Original Post
Written by
Edited December 5, 2021
at 04:58 PM
by
Roland FRP-1 Digital Piano Bundle is on sale at Costco for $550 after $100 instant savings.
Been shopping around for learning pianos and this is one of the best beginner pianos around this price point.
Features:
- Roland FP-10 Digital Piano w/ fully weighted keys
- Includes Bench, Headphones, Sustain Pedal, Stand, 90-Day Pianote Lessons
- Ivory-feel Progressive Hammer Action Keyboard
- Rich Grand Piano Tones and Many More
- Bluetooth Control of Piano and Apps
- 5-years Parts, 2-years Labor Warranty
Available in store and online (with $70 delivery fee)
https://www.costco.com/roland-frp...19453.html
123 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Featured Comments
tl;dr This Costco deal is great. Great keyboard action, Super cheap, comes with stand and bench, and can take back to costco years from now if run in to any serious problems.
Note: this Costco Roland FRP-1 Digital Piano Bundle is the name of the bundle. The Roland keyboard in the bundle is the FP-10. Look at youtube reviews on the Roland FP-10 for info.
I actually think the $150 extra for the Kawaii ES110 is worth it. It's not that simple though. The ES110 does not come with a stand ($100 extra), or a sitting bench. The Roland at Costco comes with a stand and bench and costs $550 instead of $700 +$100 +$40. And the nail in the coffin is since you are buying the Roland from Costco you can return it years later if the one you got ends up being a lemon.
The ES110 has better action. It's lighter and more sensitive. The only 'con' according to one online reviewer is because it's light, learners might not get the finger muscle built up enough to instantly move over to playing an acoustic piano. I don't agree with that. The sensitivity is more important to becoming a good player, and if you move over to a grand piano with good feel and technique, it's probably better gaining strength after that.
The cons of the Costco Roland is it does not have old school midi in/out ports. It has USB to connect to computer, and bluetooth usb to connect to tablets. You can use all the computer software with the Roland, but you can not directly connect the Roland keyboard to something else and use the Roland as a controller. You would have to first connect both to the computer. So a computer has to be involved for the roland to be used as a controller. I don't think many will want to use it as a controller directly. Only as a controller to a computer.
I do Not like Casios and am surprised how accepting even pros are to them. I find Casio sounds cheezy, and the ones that sound 'good' sound to me more like a facsimile of good then actually good. Never liked them. They are getting less cheezy over time, but it is still a mixed bad.
Even in the Youtube review Roland vs Casio posted in this thread the guy said the casio felt spongy, and the next casio up had a different keyboard action mechanism. As Jesse said, This Costco Roland has the same keyboard action mechanism as senior model Rolands up to about the $1200 price point. Those models have more features (including old school midi connections) but the main thing is this Costco Roland has great action for the price.
The Costco roland comes with a cheap, annoying singled pedal. The ES110 comes with a single quality pedal. For both the Roland and the ES110, a 3 pedal insert ad-on can be bought that fits in to the stand (costco roland comes with stand, ES110 is an add-on). I think they cost about $150. I don't know about the casio. If you buy the Costco Roland, I advise you buy a quality single pedal (if not the 3-pedal insert) to replace the crappy one it comes with. Can do that later though. No hurry.
Pro tip: Costco charges $70 shipping if you buy this roland online. If you go to the store you don't have to pay it. If you are in store and think 'man, that box will not fit in my car'. Good news. When you get the box to your car you can open the box. Inside you will find 4 boxes that can be taken out and put in your camry. Depending on your car, at worst, you should show up with a red flag and some thin rope, and let the biggest box hang out your trunk, legally with the red flag. I folded over the main box and could squish it in the car. $70 is $70 bucks.
Pro tip 2: If you buy the Costco Roland, and have been happily using it for a few months, trust it, Consider disassembling the Stand and Bench, and reassembling them using small amounts of gorilla glue in the joints and where surfaces connect. This will make the cheaper build become rock solid. Caveat, It might be harder or even not returnable if you do this. Maybe just use a glue gun with strong glue on this one.
The fp10, is the piano that's in the bundle, it's got a heavier action than yamaha's $500, p45.
The majority of pianists prefer lighter actions, but it's up in the air. You won't know as a beginner,
I can tell you about all the technical details and the merits of each, but it means nothing to you because you're not IN IT yet.
IMHO for beginners, Just swing the bat and upgrade in 3-4 years.
On the plus side (seemingly--because I haven't tried this piano) the keys with hammer action have actual hammers and from what I've read this is the closest type of feel to a real piano.
On the negative side--some of the sounds in the video. I would think if you want to sell a product you'd probably present the best of sounds in your demonstration video. If that's true this piano has a long way to go. I watched it on my phone but can pretty much still understand the sounds presented (-except with the piano sound I'd want to listen to on a preferred stereo to hear nuances in tone). To continue, the strings sound pretty much sounds in par with my really old Casio Privia. I'm not knocking my privia but I really don't use it for strings. Same with the electric piano sound--what was that? The organ was ok (jazz style) but I wouldn't pick that one to sell this piano. I'd probably pick a sound more similar to Frank's wild years (Tom Waits). The organ presented just sounded a little too staccato but that may be just my personal preference. And all of what I'm saying is personal preference. With any instrument it's best to go to an actual music store to experince the feel and sound yourself. Or at least try the different brands and different types of weighted keys. You might find something particular that would make you pay even more for this piano. Or you may find a deal breaker that you'd never have known of just by buying online and not testing in a store.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
https://youtu.be/BLCUhd0NVfE
Here is a comparison with the slightly higher end Casio CDP S350. They also have a separate in-depth review of the FP 10. If you don't want to listen to the review the reviewer also posts the entire review script in the video description.
I should be riding a Lambo in no time.
I should be riding a Lambo in no time.
You sound like hating, but hey why not join them if you can't win?
*It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingd... [salon.com]
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank jeffricks2051
Get this and don't look back.
This. It's as if you read my comments in other threads. Not really though, because anyone with a discerning brain would conclude the same thing.
tl;dr This Costco deal is great. Great keyboard action, Super cheap, comes with stand and bench, and can take back to costco years from now if run in to any serious problems.
Note: this Costco Roland FRP-1 Digital Piano Bundle is the name of the bundle. The Roland keyboard in the bundle is the FP-10. Look at youtube reviews on the Roland FP-10 for info.
I actually think the $150 extra for the Kawaii ES110 is worth it. It's not that simple though. The ES110 does not come with a stand ($100 extra), or a sitting bench. The Roland at Costco comes with a stand and bench and costs $550 instead of $700 +$100 +$40. And the nail in the coffin is since you are buying the Roland from Costco you can return it years later if the one you got ends up being a lemon.
The ES110 has better action. It's lighter and more sensitive. The only 'con' according to one online reviewer is because it's light, learners might not get the finger muscle built up enough to instantly move over to playing an acoustic piano. I don't agree with that. The sensitivity is more important to becoming a good player, and if you move over to a grand piano with good feel and technique, it's probably better gaining strength after that.
The cons of the Costco Roland is it does not have old school midi in/out ports. It has USB to connect to computer, and bluetooth usb to connect to tablets. You can use all the computer software with the Roland, but you can not directly connect the Roland keyboard to something else and use the Roland as a controller. You would have to first connect both to the computer. So a computer has to be involved for the roland to be used as a controller. I don't think many will want to use it as a controller directly. Only as a controller to a computer.
I do Not like Casios and am surprised how accepting even pros are to them. I find Casio sounds cheezy, and the ones that sound 'good' sound to me more like a facsimile of good then actually good. Never liked them. They are getting less cheezy over time, but it is still a mixed bad.
Even in the Youtube review Roland vs Casio posted in this thread the guy said the casio felt spongy, and the next casio up had a different keyboard action mechanism. As Jesse said, This Costco Roland has the same keyboard action mechanism as senior model Rolands up to about the $1200 price point. Those models have more features (including old school midi connections) but the main thing is this Costco Roland has great action for the price.
The Costco roland comes with a cheap, annoying singled pedal. The ES110 comes with a single quality pedal. For both the Roland and the ES110, a 3 pedal insert ad-on can be bought that fits in to the stand (costco roland comes with stand, ES110 is an add-on). I think they cost about $150. I don't know about the casio. If you buy the Costco Roland, I advise you buy a quality single pedal (if not the 3-pedal insert) to replace the crappy one it comes with. Can do that later though. No hurry.
Pro tip: Costco charges $70 shipping if you buy this roland online. If you go to the store you don't have to pay it. If you are in store and think 'man, that box will not fit in my car'. Good news. When you get the box to your car you can open the box. Inside you will find 4 boxes that can be taken out and put in your camry. Depending on your car, at worst, you should show up with a red flag and some thin rope, and let the biggest box hang out your trunk, legally with the red flag. I folded over the main box and could squish it in the car. $70 is $70 bucks.
Pro tip 2: If you buy the Costco Roland, and have been happily using it for a few months, trust it, Consider disassembling the Stand and Bench, and reassembling them using small amounts of gorilla glue in the joints and where surfaces connect. This will make the cheaper build become rock solid. Caveat, It might be harder or even not returnable if you do this. Maybe just use a glue gun with strong glue on this one.
On the plus side (seemingly--because I haven't tried this piano) the keys with hammer action have actual hammers and from what I've read this is the closest type of feel to a real piano.
On the negative side--some of the sounds in the video. I would think if you want to sell a product you'd probably present the best of sounds in your demonstration video. If that's true this piano has a long way to go. I watched it on my phone but can pretty much still understand the sounds presented (-except with the piano sound I'd want to listen to on a preferred stereo to hear nuances in tone). To continue, the strings sound pretty much sounds in par with my really old Casio Privia. I'm not knocking my privia but I really don't use it for strings. Same with the electric piano sound--what was that? The organ was ok (jazz style) but I wouldn't pick that one to sell this piano. I'd probably pick a sound more similar to Frank's wild years (Tom Waits). The organ presented just sounded a little too staccato but that may be just my personal preference. And all of what I'm saying is personal preference. With any instrument it's best to go to an actual music store to experince the feel and sound yourself. Or at least try the different brands and different types of weighted keys. You might find something particular that would make you pay even more for this piano. Or you may find a deal breaker that you'd never have known of just by buying online and not testing in a store.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I love the action on this piano. Very few compare in the price bracket, and it just feels... natural. Some report clicking issues, and if I'm being honest - there may be a bit on mine, if I'm playing without headphones. But Costco's return policy should cover you in that case, and it's really a fantastic deal for piano/stand/bench. Buy this and don't look back.
Another thing to note - this has ivory-simulated keycaps, which means sweaty hands aren't an issue. I don't think the ES110 has those, sadly. It does make a difference.
Lastly, if you're note wowed by the sounds in the default piano, an extra PC with PianoTeq changes everything. It's a while (and ~$100) to set up, but you end up with a great-feeling piano going through a top end Steinway engine. Good luck all!
tl;dr This Costco deal is great. Great keyboard action, Super cheap, comes with stand and bench, and can take back to costco years from now if run in to any serious problems.
Note: this Costco Roland FRP-1 Digital Piano Bundle is the name of the bundle. The Roland keyboard in the bundle is the FP-10. Look at youtube reviews on the Roland FP-10 for info.
I actually think the $150 extra for the Kawaii ES110 is worth it. It's not that simple though. The ES110 does not come with a stand ($100 extra), or a sitting bench. The Roland at Costco comes with a stand and bench and costs $550 instead of $700 +$100 +$40. And the nail in the coffin is since you are buying the Roland from Costco you can return it years later if the one you got ends up being a lemon.
The ES110 has better action. It's lighter and more sensitive. The only 'con' according to one online reviewer is because it's light, learners might not get the finger muscle built up enough to instantly move over to playing an acoustic piano. I don't agree with that. The sensitivity is more important to becoming a good player, and if you move over to a grand piano with good feel and technique, it's probably better gaining strength after that.
The cons of the Costco Roland is it does not have old school midi in/out ports. It has USB to connect to computer, and bluetooth usb to connect to tablets. You can use all the computer software with the Roland, but you can not directly connect the Roland keyboard to something else and use the Roland as a controller. You would have to first connect both to the computer. So a computer has to be involved for the roland to be used as a controller. I don't think many will want to use it as a controller directly. Only as a controller to a computer.
I do Not like Casios and am surprised how accepting even pros are to them. I find Casio sounds cheezy, and the ones that sound 'good' sound to me more like a facsimile of good then actually good. Never liked them. They are getting less cheezy over time, but it is still a mixed bad.
Even in the Youtube review Roland vs Casio posted in this thread the guy said the casio felt spongy, and the next casio up had a different keyboard action mechanism. As Jesse said, This Costco Roland has the same keyboard action mechanism as senior model Rolands up to about the $1200 price point. Those models have more features (including old school midi connections) but the main thing is this Costco Roland has great action for the price.
The Costco roland comes with a cheap, annoying singled pedal. The ES110 comes with a single quality pedal. For both the Roland and the ES110, a 3 pedal insert ad-on can be bought that fits in to the stand (costco roland comes with stand, ES110 is an add-on). I think they cost about $150. I don't know about the casio. If you buy the Costco Roland, I advise you buy a quality single pedal (if not the 3-pedal insert) to replace the crappy one it comes with. Can do that later though. No hurry.
Pro tip: Costco charges $70 shipping if you buy this roland online. If you go to the store you don't have to pay it. If you are in store and think 'man, that box will not fit in my car'. Good news. When you get the box to your car you can open the box. Inside you will find 4 boxes that can be taken out and put in your camry. Depending on your car, at worst, you should show up with a red flag and some thin rope, and let the biggest box hang out your trunk, legally with the red flag. I folded over the main box and could squish it in the car. $70 is $70 bucks.
Pro tip 2: If you buy the Costco Roland, and have been happily using it for a few months, trust it, Consider disassembling the Stand and Bench, and reassembling them using small amounts of gorilla glue in the joints and where surfaces connect. This will make the cheaper build become rock solid. Caveat, It might be harder or even not returnable if you do this. Maybe just use a glue gun with strong glue on this one.
I believe the FP1 and FP10 do not support hooking up a three pedal. The FP30x does.
1) The pedal that it comes with is garbage. You can buy a nice Roland pedal (around $50 iirc) which supports half-pedaling for damper.
2) The piano itself provides very little in terms of sounds and functionality, you have to use an app for a lot of it. I'm not a fan of the app either.
3) I don't believe there's any sort of cover you can purchase except for a stretchy fabric one with elastic. Unfortunately it's really hard to get one of those types of covers to stay on. Plus, it looks kind of cheap if you're planning on having the piano in your living room or something.
4) The speakers aren't the best. Don't expect the sound to fill more than a small room.
Other than that I like it, though I'm still a beginner.
tl;dr This Costco deal is great. Great keyboard action, Super cheap, comes with stand and bench, and can take back to costco years from now if run in to any serious problems.
Note: this Costco Roland FRP-1 Digital Piano Bundle is the name of the bundle. The Roland keyboard in the bundle is the FP-10. Look at youtube reviews on the Roland FP-10 for info.
I actually think the $150 extra for the Kawaii ES110 is worth it. It's not that simple though. The ES110 does not come with a stand ($100 extra), or a sitting bench. The Roland at Costco comes with a stand and bench and costs $550 instead of $700 +$100 +$40. And the nail in the coffin is since you are buying the Roland from Costco you can return it years later if the one you got ends up being a lemon.
The ES110 has better action. It's lighter and more sensitive. The only 'con' according to one online reviewer is because it's light, learners might not get the finger muscle built up enough to instantly move over to playing an acoustic piano. I don't agree with that. The sensitivity is more important to becoming a good player, and if you move over to a grand piano with good feel and technique, it's probably better gaining strength after that.
The cons of the Costco Roland is it does not have old school midi in/out ports. It has USB to connect to computer, and bluetooth usb to connect to tablets. You can use all the computer software with the Roland, but you can not directly connect the Roland keyboard to something else and use the Roland as a controller. You would have to first connect both to the computer. So a computer has to be involved for the roland to be used as a controller. I don't think many will want to use it as a controller directly. Only as a controller to a computer.
I do Not like Casios and am surprised how accepting even pros are to them. I find Casio sounds cheezy, and the ones that sound 'good' sound to me more like a facsimile of good then actually good. Never liked them. They are getting less cheezy over time, but it is still a mixed bad.
Even in the Youtube review Roland vs Casio posted in this thread the guy said the casio felt spongy, and the next casio up had a different keyboard action mechanism. As Jesse said, This Costco Roland has the same keyboard action mechanism as senior model Rolands up to about the $1200 price point. Those models have more features (including old school midi connections) but the main thing is this Costco Roland has great action for the price.
The Costco roland comes with a cheap, annoying singled pedal. The ES110 comes with a single quality pedal. For both the Roland and the ES110, a 3 pedal insert ad-on can be bought that fits in to the stand (costco roland comes with stand, ES110 is an add-on). I think they cost about $150. I don't know about the casio. If you buy the Costco Roland, I advise you buy a quality single pedal (if not the 3-pedal insert) to replace the crappy one it comes with. Can do that later though. No hurry.
Pro tip: Costco charges $70 shipping if you buy this roland online. If you go to the store you don't have to pay it. If you are in store and think 'man, that box will not fit in my car'. Good news. When you get the box to your car you can open the box. Inside you will find 4 boxes that can be taken out and put in your camry. Depending on your car, at worst, you should show up with a red flag and some thin rope, and let the biggest box hang out your trunk, legally with the red flag. I folded over the main box and could squish it in the car. $70 is $70 bucks.
Pro tip 2: If you buy the Costco Roland, and have been happily using it for a few months, trust it, Consider disassembling the Stand and Bench, and reassembling them using small amounts of gorilla glue in the joints and where surfaces connect. This will make the cheaper build become rock solid. Caveat, It might be harder or even not returnable if you do this. Maybe just use a glue gun with strong glue on this one.
I have this piano (well my kid has it!). It was okayed by the piano teacher and we have been happy with it. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to record out of this piano. I used the Roland app but I have not been able to export it as mp3 out of it. I used garage band but the piano sounds wrong there. Do you have any pointers?
The FP-10 actually has the same action as the FP30. I bought this the first day it went on sale and I quite enjoy playing it. The speakers are underpowered though, but I play mostly with headphones anyway. The pedal that comes with it is garbage though, would recommend replacing it with the Roland DP-10. Bench is great. Would highly recommend it overall.
It really shouldn't be that hard, I'd think. There's two basic ways. You should be able to run the DAW software that came with it, or any DAW software and simply save the file. It should be in the menus somewhere. If you want it in MP3 format you Might have to get a conversion program, which are widely available and many free. The second way is to use the headphone output jack and run the cable to a Interface, then a usb cable from the interface to the computer. It's meant to be used with a set volume, line out port. But the FP-10 doesn't have one so you will have to use the mic output and coarsely adjust the volume to be about the same as line out would be. Using the DAW software is the way to do it. It's good to know how the interface works though, also.. The interface will let you connect a microphone to the computer so you can sing with piano playing on an independent, editable track. Recommended. Can even add affects to voice to make voice palatable till you gain some vocal skill. Also, a voice class at a community college is a good thing to do, especially if it's the only class you are taking.
This box will let you bring in instruments and microphone. It has 'phantom power' which will power a condenser mic. This deal includes a mic. (think deal is still going).
https://slickdeals.net/f/15462454-presonus-audiobox-96-studio-complete-hardware-software-recording-kit-w-acc-kit-from-150?src=frontpa
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.