Nord User Forum

jeffkeys wrote:I just went from a Stage 3 88HA to a Stage 4 73HA and the most important reason was to make transport more manageable. I also was unwilling to go with the SW or HP action. Even though the weight difference doesn’t seem like much on paper, I find the 73 so much easier to manage. Especially at the end of the night. Strongest recommendation (plus, you’ll get all of the other wonderful features of the 4 which make it so much better than the 3)!

Interesting. I do have a Yamaha P121 with 73 keys. I do think I can live with the reduced number of keys. And it definitely does seem easier to manage from a dimensional perspective. Of course the P121 is much lighter.

I suppose the music store that allows me to buy online and return to the local store might be the way to try this out. Thanks for the first hand account! I’m definitely going to think hard about the 73HA Stage 4.


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I still find myself occasionally reaching for keys that aren’t there in the 73 (up top, almost never on the lowest octave). I guess I’d go for those notes about 10 or so times per night - mostly high trills or endings). Not too big a sacrifice for the upsides previously mentioned. If I played solo piano, I might think otherwise.

I’m using a Stage 3 Compact in the lightweight Nord Carrying case and I can still easily carry it around with one hand. That’s one of the reasons I switched to Nord. I recently bought a Stage 4 Compact for much the same reason. Doesn’t hurt that they’re great sounding keyboards either.

Would I be crazy to buy a stage 4 compact and keep the stage 3 HA88? Probably doesn’t make sense to have the two different, incompatible generations.


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Very happy with the triple action of the Stage 4 here (88). I think it makes a big difference, hard to describe, but my piano fingers know it. I would try to hang on to the Stage 3 for practice if I possibly could maybe a 0% finance deal.

I don't know the current prices, but there is probably a glut of second hand ones as people trade up. I would be getting Stage 4 73 hammer action. If I wanted to save weight - one way is a non Nord Case. Just be careful.

The Stage 4 layout is much much better than the Stage 3 layout and user interface wise and a killer difference is that each layer can have it's own fx.

Hard decision for you.

Z

dansnord wrote:Would I be crazy to buy a stage 4 compact and keep the stage 3 HA88? Probably doesn’t make sense to have the two different, incompatible generations.

Is your intention to use both of them together, like the Stage 4 for organ and synth and the Stage 3 88 for piano? In that case there may be other reasons for not doing so (although I cannot think of one) but incompatibility is for sure not one of them, because many people use a Nord Stage in combination with keyboards from other vendors where they face much higher incompatibilities than between Stage 4 and Stage 3.

I’m starting to think the thing to do is to buy the Stage 4 73. The keyboard saves me 5 pounds, and then another 2 pounds on the case. And then it’s also several inches more compact. All together, this may be just enough to make it manageable. And I may not need a second, better-feeling 88 note keyboard. Seems I can sell my Stage 3 88 and “only” lose $500 or so. Not the end of the world. Live and learn!


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jeffkeys wrote:I still find myself occasionally reaching for keys that aren’t there in the 73 (up top, almost never on the lowest octave). I guess I’d go for those notes about 10 or so times per night - mostly high trills or endings). Not too big a sacrifice for the upsides previously mentioned. If I played solo piano, I might think otherwise.

I have the opposite problem. Playing organ on a 73key bed has been a lot to get used to. I played a Mojo61 for years and the extended upper notes just feel weird. I think I'm going to use some tape to mark the high-C to ground me. I'm not an authenticity nut, but it just throws me off.

Piano, I'm fine with 73. I don't typically use it for solo piano material, and I often play LH bass synth (on a Behringer PolyD). I have one song where I use the OctShift key to go very high, but I'm used to it from my days playing 3-octave keytar.

EricBarker wrote:

jeffkeys wrote:I still find myself occasionally reaching for keys that aren’t there in the 73 (up top, almost never on the lowest octave). I guess I’d go for those notes about 10 or so times per night - mostly high trills or endings). Not too big a sacrifice for the upsides previously mentioned. If I played solo piano, I might think otherwise.

I have the opposite problem. Playing organ on a 73key bed has been a lot to get used to. I played a Mojo61 for years and the extended upper notes just feel weird. I think I'm going to use some tape to mark the high-C to ground me. I'm not an authenticity nut, but it just throws me off.

Piano, I'm fine with 73. I don't typically use it for solo piano material, and I often play LH bass synth (on a Behringer PolyD). I have one song where I use the OctShift key to go very high, but I'm used to it from my days playing 3-octave keytar.

I definitely have the reverse problem. I play organ and use the notes up to the E on the 73. I cut my teeth on a Hammond C3 and Hammond 61 key clones but have decided that if I have the real estate I might as well use it. I’ve taken some grief from purists, but I don’t think it’s a big deal.

Only the 73 will fit comfortably on top of an A100.It stays right there!Unless the grand piano already there is mic'd up. The 88 gets dragged around the country,in and out of vans,on and off stages,elevators,etc.
Played both these Stage 3's for four and five years now.The 88 is way better made.
Had the Compact out for its semi annual 'logistic' reasons.To its credit, I'm a 'pounder' and it has survived most of my aggressive playing well.Have yet to test my ability to actually break it.
The 88 is a beast though,at will I can layer,split,perform,and pound the daylights out of it with absolutely NO issues.Dusty contact on the 73 pianos and on its third pitchstick,hardly travels and a year older.
Staying with these,Nord blew their chance for me going 'new' when after 15 years they never added a 1" drawbar cancel in the 'less than flagship' organ menu,which i read BEFORE going out to ever see one,yawn.Triple sensor THIS!
And still using a 2009 Neo Ventilator for Leslie if the real deal isn't handy.