulk and weight (similar to just about every other one that would appear). I'd asked him if he'd be willing to have it shipped if I took responsibility for organizing and paying for the shipping, which he would be fine about. However, I've done some digging and its likely going to cost somewhere in the region of £260 with DHL Freight on 2-3 day transit service... not cheap, but as was mentioned, I think I'd underestimated quite how bulky and difficult these beasts would be to transport!

I'll probably have 2 options - just wait for one to come up in Scotland again and get help from a friend who can hire a van for a day, or be prepared to pay minimum of £250 for shipping (and that will only be practical if flightcases are supplied).

Need to wait and see what happens with this one I guess! I've got a couple of sample sets of the CP70/CP80 (most recently the Prominy PCP-80 one) but while they are good, it still doesn't quite sound to cut the mustard. I'm probably being overly picky though... You're definitely right about Keane buying up CP70s though - I know that they definitely have 10, split across the UK and US, some for live work, some for studio work only and a couple of beaten-up ones for spares.

Anyway, I'll keep my eyes out and see what happens. Cheers!

Erm - confession time... if it was the CP70B that was on ebay at the end of Feb, then I might have been the last minute bidder... But that's how ebay works isn't it?

To sweep up some of the general comments and questions::
1) we did the drive to scotland to pick it up
2) it fits in the back of a Seat Ibiza
3) it is (just) possible for bloke + missus to shift upstairs. Neither of us is a powerlifter - or rather, we are now
4) my regular piano tuner didn't have a problem tuning it - but he services and owns rhodes, a whurly and hammond a100
5) and yes - it probably was silly money, but it is in good condition, the touch is great, and I prefer playing it to my other pianos. But that might be the "scalextric effect" - toys at christmas.

If anyone has any questions, ask away. Cheers, Matt

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Hammond M162, XM1. Yahama CP70B, PF2000, P200, P50m, QY100. Roland RD1000, JV1010. Alesis SR16.

Hi, I'm thinking of selling my Yamaha CP-70B. If you'd like to give me your private e-mail address I'll contact you.
Cheers, Dave.

if you're working in software, you might like the modelled CP70 vsti here...
http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=31
Not my cup of tea, but a lot of KVR regulars like it.

Jim

I'm not the seller, and as previously posted, I've got a 70B - so no link other than an interested observer - but there's an uptogether-looking CP80 on ebay at the moment... (27th Jan, 5days to go, 7bidders, £500)

If you have something to advertise then use the Readers Ads. We do not allow advertising within these forums as you well know.

Zukan
Sos Mod dude - without a doubt the best looking geeza in these forums bar Martin

Edited by Zukan (06/09/10 08:21 AM)

I know this is old but there is one on ebay now if anybody is interested.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130428402331& ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

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Jonny

And I see Zukan has deleted his admonishment that was delivered 18months after the event!! The evidence is still above!!!

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Jonny