Mark wrote:

Does anyone else have a concern about the masonite panel used on the bottom of the Montage.

What "concern" are you referring to - or what "concerns" you...?

Masonite is a building material that I did not expect to see on an expensive electronic instrument. This is used for paneling and such and usually has a "skin" of some sort. It also is subject to deterioration if scratched or dented which could easily happen when using at a gig. I don't see it holding up for 10 years. And psychologically it looks cheap.

They make table tennis tables and skateboard ramps from Masonite...

G- yes but they have a skin or coating don't they?

Not sure...

Maybe you found an improvement for the Montage +! lol

My montage 6 is black and metal on the bottom, no masonite

I wonder if they used Masonite, vs. metal, on the 88 key to cut down on key noise... ?

My Motif XS8, XF8 and Kronos also has the wooden board for the bottom.

I owned a Triton Pro X and a Fantom G8 (both are 88 keys) and they had a masonite panel on the bottom. I used them both on stage without any problem ever with any of them.

Jeremy and Stadjan... thank you for your reply. I feel better about it now. It was just a shock when I saw it because it was such a stark difference from all my previous keyboards. Perhaps if it was black or covered with a similar material as a drum I would not have had my reaction.

I do agree that it looks cheap - for a $4,000 keyboard.

Yamaha could have easily covered the Masonite with something black or some type of material the same color as the Montage.

But then, the plastic sides with the screws showing makes it look cheap too - they could have did what the Kronos did and gave it sides (even in plastic) that covered the screws.

I also agree it gives a slightly dodgy impression. It was a bit of weird shock to me too to the point where I wondered if it was the original bottom or if the previous owner had replaced it themselves with this one.

G- I also have a Kurzweil PC3K8 and it is a beautiful machine with wood sides. Yamaha could have done better.

I have a montage 6 and the bottom is metal and super nice. Which model is this?