Most of us have made some kind of musical purchase(s) in the past several years. Some were real "keepers" while others were real duds. Tell us what you bought, whether it was a keeper or a dud, and why. Capt. Russ, don't include the stuff you haven't had time to unpack yet (sorry, Russ, I love to tease my fellow compulsive buying gear sluts). I'll start.

Zoom H2 - keeper, perfect for what it does and inexpensive as well.

Nord C1 - keeper, best bang-for-the-buck hardware clonewheel out there, bar none.

Roland PK7a (20 key pedalboard) dudeeper (new word) - well built and has great feature (pedal attack) but expensive (1300.00) and, at 34 lbs, weighs 1 lb more than the organ.

Roland SonicCell - dud. Sounds are okay but no better than (not as good as???) my Motif ES. Small LCD and hard to read in dim club (I bought this to sit atop my C1 for some extra voices - bad idea).

Roland VP550 - keeper. I love this thing. The fun factor is off the charts and it really can do some fairly creditable BGV tracks.

Behringer Eurogrand Digital Piano - dud. Bought at Costco for 500.00 to stick in the rec room (for the grandkids to bang on when they came over, but also to play at home parties, etc.). Built like a tank and looks really nice (solid wood, full back, 3 pedals) and has some really nice features, BUT, sounds like crap. I may swap out the on-board speakers for something better (it has an 80w amp which is more than ample).

PRIOR TO 2007 (but recent):

Hammond-Suziki XKB (I think) - Dud. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Worst clonewheel ever. Traded.

Roland VK7 - Dud. Better than the XKB but no top end (no "balls"). Traded.

AKAI DPS24 - Keeper. Best all-in-one DAW, period.

PA1X Pro - Keeper. I love this board (but not the OS).

TYROS 2 - Dud. I don't hate it, but wish that I'd kept my money in my pocket. Just don't like those Yammie styles (for the kind of music I play).

BEST AND WORST BLIND PURCHASES BASED ON RECOMENDATIONS AND REVIEWS BY SYNTHZONERS:

WORST - TYROS 2

BEST - not yet purchased

PLANNED PURCHASES FOR 2008:

NORD Stage (I like the red color ).


chas

It's been a busy year as far as exchanging equipment goes, so...

Roland VR760 - keeper; very good clonewheel and piano sections. heavy.

Yamaha PSR2000 - keeper; but it looks like a turtle. Gave it up for the...

Roland DC5 - keeper; a very sweet keyboard for those who work with SMF and vocals. Probably the best of the three. Sorry I sold it.

Roland E09 - dud; kept it about two weeks. Not that it was a bad keyboard, but a few steps down from what I'm used to - not acceptable for me. Good sounds, though.

I sold all of the above in favor of...

Roland G70 - 50/50 dud/keeper. This is a very nice, professional, loaded keyboard. Two things, the weight and the clonewheel section were big negatives for me. The 76-note keyboard is the best I've played and is somewhat inspiring. But in the end, it had to go in favor of...

Yamaha PSR3000 - keeper; still here after three months and will probably be here next year at this time. Good board with good sounds and features. The 61-note keyboard is its biggest drawback. Put this on the G70 keybed and it the keyboard of the year.

Hammond XK-1 - big keeper. This is my dream keyboard. It plays and sounds as good as any Hammond I've ever laid hands on. It's economical, light and just an all-around fantastic clonewheel. The Leslie sim is fantastic, as is the vibrato/chorus section; the most realistic I've ever played. This alone justifies selling the VR760 and G70.

[added]And how can I forget my CM-30's. They were a chance buy at the local GC, basically 2-4-1. Couldn't pass up the price and definitely discovered an excellent pair of personal monitors and mini PA system.

That's all for this year, but I'm always looking.


[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 12-20-2007).]

There were many more, but these are models that I used [and can recall}..
Not in any particular order..


Roland G1000..are you kidding..of course it was a keeper..for many reasons.

Ketron X1,,keeper/dud..Great styles and sounds..poor navigation..

Farfisa G7..keeper..great all around feature laden board..

Roland XP80..keeper..still one of the best workstations..

Fantom x6..keeper for the most part..dud for me..they called it right "work station"..

Roland VK7..keeper..if you needed a portable organ..

Roland VR760..keeper..better than VK7..great piano /organ combo..I had an offer I couldn't refuse..

Triton Studio 76..dud..overgrown, overrated workstation..geared for dance..Had to sell it..made money on it too..

Ketron SD1..keeper/dud..same reasons as the X1..

Yamaha PSR2000..DUD..I hated it ..key feel and sounds..

Yamaha PSR2100..DUD..slightly better sounds than the PSR2000..still hated it [I had to dump two}..

Casio WK3000..keeper..piano /organ were great..Fragile case..Bye Bye..

Roland DisCover 5..Keeper..one of the best boards ever...The G70, made me sell the G1000 and DisCover5..

Roland Sonic Cell..dud..very limited for playback..great audio interface..

Roland Juno G..keeper..A great workstation for the money..

Roland E600..Keeper..for a all in one keyboard..especially at today's prices..

Roland G70..KEEPER..it made me sell my favorite boards...I haven't found anything to compete with it...

Casio WK110...Don't know ..it will be here Friday...hopefully in time for my school gig[grandson]...reason I bought it..Played one and the sax, flute sounds were amazing..It was next to a S700..and this Casio was better in many sound areas...76 box keys too..and black..

Best purchase 2007...PSR-S900...also only purchase...nothing else needed...the best bang for the buck and the most useful and versatile keyboard I've ever owned, bar none.

Previous keyboard...PSR-3000...another great instrument...still have it.

No duds.

Ian

MY 2007 Purchases
Ketron SD5....Dud...Good styles but sound too much like the past boards and no USB.

Yamaha PSR-S900...Big Keeper...I love this board.

Ketron SD2...Keeper...Great for midi files.

PLANNED PURCHASES FOR 2008:
QSC powered speakers

Been real lucky (or just VERY careful before purchase!) so far... Just keepers;

K2500S w/KDFX - A little long in the tooth now, but it still does stuff nothing else can, and as a master controller, if your twisted mind can think of ANY whacked out routing and controller assignments, it can do it.

DX7 w/Grey Matter expansion - 'nuff said!

G1000 - over eight years of trouble-free daily (and nightly!) usage. God, I miss the Chord Sequencer! (only keyboard I've let go!)

G70 - Who cares about the weight?! If you want to play the best FEELING keyboard out there, this is it. The B3 is flawed (in comparison to an XK-1), but still the best in an arranger (that's what we play, after all!), but the piano and drums have no equal. Just give me back my Chord Sequencer!

Yamaha YSL-643 Trombone - bought it in '74, played every day since... Now THAT's value for money! A 'keeper' 'til I die.
.
.
.
How many of these 'keepers' do we still have?? All but the G1000 for me (and a friend has mine as a spare, so I can always get it back if I HAVE to!)...

Most significant purchase: A Sears Silvertone acoustic guitar when I was 10 years old. $17.95. Still have it.

Best use purchase: Hammond B-3 and 147RV. Still using it after more than 30 years.

Worst Purchase: Yamaha 3000. Hated it. Gave it to my Granddaughter.

Hard to knock any of my toys (except that damn Yamaha). Makes life FUN!


Russ

(P.S. Chas I really will try to get on the G-70 more soon, although not impressed so far. Did open and am using the SH-201 and the GW-7-fun toys. Have also toyed with the Midjay a little).

R.

BTW, never bought anything 'blind' in my life. Maybe that's why all I've got is keepers...

Hmmmmm......

Good point, Diki...I have always tried out gear extensively before I buy...I also would never buy on someone's opinion.

Certainly saves a lot of grief as well as hard earned cash.

Ian

all prior sold for some reason or another
too many reasons to remember.

Currently.........
PA800 AWESOME

CM30's SUPER

Mackie SRM450's workhorse great sound

Mackie DFX6 Great Mixer w/efx



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 12-19-2007).]