I found an ad on Craigslist for a Kawai digital piano, model P350, for $200. It has 88 wooden keys, etc, other things mentioned include:


Model 350, Full Keyboard, 88 wood keys. High quality. No nicks or scratches. Includes Stand and Bench! This is a great keyboard.
Tone Colors: Piano 1, Piano 2, E. Piano 1, E. Piano 2, Harpsichord, Vibraphone, Full Organ, Jazz Organ, Brass Ensemble, String Ensemble
Effects: Tremolo, Chorus
Special Mode: Dual, Split
Temperaments: Equal, Mersenne pure, Pythagorean, Meantone, Werckmeister III, Kirnberger III
Controls: Volume, Brilliance, Transpose, Tune, Dual/Split Balance, Split Point
Other Fittings: Headphone Jack, Pedal Jacks (Soft, Damper), Line Input Jacks (L[Mono]/R), Input Level Switch (H/L), Line Output Jacks (L[Mono}/R), Output Level Switch (H/L), Expression Pedal Jack, MIDI Jacks (IN, OUT, THRU).
Output Power: 20W x 2
Speakers: 16 cm x 2, 6 cm x 2


In my research, I have not been able to find this piano reviewed on the Internet except for one reference to a users manual for model P350 by Kawai itself. Nothing else is found on the Internet, which mystifies me.

Has anyone heard of this digital piano?


Thanks.

tranquillo, this model is over 20 years old - even at $200, you may wish to carefully consider the true value of such an instrument.

The owner's manual can be downloaded from the KAWAI US technical support website at the following URL:

http://www.kawaius-tsd.com/pages/dp_om.html

Kind regards,
James
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Is this model more than 20 yrs. old?
If the specs are accurate, they
reflect a recent model, that is:
wood keys, six different temperment
options, etc.--particularly the
temperment options. This feature
has only recently appeared on
digitals, say, in ~ the last 5 yrs.,
if I'm not mistaken, and certainly
it would not have been included
on a 1980's-vintage digital piano.
This looks like a great buy at $200,
if the specs are accurate. Test
all 88 keys with and without
the right pedal before buying.
The price looks a little too
good to be true for a digital
piano with these kinds of specs;
for example, wood keys are a
premium feature typically
found only on high-end
digital pianos. I'd be a
little cautious about this one,
although it could be a great
buy.

I found an older Kawai also. (not th same one)
My thinking is that the sound generation will not be up to today's standards but maybe (I hope) the keys have a good feel and the MIDI connection works.

If so I could play software instruments and have state of the art sound on the old keyboard. If I really liked the keys I might buy a used Yamaha Motif rack mount. MIDI lets you update the sound. Only worth it if the keys are first rate.

Do read the user manual. The last Clavinova I found on CL the seller had cut and pasted the description and specs from a recent model and claimed to not know they were different. The model being sold was not worth using.

Thanks for all your replies, I am learning a lot. I played the P350 in question and found it to evidence craftsmanship of an older time, still had some life left in it. It is without digital connectivity, no USB port, no chance to update tones through MIDI. It is not comparable to my new Kawai EP3. Now there's a dream come true. Thanks for all your elegant phrases considering, is this junk or is it not, regarding the P350.

The spec that you quoted listed MIDI(In, Out, Thru)
So one of your two postings is in error. But if you looked it in in person and did not find MIDI ports then it is kind of a dead end. But MIDI was common 20 years ago and it should be there

According to the owner's manual, this instrument does indeed feature MIDI In, Out, and Thru jacks, in addition to Line In and Line Out.

Kind regards,
James
x

I must admit my ignorance of the rudimentary technical aspects of a digital piano.

Does this mean that the tones may be updated, even on a very old digital piano?

not "updated". A better term would be "bypassed". But the effect is about the same.

Think of it this way: Inside a digital piano the keys make "midi data" this is fed to a tone generator and then to an amplifier and then to a speaker. The typical piano has all these parts inside.

What is being talked about here is accessing the "midi data" and sending it to a computer (or other stand-alone tone generator) where tone generation is done. So the tones inside the piano are not "updated" they are simply not used.

Yes, this is a good explanation.

Might I also add that, because this instrument also features Line In jacks, it's possible to take the audio signal created by the computer, and play it back through the piano's speaker system.

It may sound like a rather convoluted process, however it can yield surprisingly good results - as I'm sure a number of others here will testify.

Kind regards,
James
x