The Yamaha P250

The Yamaha P250 is a 'Professional Stage Piano' that has the sound quality of an acoustic grand. It is a substantial piece of equipment, weighing in at 32.5kg without its stand, but it is nevertheless portable and can easily be moved around to suit individual arrangements at each event venue.

It is equipped with two 30 watt speakers which produce a surprisingly full-bodied and rich sound from bass to treble. It is also fitted with a five-slider graphic equaliser. With its digital volume and tone controls, it is suitable in large areas as well as small - for outside use, though, or in very large rooms with high ceilings, I will play it through an amplifier and 100 watt speaker, so as the volume can be increased without loss of sound quality.

Reviewing the P250 in December 2004, the Musicians' Union quarterly magazine concluded;

'...it is a marvellous (if heavy) stage or studio piano...and the acoustic piano sounds are the best I have ever encountered...'

It is also fitted with a number of additional 'voices', such as electric piano, vibraphone, plus jazz, rock and church organs. These voices included several other effects such as phasing, chorus and auto-panning.

It is, though, most definitely not a keyboard!