Yamaha CP-80

The Yamaha CP-80 was an acoustic/electric grand piano launched in the mid-1970s. It is the bigger version of the Yamaha CP-70, with 88 keys instead of 73 (an extra octave).

Peter Gabriel's Yamaha CP-80
The Yamaha CP-80 was Peter Gabriel's choice for grand piano, following the Yamaha CP-70. As photos & reports indicate, he already had the CP-80 around during recording of the So album at Ashcombe House in 1985 - at least alternating between this and the CP-70, but preferred this one in the end. Like with the CP-70, he normally used a Boss Chorus effects pedal to produce a distinctive shimmering stereo sound on the CP-80 which none of the newer pedals could match.

He used the CP-80 a lot for subsequent studio efforts & live performances until the mid-1990s. It appears on the Passion soundtrack (1989) and the Us (1992) album. He also played the CP-80 on Joni Mitchell's "Beat Of Black Wings", released on Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm in 1988. And also on Robbie Robertson's "Fallen Angel", where the CP-80 was fed through the Boss Chorus and a Deltalab DL-2 delay.

While making Up, Peter made a noticeable shift away from his CP-70/CP-80-heavy sound and gravitated more towards Roland digital pianos and the acoustic Bosendorfer grand for a change. As of 2007, the CP-80 remains in storage.