Beyond the normal gamut of synthesisers, listed in the last buyers' guide, are the next two most important keyboard instruments for the modern player: the electric or electronic piano, and the preset string synthesiser. Once again, there are many varied types to choose from, as you will see from our listing — you can get a kit that you'll have to assemble yourselves, or you can pay a lot of money for a real top-line job, in both areas. Or you can go for something in between. Our advice, as ever, is to make sure that you get plenty of demos of the various instruments in your price range before committing yourself, and get as many opinions — as diverse as possible — from fellow musicians.

To guide you and your purse through the myriad collection of keyboards that, next to synths, often come under the generic heading 'other keyboards', we've split this month's buyers guide into the two relevant bits: one headed 'Electric and Electronic Pianos', the other 'Preset String Synths+'. The little plus on the end of string synths is there because we've included some combination keyboards where necessary.

All the prices are INCLUSIVE OF VAT, and were correct at press time as recommended retail figures. We suggest that you check with the distributor listed for current bargains. Our descriptions are necessarily brief, but once again you'll find the distributors helpful for more info. Please remember it helps us if you mention E&MM when making enquiries.

ABBREVIATIONS USED
approx — approximately; avail — available; br — brass; oct — octave; org — organ; polysynth — polyphonic synthesiser section; spkr — speaker; str — strings.