VOX Continental 73 BK Stage Piano

General

Way back when, portable organs were a godsend for touring bands, simply because carting a legendary Hammond B3 juggernaut between venues was a touring nightmare. Those more compact and band-friendly organs also came with their own unique quality of sound, and it's exactly this sound that the VOX Continental 73 BK stage piano encapsulates. While Vox isn't as well known for building keyboards these days, this is one thoughtful and detailed stage piano. So, you not only get a thick and satisfying organ sound but a total of 10.5 gigabytes of sounds to experiment with, including pianos, electric pianos, orechestral sounds, and synthesizers.

The VOX Continental 73 BK: Pure Potential

The most striking feature of the control panel has to be the drawbar section which has ditched the old-school mechanical sliders and replaced them with a set of virtual sliders laid out on a touch panel. The advantage of this setup is that the values are automatically switched as you flip through sounds and the sliders can be used for tweaking multiple parameters. The playability is also on point thanks to the waterfall keyboard, which supports pain-free hand slides.

Who is it Built For?

So who's likely to get the most out of this stage-focussed beast? Of course, this jack of all trades is way more than just a stage piano, which will definitely make it a great option for gigging bands, especially since it weighs less than ten kilograms. The controls are also neat and easy to navigate, so this model definitely hasn't been designed for deep-diving synthesis, but instead, it's been designed with performing musicians in mind, setting up the key player with a mass of options alongside the absolute essentials. And lest we forget, this piano can scream.

• Please note: This is a limited edition product.