There are many space-age materials much lighter than steel, but significantly stronger and more durable. The only reason the 9000 pro was made from steel is that steel is less expensive than graphite/boron composite materials. Strength was probably the last thing on Yamaha's mind when they manufactured that keyboard. Just because a keyboard is heavy does not mean it's a high-quality board. There are much heavier boards out there that sound awful.

Donny is right when it comes to lugging this stuff from one job to another, day in and day out. Lighter is better. Those 36.5 pound Barbetta Sona 32C's sound fantastic, and they don't provide the sweat and back pains my 95-pound Peavey SP5G's produced. I'll take lightweight over heavy as long as I get the same quality sound.

Cheers,

Gary

Clavia uses metal cases and yet its 6-octave Electro73 weighs less than half a 9000Pro. USB-powered controllers can weigh as little as 3-6 lbs, depending on the number of octaves.

Hi Guys,
you make me chuckle.
I used to drag my kn5000 with me every weekend when we went to the holiday house. Used to repak it in it's cardboard carton & lift it into the back of hubby's Ford Utility ( I think you call them pickup trucks?) Then unload it at the other end.
( Hubby's a parapalegic , so he couldn't help)
Eventually I had the brains to buy a hard case for it. Made it heavier again, but easier to carry than in a cardboard box.
At that stage I was 5 foot 5inches weighing about 120lb.
Where there's a will, there's a way. I'd never let the weight of a keyboard determine whether I bought it or not.

best wishes
Rikki

If all you had to carry was a keyboard weight wouldn't be such a big deal. It's getting all the other things to a performance that really make setup a chore. I've found the weight of anything is directly proportional to your age. The older you get, the heavier things are. Being an old dude I've had to resort to technology to lighten the load. One of our earlier ancestors invented a thing called the wheel. After listening to some wise people I invested in a case with wheels and found that was a step in the right direction. ON finding the wheel was a handy thing I got a card with 4 wheels. That reduced the number of trips during setup. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the cart? I think I need a lighter one!

Have fun!

Rp

For frequent gig transport, I too gotta have the lightest keyboard (within reason) as possible. Some plastics today are stronger than steel yet a fraction of the weight. Lightweight portable convenience is the trend in most all areas of the market these days (from MP3 players, cell phones,laptops, PDAs, etc), so I see no reason why portable arranger keyboards shouldn't share in this advancement as well. For years, we keyboard players have had to suffer bad backs hauling our 60 - 100 lb axes while we watched with great eny, our musician counterparts (guitar & horn players etc) quickly popping their instruments back in their case and easily taking off with it single handed. Technology has FINALLY made it possible for us keyboard guys as well to enjoy the instrument transport ease that we've envied with other musicians for so long.

I urge arranger keyboard manufacterers to not only continue striving towards producing a strong yet light as possible '60 note arranger', but also to make sure its size (length, width, height) is kept as small and compact as possible as well. - Scott

Maybe we need a keyboard with a buit-in stand with wheels. Foldable and easy to roll. Anybody seen the strecher bed that the 911 people use to transport patient. That thing is easy to fold. Don't you guys think this is possible. That way no matter how heavy our keyboard at least we can roll it on.

Years ago I used a Farfisa compact Duo KB that had the stand attached...it screwed in under the KB...bass keys [1st oct] were black w/white sharps, next oct was grey w/white sharps...& the rest white w/black..



Talk about heavy? Ouch!

Whoa! Pick that sucker up and get ready for your next hernia surgery.

Lighter is definitely better,

Gary

I owned the Motif ES7 for a short period and by golly if Yamaha didn't go and make the ES7 almost 2 1/2 lbs. heavier than its predecessor the Motif7 "classic". Weight was one of the main reasons I switched and got a Tyros instead. Don't get me going on the other reasons as to why I got rid of it. Small LCD....... complicated Midi integration... No Loop Crossfade feature..... Whoops! I said I wouldn't go into it. I can just picture it now - two years from now Yamaha will come out with the next generation Motif that has a much bigger LCD and better Midi compatibility/useability and yes, even the Loop Crossfade feature. Plus it will weigh "less" than the current model and even the original model. Now THAT will be the time to get a Motif. But I have to say the sounds on the ES are wonderful. I know, I know, I'm picky but so should we all be before coughing up such large amounts of cash. Don't settle for a glass of milk when you could own the cow. Egads! I'm getting off topic here. Yes, lighter is definitely better.

Best regards,
Mike


[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 11-24-2003).]

Many years ago I was wonderng about getting one of the 88 Note "PF" series Yamaha pianos... until I saw 4 people trying to carry a flight-cased version up some stairs....