Buying a grand

[Goldberg]

To start off, I'm no where close to being able to buy a grand piano. It will be at least a year before I can do that..until then I'll be playing my Yamaha upright. However, my teacher is convinced that practising on a grand is essential, and I can't dispute that (and yes, I'm that serious). Anyway to get to the point I've at least started the initial phase; learning about all of my options and beginning to evaluate them. I do, by the way, have 4 years of experience and have played on a wide variety of pianos so I know for the most part which ones are good and which are bad.

Anyway the piano I would need doesn't have to be a Bosendorfer (though I wouldn't have a problem with that...) or a Steinway-it just has to 1) have a great feel and 2) be able to last long. The one I buy will probably be about 5ft-6ft long. Ok, here are the specific brands:

I've had enormous experience with my old teacher's beautiful Yamaha and love it. It's got it's problems (it's key touch is a little light but managable) but overall I think it's a good value. Definetely fine for what I'm looking for-and it holds together well (her's is used I believe over 10 years old and it's in excellent condition).

Also on the list is Boston, which I guess is sort of the "discount" Steinway in a way. At Rice University where I take lessons, Boston's are commonly found in the practise rooms and I've found them to be fairly satisfactory. And you can bet they last long because they are pounded on every day by college students.

Now the real reason why I posted this. I was recently at one of the stores in Houston that stocks some of the more uncommon European brands, along with the Bosendorfer. After building up the will-power to walk away from the Frederick (sp) Chopin edition Bosie I found a much more attractively priced piano named, I believe, the August Forester. Anyway, after playing on it I found a nice touch (not too heavy or too light), and a decent sound. However my only question, because I don't know a lot about the brand in particular, is how well built they are, and if they will hold up for, say, ten years of me playing on it before I can upgrade to a Steinway. So if you have any personal experience with this brand, please share your, well, experiences.

I can't say I'd consider anything else other than what I've listed above. Kawais just don't have the longevity or overall quality I'm looking for, so that takes care of that. And Baldwins...well, I actually don't know too much about Baldwins, haven't had a lot of experience with them...but I guess if someone has something to say about them, help would be appreciated.

And to solve all of my problems, if you happen to have an extra Bosendorfer lying around...

[Dan O]

When it comes to buying any piano ...it's worth having a piano technician to check it out !

New or used .

 

Most affordable piano's on the market today are from China . Even with a european name or american name . Look carefully !

 

The Boston piano's at the college are probably on loan by the local BOSTON / STEINWAY dealer .

You can bet that a College Piano sale will happen within 6 months ! gotta go .....from dannyo

[Valkyrie Sound]

I don't know if this will help you

but the Aspen Music Festival sells

off all of it's Steinway Pianos after

each season. They're all new... they've

only been used for the 3 months of the

festival. You can try getting in touch

with them if you're interested:

www.aspenmusic.com

 

Valky

[alcohol]

Schimmel pianos are an excellent value.

 

Have a good piano technician aboard before you purchase.

[Tedly Nightshade]

Definitely call in the piano technician.

Are you bent on a new piano? Why?

 

I have an old 1928 upright that heartily smokes all grands until you get to the best of the 9' ones. It cost me $1900. We've had it restrung and it's absolutely dynamite.

I played a LOT of pianos before I found that gem!

 

Baby grands are a joke, not so funny of one. There's never any bass worth mentioning- OK if you play with a bassist, but I wish they weren't so popular.

 

I think the condition and character of the individual instrument very much outweigh the make, for older instruments.

 

Good luck!

 

Play a LOT of pianos, especially the $60,000 ones! That way you get to know what pianos is all about, and when you find that in a less expensive piano, you know what you got.

[Tusker]

I guess that AspenMusic program is practised similarly elsewhere.

 

How does Rice sell their used pianos?

 

Here in Dallas, I got my Steinway through a deal The University of North Texas has with the local Steinway Hall. Steinway donates pianos to the school, then helps them sell the used ones. They make a little money, help control the used market and help the educational institution out.

 

My 1928 Model L (5 feet 10) has huge bass bravura and loves Beethoven. Counter-intuitively, the place where it comes up short against a 10 foot Bosie or a 9 foot Steinway is in the high end. It misses the complex shimmery high end. It has a heavy action ... which I like because I grew up practising on Yamahas and got into trouble whenever I met heavier-action pianos.

 

I think the education institution re-selling program is worth checking out. I do think you can tell an under-appreciated piano by tone, but you want to line up the restorer/maintainer bloke to give you a clean bill of health on an old piano.

 

Cheers,

 

Jerry

[sevush]

I'm pretty sure the "Boston" brand is actually Kawai. There's a fair amount of that, get Larry Fine's The Piano Book along with the book that gives you yearly updates on the market.

 

As you've probably figured out, you don't want a piano that's less than 5' 7" or so. New pianos are very expensive, so much so that I think it's worth looking at used pianos. Again, read Larry's book and you'll feel better about that path.

 

I used to be a fan of the Yamaha C series until their prices became, well, too high. When I purchase my used piano, it will probably be a Steinway or Baldwin and I'll probably get it rebuilt over time. Baldwins have great action and seem to be undervalued on the used market.

 

For now, I play my S80 and dream...

[Mark Zeger]

Originally posted by sevush:

I'm pretty sure the "Boston" brand is actually Kawai.

Boston is a joint effort between Steinway & Kawai. It's essentially Steinway designed, Kawai built, usually sold through Steinway's dealer network.

 

Is there a respected music school near you? Make friends with an instructor there, and ask them to call you if they see a piano for you. I spent about an hour on the phone with Rebecca Penneys from the Eastman School of Music before I bought my piano.

 

An often overlooked, but amazing piano is a Mason & Hamlin. They were built here in Rochester (where a massive factory once also churned out Knabe, Chickering, and others). They're built like a tank, and like a Steinway, Mason & Hamlins are usually versitile for different genres on music.

 

BTW, Striker: I played that August Furrester (sp?) piano at a dealer a few years ago. He said it's a "poor man's Bosendorfer" . Nicely constructed, great attention to detail. However, brand recognition is poor and would hurt you on resale value vs. Yamaha/Kawai/Baldwin. As for Baldwin, there was a time when the brand was outstanding, then turned to crap. Billy Joel was once their highest profile endorser, but he moved to Steinway years ago. There are great Baldwins out there, but you're probably going to "kiss a lot of frogs". The Larry Fine book probably has a detailed accounting of the brand.

 

Be patient. I looked for about a year before finding our 1927 Steinway M in Connecticut (about 300 miles away).