Roland GO-88P GO: PIANO 88 Digital Piano

Description

• Roland GO-88P digital piano with 88 full-size weighted hammer action keys
• Bluetooth connectivity to smartphone apps
• Lightweight and portable (7.0 kg)
• Optional battery power

Roland GO-88P Digital Piano review

A digital piano needs to sound, feel and act like a real acoustic one – so does this make the grade or will it leave you wanting to spend more money to get what you want? Read on to find out what I thought of the Roland GO-88P.

Sound

I’ve tested a lot of digital pianos at this price point over the years, and I’ve got to say that this is probably one of the best I’ve heard. I wasn’t expecting too much, and my well trained and experienced ear is very fussy indeed – but I wasn’t disappointed.

When I test any piano I start by checking out the lower part – the bass. I am an avid fan and player of boogie woogie and blues, so I love to play the left hand down low on the keys and find out if the sound is good enough. Although I would have liked a little more richness from the bass I found that it was perfectly fine. For less than £300 I had to remind myself that you can’t compare this with a £100k Steinway!

So if you’re looking for something for the home or even the stage, you cannot go wrong with the Roland GO-88P. A very popular and famous make of piano which you can always place your trust in. If you love the sound of the Roland’s, which I do, then you could just keep upgrading every year to their next offering and be happy for the rest of your life. That isn’t to say that the sound on this model isn’t something you could keep for years.

If you can’t take my word for it, here’s how it sounds:

Touch and feel

The keys have a nice weight to them and them spring right back up at you as you’d want. They are certainly not sloppy and have a nice bright and sharp feel to them. I prefer to play with fairly heavy keys, and these are probably a bit light for me. However, for most people they would be perfect as I am an exception – and very heavy handed!

You have a full compliment of 88 weighted hammer action keys as you would find on a real acoustic upright or grand piano – what more do you need!

Features

Although you would want to buy this for the piano sound, you can however try out the electric piano and strings. There are a few voices that accompany this piano so you can diversify if you wish – but the piano sound is where it’s at. Roland use their very own grand piano sound and inject it into their models. So the only thing stopping them sounding like the original is the size of the speakers. But you will find here that the digital piano sound is very bright and rich – which isn’t always present on a £3,000 upright!

This piano also connects via Bluetooth to your tablet or smartphone. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to check out this feature, but I am told that you can connect to online lessons and do all sorts of extra things. I would love to hear your comments on this feature if you get chance to test it out.

Price

This currently sits at around £280 which is perfectly acceptable by today’s standards. I used to pay between £300-400 pounds for a portable piano about 20 years ago, so the fact that you can pay less and get a better sound is incredible.

What I love about this piano and the fact that it is less than £300 is that it’s ideal for anyone – any age and any level. So if you’re a parent looking to buy your son or daughter their first piano to begin lessons, then give this serious consideration. It would easily last through all exam grades and beyond, and although you have the choice of upgrading at any point – you really don’t need to. You have the full 88 weighted keys, which will allow you to take ABRSM grades or just play for fun. You could even take it onto the stage if you play in a band.

So we know this is perfect for a beginner, but what about a seasoned professional? Well, if you’re like me and have played on and off professionally for many years then you would usually spend more than this anyway. I usually spend anywhere between £1-2k on a digital piano which I use at home to teach, practice, and to also take to gigs. But did I really need to spend that much? When I play something this cheap I realise that you can still spend a huge amount less than I did and get what you want. I need more features than this offers for recording and other things, but I could happily settle for this if my budget was less than £300.

Buy this for your child to learn, or buy one for yourself and get started today. It’s easily one of the cheapest and best digital pianos money can buy right now!