Members The Professiona Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 This isn't a rant so much as just a thought I had the other day. When I was younger, I played bass guitar. I really wanted to get a nice bass to replace the "trainer" Carera bass that I had had for several years. I went into the local music store and started trying out basses and talking about options. When I finally settled on a quality I liked, in the price range I could afford (an Ibanez Soundgear for around $500 or so), the owner of the store took me to the catalog and showed me about a dozen different colors the bass could come in (I chose Blueberry, by the way), as well as some nice wood grain finishes it could come in for a few extra bucks. Fast forward to today. The drummer in my band just got a new set of Mapex Orions, and was talking about how difficult the choice had been in choosing between the dozen or so different finishes. He chose the Blue Galaxy Sparkle (I think that's what it was called?). Meanwhile, the bassist just got a new frettless of some high-end brand (I don't remember what it was, and don't know enough about high-end bass guitars to guess properly), and got a nice purple-stained wood grain, after looking over (I believe) 5 or 6 different finish choices. Here I am looking to possibly spend $2k+ on a keyboard, and the only choices I have are silver and black in most instruments (obviously other than Nord). What gives? Why don't keyboards have the same choice of color that other instruments have? They're either aluminum, steel, plastic, or some combination thereof, and all of that can be painted easily enough, I know for a fact from painting automobiles for several years. So why does it seem that keyboards are the instrument to which there is no choice? Why can't I get a Yamaha S90 in Purple or Blue instead of just the dark gray/black it's offered in? It seems like keyboard manufacturers would be able to sell an extra unit here or there just by offering choices. I mean, if I personally feel that the X-model of Yamaha performs just the same as the Y-model of Korg, after that, price is really the only consideration. Unless some brand offers me more options of customization in appearance. Maybe that Korg Y-model costs less than the Yamaha, but the Yamaha lets me choose between Silver, Black, Blue, Red, Yellow, and Mahogany Veneer, then at that point, the Yamaha would still be a contender. Anyway, it was just a thought. Even my saxophonist has choices in his new horns, but I never do. What do you guys think? TL;DR = Keyboards should be offered in more than just one finish per unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 That's why they invented spray paint. http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic/ The Korg M50 is available in several colors: Green, Yellow, Blue, Red, Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Professiona Posted February 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Yeah, believe me, I've given a lot of thought to painting some of these boards I have, but I have concerns about warranty on anything new I buy to do that, and I'm not enough of an electrician/technician to fix things myself when they go wrong! And the M50 is definitely a relatively unique item in this category of finishes, but one (or two, or even three) models that offer a variety versus the almost every model of guitar/bass/drum/horn that comes with variety isn't really much of a comparison, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 There are folks who make a living (apparently) refinishing keyboards in any way you want. Someone here will know of one. It will cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metrosonus Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 i want black bowling ball and white tiger trim. Honestly black works for me. the only thing i'd want to change is the eye scorching colors of the EMU products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ClavAnother Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 As soon as I finish the panel layout, I will have one of these: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metrosonus Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 that looks sharp! yea it's not so much the painting that's the issue, it's the silk screening the panels.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 I actually liked that camo M50 :S It'd make me think it was 1994 and making jungle. I've also considered giving my microkorg an EVH frankenstein paint job purely for the lulz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plaid_emu Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 C-Thru Music offers a custom color option on their Axis-64 controllers. It was an extra $100 for a black finish instead of the stock silver color. Seems like a lot of money although I bet it would be substantially more than $100 to have a 3rd party do the paint job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Voyager Select Series, anybody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fisnotigut Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Voyager Select Series, anybody? +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 I agree - I wish there were a choice of finishes. When I got my Korg Karma I really disliked the burgundy color. Same with my Korg M3 in iPod white. I'd like it much better in black or silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 As soon as I finish the panel layout, I will have one of these: A Nord Electro 52? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evildragon Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Waldorf also had different colors for their products. Not anymore, it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 The Electro looks so much better that way. Too bad you can't spray on some real drawbars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ClavAnother Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 The Electro looks so much better that way. Too bad you can't spray on some real drawbars. It looks amazing that way. Regarding drawbars though, you don't really need them on an Electro. Hell, you don't really need them on a Hammond... *ducks and runs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Allerian Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 I'll just leave this here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 Would be kinda nice to have some color options for keyboards like one gets with guitars and basses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 It's all red and bumpy... maybe it should see a doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Professiona Posted February 12, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 Yeah, ^^^that^^^ was my point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 i honestly don't know why. go to a Yodobashi in japan & you'll see that that market demands electronics and lifestyle accessories be offered in a wide array of color choices. btw, i still have crippling GAS everytime i even think about the Axis-64. do want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 Voyager Select Series, anybody? +1. Seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joemmi Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 53 :poke:Mine of course will be a 73...er, actually 74. So whats that picture from?? double-Photo-shop-job??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jason_stanfield Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 What gives? Why don't keyboards have the same choice of color that other instruments have? A few observations; neither agreement or disagreement ... 1. There are a few people that believe having a flashy color means a mfr is attempting to mask less-than-spectacular sound and functionality. (I encountered this a lot while rep'ing the Red Ones.) 2. Powder-coating (and other metal & wood treatment processes) can be pricey, especially if you're using something other than a few standard colors and not ordering in gigantic qtys. 3. It would be very easy to run out of a popular color, and not sell through inventory of unpopular colors; and repackaging is an expensive process. 4. Many 'boards aren't so easy to take apart so that one could replace the factory cosmetics with special colors. 5. Many singing acts like the band to be as background as possible so that the featured singer can stand out more. 6. Styles and tastes change more often than keyboard players replace their gear. My personal opinion is that price should be a factor. If you're making a MoPho or Electribe or other under-$1000-street-price gear, you can get away with offering a few colors because the volume would likely mitigate expensive production costs. But if it's a new flagship workstation, it should have a general cosmetic appeal; you're not going to sell quite as many, and you don't want to lose a single sale because your 'board is ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 I don't have the data to support this, but have a suspicion that one of the drivers is sheer number of players by instrument. I'm taking a wild guess that out of every 100 musicians that are consumers of musical equipment, the breakdown would be something like this. I'm simplifying to not cover EVERY possible instrument but just covering the basic rock band instruments sans vocalists. Out of 100 musicians- 40 guitar players- 30 bass players- 25 drummers- 5 keyboard players Would anyone agree with this unscientific guess at the 5% guess for keyboard players? If I'm in the ballpark, then I suspect this would be the primary reason that the big three and others (aside from Moog) are not prioritizing a lot of different colors and finishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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