Customer Reviews

Williams Overture 88 Key Digital Piano

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm certainly not a professional, however, I do know what a piano is supposed to sound like, and I know the difference between a Harpsichord, Organ, and a Harmonica: 'nuff said.

First of all I would like to say that the Williams Digital Piano is by far the best instrument I have ever owned, next to my toy, an old Casio keyboard that I owned for quite some time, I was happy to finally sell that off in a garage sale. When I went hunting for another piano, I took my Sony headphones and headed off to various stores with digital pianos. This one by far sounded the closest to a real upright piano (Well, the Yamaha was closer, but another 1K more expensive...), and it had the features and look I was wanting.

Pros ---
1. The weighted digital piano keys mimic perfectly the hammer-action of a real piano, and the sound is equally amazing. As I said I tested it out in headphones, and even at home in total silence the headphones are clear as anything and sound perfect. The built-in speakers that are attached to the piano work equally as well. I 'tested' it note-for-note, unplugging my headphones and listening to the built-in speakers, and I can safely say that I don't hear a difference at all. No "fuzzy-sounds", no buzzing, no humming, etc. Sounds nice.

2. After listening to several Harpsichord songs, I played a few notes on the piano to compare. So far I can't tell the difference between the notes played in the song and the ones I played on the piano.

3. Same with the Organ and string setting, both sound equally realistic and about as close to an acoustic piano as I'm going to get without spending thousands of dollars.

4. I actually bought this piano online, yes, from Musicians Friend. No, I am not an employee there, nor have I ever heard of it. I did call them up to see how exactly it was going to be mailed. I mean, sure it is less than 1K for the digital piano, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to end up in several pieces on my doorstep. I have to say the piano box arrived in no less than perfect condition. Go with Musicians Friend if you are going to buy this!


Cons ---
1. Okay, so again I'm new at this. So, of COURSE I played the Play-Along songs while I waited for my real books to arrive. One of the irks I have is that when you use the digital piano to listen to the play-along songs, be forewarned that it is MUCH louder than when you are playing the piano normally. Also, if you are trying to play along, you have to compensate the volume by turning it down to hear the song correctly, but I also had a hard time hearing what I was playing on the piano!

2. Same thing goes with the metronome. It is MUCH louder than the 'volume' of the piano. If I had to change something, it would be how loud the Metronome sounds as compared to the piano. The volume, when recording songs and playing them back, however, is at the 'same volume' as the piano. Don't know if it is just my piano or what, but listening to the Play-Along songs and using the metronome is quite annoying.

3. I'm a computer programmer. I bought this piano because it came with a USB cable, anddd I thought I could use my computer knowledge to retrieve the songs off of the Williams Digital Piano. Not-so-much. There is no way to get the recorded songs off of the piano, the only thing the USB cable does is transmit the MIDI messages to a computer if you have the correct software installed. For me, kinda pointless.

Well, I think that about sums it up. Oh yeah, well, I don't think that this is a "Con" per-se, however: this piano comes disassembled. Which means that you have to assemble it. Fine, but the problem lies: this piano does not have instructions included to tell you how to assemble the piano. I, personally, was able to assemble is promptly. However, at first it was irksome laying out all the pieces and figuring out what goes where.

This inexpensive instrument neither feels nor sounds much like an acoustic piano. The grand piano voice is not very realistic, and the other voices are worse. The feel of the keyboard (what pianists refer to as the action) is also not very much like an acoustic piano. There is a certain amount of friction to get the key started, after which the key thumps to the bottom of the keybed with little effort, rather than the smooth even resistance of a piano.

For this price point, the Casio Privias are much nicer, both in sound and feel.

Ok, doesn't come with assembly instructions, but I will attempt to fix that for you! :)

#1 - Beg the delivery guy bring the box as close as possible to where you'd like to have your piano in your home. Girls, put on a double coat of mascara. Guys, tip the man.

#2 - Open the box and get all the parts laid out on the floor. You can leave the keyboard part in there for now; it's the heaviest.

#3 - Put the manuals aside. Get at the tools. Yes, it even comes with a screwdriver. Bonus. Lay out all your little bits in a plate and thank me later for not losing any.

#4 - Get the part with the pedals out. Turn it over. Carefully snip the little tie holding that cable (there's only one cable on this part). Let it loose behind the pedal part as you place the pedal part where you want the piano to stand. (I don't know what the cable is for yet, but if you ever want access to it again, now is a good time to set it free, lest you enjoy lifting pianos.) NOTE: if you're putting this piano against a wall, back the pedal part up away from the wall about a yard for now - you'll see why later.

#5 - There are 2 side pieces with little foot thingies on them. The foot thingies go on the floor, and the prongs to the middle. Put them on either side of the pedal part.

#6 - Put the pedal part OVER each of the side pieces, line up the holes, and take 2 of your BIG screws on each side and the nice red screwdriver provided. Screw. Screw. Repeat on other side.

#7 - Take the big board piece out. Now we're happy we didn't smush the pedal part against the wall. (If you did, just pull it back away from the wall now a bit.) Attach the big black board to the nice little 1/2 piano you've made for yourself thus far (so prouda you!). See that one side of the board has lots of holes and the other side has only 2? Put the lots of holes side closest to the pedal part. See those 2 holes at the top? See how they line up perfectly with the 2 things sticking out of the side parts? Yep. Screw and screw, using the 2 little non-pointy screws without washers. Using the other teeny screws provided (4 little pointy screws with washers attached), screw across the bottom.

#8 - Plug the big black power cable into the wall. That's right, it's random. Just do it. Move the little 1/2 piano you made back against the wall (leave yourself about 6 inches.)

#8.5 - Get a drink of water. Empty your bladder. Remember the whole "lift with your knees" thing. Get a friend if you have one. If not, let's go. I did it myself, and I'm a girl. That's right, pansy. (Just make sure you have a warranty before attempting this if you're better on keys than weights...I am NOT liable for your broken piano!)

#9 - Look at the 1/2 piano you made. See the part on the top where you have U-shaped grooves? VERY IMPORTANT. Get the keyboard part out. Stand it up on its side and get a good look and the underneath. See towards the back where you have little nubbins? These hook into the U-grooves. Yeah. So not only do you have to somehow lift this monstrosity up and onto your little 1/2 piano, you have to get the nubbins to slide into the U-groves. (You really might want to rethink ordering pizza and inviting the neighbor over to help you. This also will aid in future neighbor-relations if you are an apartment-dweller and long to jam out on your new piano.)

#10 - You got it up there? You ROCK. Take a look at the underneath. Did you get the nubbins in the U-grooves? Almost? At this point, I laid down on my back and used my feet up against the bottom of the keyboard to aid in using my leg power (far superior to my weak arms, which according to Dwight Shrute, are one of the weaknesses of my female species- (The Office? Anyone?) to nudge the nubbins in. Aaaah. Bask in the glow. Awwww yeah. While you're down there, see where beside the U-shaped groove, and also in the front, you've now also lined up holes where it looks like screws should be? Yeah. Dig out the 4 biggest screws and screw it, screw it. Repeat on other side: screw it, screw it. :) I just like saying that. You'll be saying that, too, about now.

#10.5 - Crack open a beer (or Perrier, whatev). Take a sip. *Smack, ahhhh!*
It kinda looks like, A PIANO!

#11 - Take the black powercord I told you to plug in earlier, string it through the space between the flat board and the keyboard. Plug it into the bottom of the keyboard. Take the cord you let loose behind the pedal part in step a long time ago and plug it into bottom of keyboard where it says "pedal." That white cord you don't really need until you want to upload some stuff to your computer. I just plugged it in as well and let it hang, or else I'd lose it eventually. Forever.

#11 - Goosebumps. Untape the keyboard. You've earned it. Open the lid carefully, sliding it back over the keys. Remove the tape from the keys.

#12 - OMG. Press the "ON" button on the left. Getting some action yet? You should see red on the display. If not, double check all your connections and plugs. *NOTE: the volume might be turned all the way down, so make sure you put it in the middle before....PLAYING YOUR PIANO!!!!! :)

#13 - A bit about leftover parts: I'm not the manufacturer, and I don't care. I'm offering these instructions out of the goodness of my heart. Keep them, throw them away, screw them. Enjoy your piano!

I just bought this piano yesterday and didn't read the reviews until now.

My opinion is this:

This instrument is wonderful. I am a 10+year piano player. I have a bachelor's in music and grew up with my own cherry Yamaha baby grand in a room with hardwood floors. If you don't know, that just means I have the alpha piano to compare it to.

To be clear, this comes nowhere close. But then again, my parents spent upwards of 10 grand on that piano and it was used and on sale.

I bought this for $499 at Guitar Center in San Antonio and they threw a piano bench in for free. From what I've seen, you cannot get an upright digital piano for cheaper. Period. That being said, this piano rivals most of the upright acoustics I've played on and blows all the others out of the water. The most annoying thing about an average upright is that the older they get they less they hold their tune, and random keys may lose tension. Keyboards tend to have unstable stands (not good with little ones around), and it is seriously frustrating when I lose the sustain pedal in the middle of a piece because it's not anchored to anything. This piano takes care of all of that. And to compare to an acoustic upright for $500 - you just won't find it in any store. You might find it on Craigslist, but good luck with that..

About the piano itself: The action is good. Not performance standard, but good. Much better than a lot of older though well taken care of acoustic pianos. The sustain pedel isn't what I'd like it to be, but I haven't figured out all the settings yet. And all my college professors yelled at me for overusing it anyway. :) Overall, a quality piece of equipment. Definitely compare to others the same price, but as a professional who actually went around and played all the under $800 pianos in San Antonio, this one definitely takes the cake.

If you compare this digital piano to other digital pianos costing $1200 or more, you will find some faults. The action is not as crisp or smooth, the sound is not as good, and there aren't a ton of options. However, for the price, the features and quality that this digital piano delivers is in my opinion very good. It is solidly built, has decent (but not great) action, and has enough options voices to be a very good beginner piano.

I've also found significantly better sound can be achieved by setting the "brightness" to 12, and the "reverb" to 2. Make sure you save these settings, or they will revert back to the defaults after you turn the piano back off.

Also, there are some pretty good deals to be had on this piano if you negotiate. I purchased it at discount (new), and got some nice goodies thrown in for free.

We bought a Williams Overture piano from Guitar Center for our son in January of 2009. Warranty of 12 months expired and the keys started clattering when played. Then at about 24 months, it stopped playing completely. It is a DUD.

I'd been playing on a keyboard but bought this digital piano from guitar center. Didn't get a chance to play it in the store before purchasing it, because they didn't have one set up. When I got it home, I decided it was "ok" for the money. $[...] bucks but I only paid $[...]. The downfall of this piano is when you press the key(s) you can hear the loud hammer action which somewhat overshadows the piano sound. If you can live with that and just want a beginner piano, this isn't bad. I'm not taking it back. Will work with it until moving into a permanent place and buying a "real" piano.

Been playing the piano since I was a boy, I know what it should sound and feel like. No knock on anyone who bought this and kept it, this is just my personal opinion.

Saw an add for 4th of July sale at Guitar Center. I tested this piano at their store in Allen Park MI, sounded ok for the price. I gotta admit, the look and the price sold me. (Egg on my face for being cheap!)

Bought it, took it home played with it....1st thought "Man...i made a bad choice". Played with it again the following day, still sounded horrible. I felt bad for bringing it back to the store, but I knew i was goin to be unhappy with it in the long run. Ended up upgrading to a Yamaha for twice the cost, but I'm happier I made that decision.

Over all, if you dont care about the hammer action, the overall sound of what a piano should sound like, and want something that just looks good...then buy this! It looks great, but it sounds dull!

If you want a true piano sound and your on a budget, just save up a lil longer and get the better quality piano that you really want.

Hope this help you out =)

I HAVE PLAYED PIANO FOR A FEW YEARS AND JUST DOESN'T SEEM REALISTIC TO ME. THE ACTION SEEMS SLOPPY TO MY TOUCH COMPARED TO OUR TEACHERS DIGITAL.