Williams Overture 88 Key review
Williams Pianos has been working steadily since their inception to provide quality pianos of all kinds on a larger scale. They are one of the lesser known brands in the digital piano market, but they are slowly doing more and more to prove themselves as one of the better brands to buy. While they don’t have as much of an established base like other companies, they make up for it by pouring everything they have into the few products they have.
Williams Pianos deals exclusively in digital pianos, and they try to bring more of a classical representation in their models of real pianos. A lot of their models have the look and feel of distinct class, and even though every Williams isn’t at the top of its class, it’s sure to be a quality machine capable of getting the job done.
The Williams Overture succinctly fits into this description. It can be considered the cabinet upright older brother of the Allegro, which is a respectable machine in its own right. The Overture provides all of the popular features in any contemporary digital piano, along with the technological advancements necessary to be a viable contender for consumers.
Piano Buying Guide
Below, please enjoy the interactive guide that was created to make your piano purchase easier. Compare the available Williams Overture to the best pianos in its class:
| Photo | Model |
|---|---|
 | Casio PX-S1100 |
 | Alesis Prestige Artist |
 | Casio CDP-S360 |
 | Yamaha P-515 |
 | Casio PX-870 |
 | Korg LP-180 |
 | Casio PX-770 |
Williams Overture Review: Features
The Williams Overture is a full sized, 88-key digital piano, and describes itself as having hammer action weighted keys. The construction of the machine is meant to resemble that of an upright piano, and it has an overall general and modern build to it, comparable to many other digital upright pianos. It has a classy look to it, and the texture of the frame actually surprised me with its quality. It comes in one color, a smooth, ebony black finish with a wood-grain feel to it.
The piano comes with a sturdy music rest, which fits snugly into the top of the piano. It has a nice, compact cabinet which covers the piano encasing and also serves as a home for the pedal board. The three-pedal unit running along the base of the piano doesn’t look out of place, and is a welcome sight for Williams piano aficionados looking to take their piano playing to new heights.
Below, please find a list of some of the best selling digital pianos online, and see how these instruments compare to the Williams Overture:
| BEST SELLERS |
|---|
| 1) Yamaha P-515 |
| 2) Casio PX-S3100 |
| 3) Casio PX-870 |
| 4) Roland FP-E50 |
| 5) Roland FP-30X |
More Features
The keybed of the Williams Overture is actually more than respectable, and I would even venture to say that it is comparable to the models within the Yamaha Arius line. The keys have an authentic feel to them, and I even love the red trim that runs along the base of the keys. Each key is weighted and has a specially built hammer action built into which you can immediately feel. The keys however, are not graded, so you won’t feel any different touch response as you move from the bass to the treble.
I felt very comfortable with the 64-note polyphony of the Overture, and it definitely worked well with the response of the pedal unit. This piano doesn’t have the overwhelming response of some of the higher-end pianos in its class, but you shouldn’t have any problems with dropped notes playing individually on this machine. One of the only knocks about the piano is the sustain pedal, as sometimes it seems as though some of the piano samples don’t hold out for long enough. However, that is a pretty nit-picky detail, and shouldn’t be a deal breaker for most people.
Tones and Voices
The Overture comes with a good selection of voices and tones, and I felt pretty satisfied listening to its grand piano tone. As with any good digital piano, the body of work will be mostly defined by how well the concert grand piano tones are put together, and I believe Williams Pianos has done a good job in bringing good sampling to the Overture.
There are 14 other tones beside the grand piano sound, including two other pianos, two electric pianos, a vibraphone, harpsichord, clavinet, nylon string guitar, three different organs, and three different string selections. The Overture has the ability to layer different instruments on top of each other, and I felt the original grand piano tone layered over some strings produced a wonderful sound. The piano also has the ability to split into different instrument sections, and even a Duet mode, like some of the competing Yamaha or Privia models. In that mode a teacher and a student can play identical sections of the piano together, technique that could prove valuable for any pianist. Williams has also done well to include two different headphone jacks for this purpose, so there’s no danger of waking up anyone else in the house, let alone the neighbors.
Connectivity of the Williams Overture Digital Piano
I’m very impressed by the connectivity of the Williams Overture and it shows the company has made a concerted effort to keep their piano models as current as possible. The piano has both USB and MIDI connection capabilities, allowing for a number of possibilities for the musician. This connection allows for up to 136 external GM voices to be utilized if the 15 preset voices are not enough. The MIDI in/out ports allow for the Williams Overture to connect to other devices and act as a MIDI controller.
The Overture also comes with a nice reverb effect that sounds pretty wonderful when you put on a pair of headphones. It also has a distinct chorus effect that will give the grand piano tone a more full sound. The piano also comes with a handy metronome which can be adjusted to the desired tempo, and a capable two-track 3,000 note recorder which can save and transmit files to a personal device or computer.
In addition to the 15 preset voices are 58 practice demo songs which come pre-loaded onto the piano. These pieces can be used as wonderful teaching devices, and all come with separate left hand and right hand training notation to foster good learning techniques.
Conclusion
The Williams Overture is a great buy, and once you get acquainted with the machine, you realize that it offers a lot of value for its price. The truth is, many of the bigger brand name companies rely on their name to jack up prices for digital pianos that should cost a lot less. The Williams Overture fills that void, and for less than $600, anybody should be pleased to have it.
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