Difference in keybed?

[pianokid]

I am seriously considering purchasing a Nord Piano 2 but have not been able to play one, so I may have to go the mail order route. I want to go as light as possible so my question is this.....are the keybeds the same on the 88 and 73 versions? Thanks for any help.

[dynanord]

They are completely different!

[pianokid]

In what way? I thought they were both hammer action. Does Nord make two types of "hammer action" keybeds. Could you please provide some details? Thanks.

[dynanord]

The 88-version has HA (Hammer Action) keys whereas in the 76 version it's HP (Hammer Portable). I recently played them both at a local music store and yes, they feel totally different. I think the HA is much better than the HP. The HP feels a bit too light and clunky (certainly a compromise between weight and piano-realism) and although quite light when compared to many other stage pianos, the HA feels much more weighted than the HP. But really, the only way to know which you'll like is to play them yourself

By the way, this is my first post here! Mainly been reading a lot before this one. I'm a keyboard player from Finland. I play mostly synthesizers, and like the Nord-series very much!

[Cornopean]

Nord uses two types of hammer action keybed, both from Fatar in Italy. The HP or Hammer Portable one is very light (to pick up) but less sophisticated to play than the heavier model used in the 88 and 76 note keyboards, but personally I rather like it (if not its noise!). There is no substitute for trying them out, unfortunately, as you will find many different opinions on them. Why not post your location, roughly speaking? If there's not a dealer nearby, there might be someone with a Nord who could let you try one of the actions.

Al

[maurus]

Try to google the Fatar actions TP100 and TP40. There is detailed info on the web. (A variant of) The former is in the Nord HP boards, the latter in the Nord Piano and Stage.

[pianokid]

Thanks, everyone. That helps a lot. I was willing to concede the extra keys for the lighter weight. But not both the extra keys AND a non-piano type keyboard feel. Hope in the future, more keyboard manufacturers will follow Yamaha and Casio, both of which have produced fine 25 pound graded hammer actions in their products. In the meantime, I'll travel a couple of hours to find an HA88 and play it for myself. Thanks again.

[Merlimau]

I would recommend the same. Try out is very important. My wife which is a good piano player played on my Nord Stage 2 HA88. Interesting statement from her: The keybed is to noisy for her when she plays with the force she does on the upright piano. And - She would not (never) practice on the nord stage 2 because the HA is to light and she cannot train her finger/hand/arm force and relax technique she learned for the upright piano. I tried the nord piano 2 and there the HA feeling is more like our upright piano.

Merlimau