I've had an Electro in my arsenal since returning to playing in 2008 and have continuously upgraded over the years. The Electro 6D 73 is my current model, complimenting my Stage 2EX 76. In succession, I've owned: E2-61, E3-73SW, E3 HP, E4-61 and now the 6D.
I play in big bands and small jazz ensembles, and piano is my main instrument. To that end, the Stage is my workhorse for rehearsals and gigs due to the piano action. I take the Electro out for small combo gigs where I know I'll play some organ or I'm looking for a light and quick setup/teardown. The Electro feels great for EP and organ, but less so for a realistic acoustic piano experience - I find it challenging to play nuanced due to the springy nature of the action.
Despite the capabilities of the Stage, the Electro has always appealed to me for its simplicity and quality. It does pretty much everything I need for 90% of my playing. The one exception is a jazz fusion band that gets together occasionally. Prior to the pandemic, we rehearsed about every other month and gigged only a few times each year. A lot of the repertoire requires more than just piano, as there are some synth embellishments and solos as well as organ, AP and EP. I can do a gig with just the Stage, although I'm not fond of organ or synth parts on the HP action. And the Electro by itself is too simple to cover the song configurations. Most of the time, I bring the Electro as a 2nd tier for organ and to play the Stage synth engine via MIDI. It's possible to use the Stage's pitch bend and mod while still playing the part on the Electro keys, but it's less than ideal. The fusion band is starting to rehearse again, and I'm going to test a configuration that puts an Arturia Keylab 61 mkII on top of the Stage for organ and synth parts.
But that's not the point of this story . . .
The fusion band rehearses as the sax player's house. He has a Roland RD 700GX there, running through an Alesis mixer to a single QSC K10. I usually bring the Electro for a 2nd tier organ and synth. Despite endless fiddling, I've never been happy with the sound of the RD out of the K10 - it always seems so harsh and shallow. So, thinking about what some others on this forum have done, I had an idea. For this past rehearsal, I created a few programs on the Electro using Keyboard Split and External Keyboard to Low settings to use the RD as a controller the piano sounds and play the organ/synth stuff on the Electro. Well, the difference was stellar! The Nord pianos sound so much better than the RD's. I had a few small volume balancing issues to adjust, but it simply made the whole night better.
I know this is not ground breaking stuff, but it's got me thinking now
I'm probably working only one more year before retirement fully kicks in, and I told my wife I'll be doing one more major keyboard upgrade in 2022. I feel the Stage has served its purpose, and I'd like to move back to an Electro for the bottom tier/main workhorse instrument. Again, the Electro does what I need for nearly everything, and the HP model is a tad lighter than the Stage (very important to me). I'm hoping that the Electro is next up in Nord's upgrade cycle, and incorporates the sample synth features of the new Piano 5 (mono mode and true vibrato) as well as replaces the Fatar TP100 action with the new TP110 version just introduced in the Numa X Piano. I'm hoping for some improvement in feel on that action. If prices hold true, I could sell the Stage and upgrade for relatively little money.
That leaves the top tier. I could upgrade my E6 to a Stage 3 Compact, which would check every box and then some. Given how prices are at the moment, I could probably do this for about $1500US, which is not terrible. I'm struggling a little the with expense, as it would really only be to have higher ended tools for the fusion band, which doesn't really get together enough to warrant it. Hard to justify, but only in regard to this hopefully being a long-term ownership. I could happily keep the E6 and just learn to live without pitch bend, mod and monophonic leads for synth solos. Or wait to see what/when the next Electro drops.
I've also looked at other manufacturers and models, and they all lack in some area by comparison: capability, ease of use, sound quality, build quality and (most important) weight.
Apologies for this being long-winded. I had to share because the recent rehearsal experience refreshed the enjoyment I get from the Electro. It may not have the perceived prestige of the Stage, but I find it to be spot on.