My Rig
A keyboardist’s equipment rig is ever changing. There is always one more effects processor, one more stand, one more pedal, one more subwoofer, one more add on card and things not invented yet that I need. For people into electronic gadgets this is the hobby to have! It also helps greatly to have some computer smarts and a newish laptop computer. I’ll be blogging about how I utilize all this hardware and software. Hopefully relating my experiences will help others in equipment decisions. Also know that many keyboardists suffer from GAS (Gear Acquiring Syndrone). I’ve been cured and now I’ve been selling a few items I didn’t need.
The rig as of Jan 2010
Below you’ll find a long list of items but don’t think I’m like loaded with dough. About 80% of the gear I have was purchased used on Ebay, Craigslist or at a Guitar Center. It took a year to accumulate the rig along with much patience waiting for a great deal on EBAY to come along. For example my Roland RD-700 is a year 2001 model and in mint condition! Those still typically sell for over $900 but I got mine for less than $450. The little 37 key keyboard on the left in the picture above is my 1989 Roland PRO-E, it was only $80. I also purchased several used Roland amps and all cost me less than 50% of the new price. Most of the new items I have were bought on sale at my local Guitar Center or SweetWater Sound. For items like keyboard stands I’ve found Amazon.com is a great place to shop at. The Amazon site lets you quickly compare prices between different vendors. Several times I’ve found a lower price on Amazon for a new item verses the going used price for it on EBAY. Sometimes Amazon often offers free shipping and that is a big money saver also.
Keyboards:
Roland Juno-Stage – with SRX-05 Dance card ( 76 semi weighted keys)
Roland RD-700 – 88 keys fully weighted
Roland PRO-E Arranger (a vintage 1989 keyboard – 37 synth keys)
Roland PRO-E Arranger (yes a 2nd one)
Yamaha PortaSound PSS-140 (a kids mini keyboard)
Yamaha PortaSound PSS-30 (a kids tiny toy keyboard)
sold – Casio CTK-650 61 keys – my first keyboard a $50 gem
sold – Yamaha YPG-235 76 keys sold to make room for the Roland Clan
Guitars:
Yamaha Compass 5 acoustic with ABS case
Series 10 electric – el cheapo -
MIDI Controller:
sold – Yamaha KX-25 midi controller (25 synth keys)
Foot pedals:
Juno-Stage: Roland EV-5 expression, Boss FS-6 dual, Roland DP-10 damper pedal, Roland PK-5A bass pedal unit
RD-700: Roland DP-10 damper pedal
PRO-E: none
Effects Boxes:
BOSS DR-880 drum machine
sold – TC-Helicon Harmony-M
Keyboard Stands:
Proline 1 Z stand
OnStage 2 table stands with add-on teir
OnStage 2 Z stands
Roland 1 used vintage looking folding table stand
OnStage 2 – guitar stands
sold – Proline X heavy duty stands
Keyboard Cases:
Gator 76 key for Juno Stage
SKB 88 key came with RD-700 purchase
Nylon Keyboard bag for PRO-E
Equipment Cases:
ATA 26x16x8 for Behringer 1222 mixer
ATA 27x22x9 for PK-5A pedal
Piano seat benches:
Proline Folding (wide version)
Proline Folding (narrow version)
Tama Throne – back order
Stands:
3- Tilt back stand for KC-60 / small amplifiers
2 – PA Speaker tripod (3 to 6 foot)
1 – Onstage boom mike stand MS9701TB
1 – Sheet music stand – light duty
1 – Proline Conductor sheet music stand – heavy duty
1 – Microphone short stand with long 21″ goose neck extension
1 – Casio keyboard mic boom attachment
Microphones:
3 – Shure SM58
Mixers:
Behringer Xenyx 1222FX - 8 input
Behringer Micro MX400 – 4 input
Behringer Xenyx X1222USB 8 input
Behringer Xenyx 502 – 3 input
Amplifiers:
5 – Roland KC-60 - 45 watts
2 – Roland KC-350 - 100 watts
Roland KCW-1 - 200 watts subwoofer
Behringer Ultratone K900FX - 90 watts
Behringer Truth B2092A subwoofer – 360 watts
Cords:
Shure XLR 15′ – for mike and main outs to speakers
several other 1/4 jacks of various lengths for amp connections
PC Software:
Sound Forge Audio Studio – I use for recording myself
Roland Play List editor – came with Juno-Stage
Roland Librarian editor – came with Juno-Stage
Roland Performance editor – came with the Juno-Stage
Sonar LE – came with Juno-Stage
Finale Songwriter
Yamaha Musical Notebook
Midi Notation Player – (plays and prints score of a MIDI file)
Windows Media Player – Audio CD playing, ripping and burning
Winamp – mp3 and karoake player
Leturanote Pro – a note teacher
sold – Cubase AI – came with the the KX-25
Laptop
Dell Inspiron 1525 – running Vista
Metronome
Korg MA-30
Guitar Tuner
Korg GA–30
MP3 Player
Creative Labs Zen Stone II
