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Hi!
I saw an add today, for a used Yamaha P80.
The seller didn't specify just how old is it, but from what I found out it is from the same line as the P120, which I have played, and liked.
The price is 550€, and it comes with a stand.

So, is it worth it?
When was this instrument released?

Thanks!

Vid

It was introduced in 1999. I think it's one of the classic Yamaha workhorse stage pianos. If you've played a P-120 it is very similar, I believe they had the same keyboard actions. I don't think it has speakers, so you'll need to run it through your stereo or buy speakers. I have no idea if the price you indicate is fair in your country. Here a good used P-80 would probably sell for 300-500$US.

Hmm, it seems very good for a 10 year old model, it has 64 tone polyphony, 3 layer sounds and everything, according to the yamaha site. Even 2 X 30 W amps. The only things lacking are the fancy resonances found on present models. for some reason i find those specs a little hard to believe...

I used to have a P80. 550 Euros sound like an awful lot for a DP that old. Yamaha has newer models, even their current lowest end ones probably have much better piano sounds.

My take on the P80. The action is very good, but very heavy. I've read most of their new models have somewhat lighter action. As for the main piano sound, I got really sick of it after a while, to the point I couldn't stand to play it anymore. This led me to buy computer based samplers and pianos, Gigastudio and Kontakt. However, the very poor midi features on the P80 made the computer samplers hard to use, and led to me finally getting a Kawai MP9500, which has much better midi features. But the piano of the Kawai was so good, I don't even use the software pianos much of the time. After several years, I have never gotten tired of the Kawai's piano, like I did the P80s.

One more thing, although the action of the P80 is very good, it has a hard plasticy thud when it hits bottom. For extended play, this got tiresome, if not slightly painful. The Kawai has wooden keys, and doesn't have this problem.

In short, the P80 is a good DK in many ways, but old, with out of date samples, and a heavy key action. It is not worth 550 euros for a DP that old. I paid $999 new ten years ago, which would equal 662 Euros at today's exchange rates. I honestly wouldn't consider buying a P80 unless it was super cheap, like 225 Euros. Of course, DP prices in you country are likely higher than the U.S.

^So, I talked to the owner and he says he's willing to drop the price a bit, and that it's up for discussion.
The Piano was bought in 2001 for the guys son, who played it for the two following years and since than it's just been lying around unused. He says it's in a very good condition and that there's nothing wrong with it.

cjsm, what do you mean when you say it has poor MIDI features?
How are the speakers?
How is the thud painfull? You mean, like a bottoming out effect?
Are the specs here true:
http://music.yamaha.com/products/specifications.html?productId=659&hierarchy_id=16365_16277
?

Thanks for your time!

I'd still like to see as many suggestions as possible, so please, feel free to comment!

By the poor midi features, I mean the midi menus are extremely cryptic to use, and extremely limited in their functionality. This is opposed to the built in sounds and features of the P80, which are extremely easy to use, and very well designed. If you don't use midi, it is no big deal, but if you do use midi to control software synths and samplers or a DAW on a computer, or another keyboard, the P80 is a poor choice.

The P80 has no built in speakers. Other similar P models do, but not the P80. This was never I big deal for me, as I usually use headphones to practice at home, and it is easy enough to hook up to a stereo or computer speakers with the right connectors.

A thud might have been an exageration. But the key landing on the P80 is harder then the Kawai MP9500 or MP4, or the Alesis Fusion, the other keyboards I own. And for extended play, if you strike the keys hard, you can feel it, or at least I could. But otherwise it is a very good action, though somewhat heavy. I read about someone who opened the keyboard and put a rubber strip under the keys, to make the key landing softer.

One thing you have to remember, digital keyboards are built on computer technology, and computer technology improves a lot over ten years. ROM is probably a hunderd times cheaper for a given amount then it was ten years ago. I would imagine the amount of ROM in the P80 is tiny compared to the amount of ROM in current Yamahas. That was my objection about the piano sample. I liked it at first, but it grew fatiguing over time. I imagine this is because the samples were tiny and overcompressed compared to newer keyboards, like the Kawai. It did have a nice pipe organ sample though.

My brother, sister and I got a P80 for Christmas in 2001 I believe. It was a good keyboard, but we played the heck out of it and it didn't hold up very well. A couple of years later the keys were bad to stick. I can concur with the hard action as well. Also, depending on the stand used, it can wobble a lot.

Well, seems like the Yamahqa site was lying and it doesn't really have speakers, so I decided against buying it, becouse with the extra speakers, I could easily get a quite good new keyboard for just a bit more money.

So, I didn't want to open up another thread, for this...
I found a CLP 230 for 800€.
I read it has the awesome GH3 action, but I'm not sure if it has only 1 level sampling or 3 level sampling.
The guy is selling it for 800€, which I'm deffinately not paying, but if he drops the price a bit, and if the instrument has several sampling layers, I'd considder buying it.
Oh, and it's 3 yrs old.

Yamaha's web site says: No. of Dynamic Steps =1

I don't know why but everyone always thinks their older used DPs are worth more than they are. In the real world DPs hold their value about as well as computers. Not only that but the new DPs are always so much better with feature like multi-layer samples being added to even the low end units that was not present even on the high of end five years past. I gave up on trying to buy a used DP.

^Exactly...

Urgh, I don't know what Yamaha's deal is...
I mean, even the older STAGE pianos have multisampling, and the midrange clavinova doesn't...
I don't get it.