$750 for a piano bench?

[cedar]

Now that I have a grand piano I enjoy (yes, still bragging about that), I thought maybe I should get something better than the usual wooden bench. Someone suggested a "Jansen Artist Bench."

 

http://www.jansenpianobenches.com/images/jansenpianobenchblackartist.jpg

 

Looks comfy, but according to the website (http://www.jansenpianobenches.com/jansen-artist-bench.html) , it is currently "on sale" for $750. I'm pretty sure I bought a couch for less than that once. (Website also indicates that the regular price is $900).

 

Anyone have one of these? I've never been concerned about the comfort of a bench before, but if it's exceptionally comfortable, maybe I'll look for a deal on ebay.

[cedar]

Or I could spend over $1100 for this on ebay:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-GENUINE-LEATHER-Ebony-Satin-JANSEN-Artist-Piano-Bench-Stool-Chair/360346707850?hash=item53e656678a:g:AJoAAOxymiVQ~QGO

[Markyboard]

Mine is going on 17 years. I have the leather and the bench does not show any sign of wear-seriously. I use it a lot. Never treated the leather or did anything else to it. How's that $750 couch looking these days ? To be fair my Dad got the vinyl version around the same time and I seem to recall the vinyl did not hold up - but I can't tell you how long it took. Then again, vinyl is making a come back .

 

Jansen's are built extremely well but yeah, that's a lot of dough - about double what I paid in 2002.

[Synthoid]

Another case of price gouging. :idk

 

 

[Markyboard]

Some don't share your viewpoint.

 

[Dave Ferris]

I have two. Both came with the pianos. The one that came with the Yamaha S6 is from'97. I asked the buyer when I sold it in 2006 if he wanted the bench but he said no, you can keep it. I have something I like. :idk I said ok, I will.

 

I sit on it everyday in the office playing the CP4. It's getting a little thin in the padding and could be re-stuffed. But the price is almost $500 with shipping, and that was last time I checked, probably has gone up. Through my tech's discount I can get a new one at that price. Even at 21 years old, it still feels better then most generic "keyboard benches".

 

The other one from 2005 came with the D. It still has some years left in the padding. Just roughly guessing, in 12 years, it has seen an average of 2 hours a day usage.

 

Yeah, they keep going up, like anything of high quality it seems. Except musician salaries... It is a lot of dough, but you'll have it for a very long time. It's the best in the industry.

[EscapeRocks]

When my parents bought the 1973 Steinway(that is mine now) brand new, we still had the hard wood bench that came with our old Story and Clark upright.

 

Two years later they bought a Jansen adjustable leather bench. 43 years later it is still the bench I sit on. The mechanism is perfect and the leather shows no signs of wear and is still padded as new.

 

I'd pay $750 for a new one if I needed one.

 

As with many things in life, you get what you pay for. Take one of these apart and look at the entire mechanism, for example. Hardcore heavy duty.

 

This is not a $99 screw together bench from GC

[wd8dky]

Does it have a butt-shaking subwoofer built in?

[ElmerJFudd]

Yeah, they are pricey. Lot's of knock offs abound. But a proper bench still costs a lot of money. So do good piano lamps. For comparison:

http://www.pianosupplies.com/piano/Jansen.html

 

Check out these hydraulic models:

http://www.pianosupplies.com/piano/HM_Piano_Benches.html

 

 

[Nathanael_I]

They are excellent. Owned that exact bench for many years. I'm not sure that the one at the Kawai is the "real deal", but it looks and performs the same. Pianos only have a few options. Benches and covers (and possibly a rolling stage stand). So you spend once and then there's nothing more to buy. It's all tunings and regulation from there.

[MathOfInsects]

For that much money, it should sit on my lap. In the back room. And I should get to touch it back.

[piano39]

I was perfectly happy with the wooden slab that the dealer "threw in" when I bought my Yamaha UX-3 piano. After reading this thread, I am jonesing for one of these $750 Jansen models.

 

I never knew these even existed.

[cedar]

The company also sells a model fir about $350 I think. Maybe thats a decent alternative?

[EricBarker]

Oh man, my butt feels good just LOOKING at that picture! But that's quite a bit of money. Maybe worth it... if you HAVE it.

[MuzikTeechur]

For $149, you should definitely consider this one. I have one at home and one in my music room at school that has seen more butts than a ... well, it's seen a lot of student abuse. And yet it lives (going on 15 years).

 

Comfy, adjustable, and won't cost you a lot. The storage isn't super deep, but that's not really a concern for me.

 

Musician's Friend Piano Bench

[drawback]

$750, my ass.

 

Butt seriously: they have one of these at my regular gig and Im not a fan. Its height-adjustable but the little round knob is an arthritic pain. Should be a lever. We have other players of all heights so this is a continual complaint. Also, nothing will wrinkle a pair of trousers like a tufted bench. And, theres no storage for tools of the trade (duster, band-aids, wet wipes, etc).

[JB Sherry]

That is the standard bench found in concert and recital halls everywhere. They are very comfortable and the height adjustment is really nice. Ive never had the opportunity to put in a full day of practice on that bench ( just sound-checks and concert), but back when I used to put in 6 hour days, having that padding would have literally saved my butt ( from callouses).

 

These days, I would still would like to have the continuous height adjustment, but it is a lot of dough. $375 in 2002 would be $523 today, but it is possible that the wood cost has well-exceeded the average cost of living increase.

 

A great bench, if you can swing it.

[Dave Ferris]

Ive never had the opportunity to put in a full day of practice on that bench ( just sound-checks and concert), but back when I used to put in 6 hour days, having that padding would have literally saved my butt ( from callouses).

 

When I would do 4-5 hour days, and only very infrequently 6 hours, 20-30 years ago , the bench was a huge part of the endurance and concentration/focus equation.

I had a standard wood bench with minimal padding for many years. I was able to suck it up generally because I was still in my middle to late '20s.

 

Once I got my first Artist bench with my C7e in 1988, I immediately noticed more concentration and comfort at the piano over longer hours.

 

Today, jeez I probably couldn't get to 45 minutes on one of those lightly padded wood piano benches.

 

I talk to Paul (Jr.?, he's older but I think his father was the founder of the company) it seems every other year at NAMM up in the piano room upstairs. He has offered a show discount a few times. It wasn't much, maybe 10 or 15% off. But I was always pretty much set with the two I had already.

 

Yes you can get knockoffs or his entry models and see how that works for you. But like Nathanael said, there's not a lot of stuff that goes with pianos once you have them other then maybe a cover, a decent lamp if you don't have one, Dampp Chaser and regular maintenance - tuning, voicing and regulation. Once you have it, again it's going to last a very long time.

[area51recording]

$750 IS a bite....if you're parking it in front of a $100k piano though....

[Joe Muscara]

Sigh. I bought a bench from this place shortly after I got my Kawai a few years ago and I love the bench. It was based on recommendations on PianoWorld. But, it started peeling about a year ago and it's kind of a disaster. You know when the pads on headphones start peeling and that black crap gets everywhere? Kind of like that.

 

I called the dealer and he supposedly ordered a new top for me and the price was right, but it still hasn't come in from China. So I'm sitting on this nice feeling bench with a pillowcase on it so the black crap doesn't come off on me and I have to vacuum around it to clean up occasionally. I haven't decided how much more I'm going to ask the dealer (if he actually ordered it and is waiting that's not his fault) or just get something else.

[zxcvbnm098]

As they say, "cry once". Buy the good one if you can afford it. The older I get, the more I try to get the good stuff, whether it's tequila, chocolate or gear.

[Six-string-man]

All manufacturers are the same. You'll pay over $750 for a Hammond organ bench, and that's just plain wood, no padding or height adjustment!

[Marzzz]

Have you shopped for furniture lately? $750 for a high quality piano bench like this is a steal. I have 15 years on mine and counting...

[Bif_]

. Then again, vinyl is making a come back .

 

The cows prefer it.

[Synthoid]

Yes indeed.

 

 

 

[cedar]

Have you shopped for furniture lately? $750 for a high quality piano bench like this is a steal. I have 15 years on mine and counting...

 

When did you join the forum-wide conspiracy to persuade me to part with my money?

[Joe Muscara]

I'm tossing between making a cloth cover for the bench I have if the dealer doesn't get me the new top, and just buying the fricking Jansen already.

 

I do have a question about the Jansens. I'll contact them if I get more serious about buying, but in the meantime, their site says

 

Jansen Piano Bench complete money-back guarantee:

 

Manufacturing benches for over 50 years, Jansen is the flagship of the industry, and simply put, makes the highest quality piano benches. With that in mind, we are confident to offer a complete money-back guarantee on all jansen piano benches. If you are unsatisfied with the quality of any Jansen piano bench you have purchased from JansenPianoBenches.com, you may return the bench for a complete refund. That's how confident we are in selling Jansen benches.

 

and on that specific artist bench page,

 

Our complete moneyback guarantee:

If you are unsatisfied with the quality of any Jansen piano bench you have purchased from JansenPianoBenches.com, you may return the bench for a complete refund -- no re-stocking fees, no penalties, and as long as the bench is returned in new condition, we will pay the return shipping as well. That's how confident I am in selling Jansen benches, as I've looked closely at every detail of construction.

 

Is this lifetime? It doesn't give a time limit either way.

 

To cedar or anyone looking to spend less than $750, while I was searching for the link to Jansen, I saw that overstock.com has a bunch of piano benches for much much less than the Jansen.

[Markyboard]

 

Is this lifetime? It doesn't give a time limit either way.

 

 

I would assume this applies to any reasonable complaint no matter when. So if the mechanism jams up after 5 years for no apparent reason I'm guessing they'll want to make it right. If your fabric scuffs or tears after 2 years maybe, maybe not. I don't think you'll get specifics in writing but I think they want to do the right thing and hope the customer is of the same mindset.

 

Btw those apt to break things on a periodic basis need not apply.

[cphollis]

Well, if it's any consolation, my stupidly expensive acoustic grand came with a bench that isn't half as nice as this one. So I'm taking a hard look at it, as I'm sure others are.

 

My butt is worth it.

[Joe Muscara]

I asked Jansen about the durability of the vinyl and the warranty in general. This was their reply. They seem to imply the warranty is lifetime for some products or aspects.

 

The vinyl does not have a lifetime warranty (just like a vinyl couch or car interior, all vinyl is eventually going to start to wear out). The Jansen bench does use furniture grade vinyl however--it's going to be thicker and a higher quality than the vinyl on the imported benches. Jansen is the last American manufacturer of piano benches, with everything else coming from China.

 

It's hard to put an exact lifespan on vinyl--it's going to depend on a number of factors, such as how often it's used, how it's taken care of, if it's in direct sunlight, the humidity, the weight of the person using it, etc. The upholstered top should definitely last years though, if not decades (my father still has his vinyl duet artist bench from the early 2000s). Assuming regular use, 10+ years would not be unexpected.