I've been playing piano for a while now, and I learned on my grandmothers old Baldwin upright. Recently I started jamming with a couple guys and am now looking for a good electric piano/organ to use.

The sound my friends and I are striving for is that is in the area of the fusion miles Davis's did during the 70's and frank zappas work(jazz/rock/funk fusion). Unlike guitars most of the electric pianos used during this time aren't made any more so I'm clueless as to what would be ideal for my situation.
I've gone to a couple stores and explained what I'm looking for and they just showed me their Yamaha digital pianos which aren't very practical to move and don't seem to have the true sounds of the Rhodes and wurlitzer. I'm not really looking for something that can do drums and strings and show me what notes I'm playing. I just want a good stage piano with truly authentic sounds.
I have about $4,000 saved so I'm hoping I can afford something of great quality. Like I've said the only thing I've been playing on is a Baldwin upright made in 1970 so I'm really clueless. I also saw that Hammond currently has a drawbar organ and piano, is it any good? Any advice I could get would be truly appreciated.
Thank You

Probaly the GEM Promega 3 is what you need, check it out at http://www.generalmusic.us/promega3.htm , there are many demo videos and samples you can hear. It is used live on stage by people like Herbie Hancock, Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. Ciao,

Daniele

Nord Electro makes keyboards with a "vintage"
sound in 88, 73, and 61 key versions (3300.00,
1700.00, and 1350.00, respectively). See:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--NORELECTRO73

I just heard from someone who had a chance to try out the latest Nord weighted 88-key, and he said the vintage keys are killer. I can't wait to hear it myself.

The fellow that did the sound for the latest Nord is someone from this forum named "Worra". Here's a thread he started:

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/6/1500.html

... I think he used a simplified version of one of his smaller piano libraries for the Nord.

Howard

The Nord would be a good option. So would the Pro-Mega 3. Roland also makes some great expansion boards that are available for either the older or newer expandable keyboards. The two expansion boards I'm thinking of are:

Vintage Synth
Keyboards of the 60's and 70's

(edit: If you have a newer Roland keyboard, the expansion board to get would be "Ultimate Keys" SRX-07. It contains all of the sounds from the above titles, plus a bunch more. A lot of bang for the buck!!!)

Where do you guys order these expansion boards from! Does Roland have a site to check these things out?

You can get them from a local dealer, or from an online dealer such as Sweetwater.com. Roland has them listen on its web site, but you'll have to purchase them through a dealer (not direct from Roland).

For $4k, you could be into a Roland RD-700SX with SRX-07 with lots of money left over, and it would cover all those bases (piano, EP's, B3, vintage stuff) well. The only downside is that it's a pain (literally) to play authentic Hammond stylings on a weighted action.

If a weighted action and 88 keys aren't so important to you, a Fantom X7 with SRX-07 will do all this and more for about the same money.

Also from Roland: the VR-760 V-Combo. I've never played it, and know next to nothing about it, but it can accept 2 SRX boards (so you could add SRX-07) and seems to have the organ, EP, piano, and "vintage" thing covered well. Looks cool. Maybe SteveY can tell us more.

It looks like Roland has put tremendous effort into addressing the kind of thing you're after. I have a feeling you'll find what you're looking for in one or a combination of a couple Roland products.

The Electro does the EP, Clav, and B3 sounds really pretty well. The acoustic piano is horrible. The Electro is also very RED, kind of over-the-top, if you ask me. The action is interesting, not weighted, kind of springy. Passable for B3 and Clav, not so good for anything piano-like. Check out the new Nord Stage as well, haven't played it, but I understand it's better in the action and piano departments than the Electro.

Hammond's XK-3 is nice, from what I've played of it. Great organ action. It's expensive though, and you'd have to sacrifice somewhere else. The action would not be so hot for playing anything else but organ and synth sounds.