Nord S3 Compact vs YC88 (for a guitarist)

[Johnny Morales]

I am new to the world keyboards play classical piano for 10 years as a kid and just getting back into it. I’ve been playing guitar semi professionally in bands for many years and wanted to get a keyboard to learn some blues and jazz, to do some home recording with, and possibly bring to the occasional gig to play on a few songs.

I’ve searched far and wide and played just about everything I could find. I’ve narrowed it down to the YC88 and the Stage 3 Compact. I know they are two different boards but the stage 3 88 is out of my price range. I love the action on the Yamaha but love the sounds and interface on the nord. I play probably 50% piano sounds and 25% each Rhodes and organ. Portability is a factor but not a huge issue since it will probably not be out of the house a ton. Space is limited though. Durability, sounds, and playability are my main decision points. I don’t love the SW action but I wonder if it’s just because I’m coming from a piano background.

Any advice? I could also consider an Electro 6D save a few $.

[FZiegler]

Both instruments will provide an advanced level of the sounds in question for you.

But man, the action is different. I'm quite sure you will need some sort of hammer action to get happy with your piano playing. The NS3C doesn't have that. The Electro 6D has more or less the same action as the NS3C - both are spring actions (TP/8O).

I don't really think NAMM will present another solution for you, but it would be a possibility. Wait a few weeks. And maybe rethink the question if the organ engine is that important for you - if not so much, you might go for a Nord Piano 5-73.

[superbender]

If the keybed is really important for you, you can have a look to a used Roland RD-2000. I have one and the action is in my opinion for the price point very good. With the new version of the V-Piano you get very good piano and rhodes sounds. It has an organ engine and organ playing is possible, but on such a keybed no fun. On the negative side, it is very heavy and because of this not the best stage piano for rehearsals or gigs.

[anotherscott]

I love the action on the Yamaha but love the sounds and interface on the nord. I play probably 50% piano sounds and 25% each Rhodes and organ. Portability is a factor but not a huge issue since it will probably not be out of the house a ton. Space is limited though. Durability, sounds, and playability are my main decision points. I don’t love the SW action but I wonder if it’s just because I’m coming from a piano background.

Any advice? I could also consider an Electro 6D save a few $.

If it's only for piano, Rhodes, and organ, there is very little advantage of a NS3 over the NE6D. Mostly, you'd lose the ability to split/layer two piano/Rhodes sounds, and some effects versatility.

There's no great answer here. You can always consider enhancing a board's sounds by connecting to an external sound module/laptop/tablet/smartphone, but you pretty much can't do anything about the action (which argues for the Yamaha)... but you also can't do much about the operational interface (which argues for the Nord). Also, if you do decide to enhance your choice with external sounds, different boards can do it better than others. Still, maybe that approach does open up other possibilities. FZiegler's Nord Piano 5 suggestion might be a good compromise, because you can still get strong organ sounds from (for example) VB3m on a smartphone, though the NP5's ability to integrate with external sounds is not the smoothest or most flexible. On the Yamaha side, you might look at the CP88 which has some interface advantages over the YC88 (and is also cheaper) and, again, get its organ sounds externally (it's better than the Nord at integrating external sounds). You could even look at combining the CP88 with a drawbar organ module to get back the physical organ controls (Ferrofish B4000+, Viscount Legend Expander, Crumar Mojo Desktop for self-contained units; some other possibilities if you go for a controlling device that doesn't include its own sounds).

[Macsaint777]

I own both. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss in detail. Godisopen@gmail.com