All About Choosing and Buying Pianos

[markfch]

moom:

Hi,


Anyone familiar with the Korean made Karl Schonberg? Apparently uses german strings? Touted as better quality n value than the made in Indonesia yamaha ones.

Would appreciate some advice, thanks

Sorry I don't know much about Karl Schonberg. But if you're getting it from Chui Piano, I know that Mr Chui is an extremely nice and friendly fellow. Doesn't hard-sell nor bad-mouths other brands. This from personal experience.

[zaizaimum]

Anyone looking for a good digital piano should have a checklist that includes the COMBINATION of good key touch, good piano sample and a good amplification system.


My kid has been using a Yamaha CLP280 with wooden keys for a year now and loving it…and his dad loves it even more ! Anyway, we are looking at selling it coz my hubby wants to get a synthesizer workstation to introduce my kid to music recording which he is keen at doing now.

If anyone is interested to view/buy it, do PM me your contact so that my hubby can liaise with you

[simplejan]

just to share, there is a new piano shop at milennia near harvey norman Robert Piano. Saw that they were doing a promo. worth a check!

[Intermezzo]

thanks simplejan ~

am thinking of upgrading our piano… have been looking around for a few weeks now and still can’t decide!
it’s always fun to check out a new place

[koolkat]

Hi Intermezzo. What is your current piano? Perhaps I can buy it from you when you upgrade.

[rq1111]

Hi all,


I would like to share with you my experience and my research in buying a piano. I know many people feels headache as most of us (parents) do not know how to play a piano. I have used about 3 months to research in choosing a piano as it is not a cheap item. Finally, I have just bought a new piano for my daughter about 2 weeks ago.

Well, I am a non-playing parent who wants my child to have every learning advantage that the chosen piano can provide to the child, but I do not have unlimited funds. I hope the piano could last her till Diploma level as I don’t intend to change piano once I bought it. To me, it will be a waste of money to buy a digital keyboard or a cheap piano first then change to a better piano.

Lucky for me is that I have a relative who has a digital keyboard which she does not use it so I borrow it from her while I am choosing one piano for my dd.

Initially, I thought of buying a second hand Yamaha piano, U1 or U3 which cost around S$5000 to S$6000 but afraid the future problem of wear and tear issue so decided to go for new piano. A new Yamaha U1 cost more than S$10,000 while Kawai K5 cost S$9900.

I almost decided to buy Kawai K5 until I hear the German piano sound like Sauter (Too Expensive) and Wilh.Steinberg AC123 which cost S$13000, which is much nicer than Kawai or Yamaha. The dynamic, tonality, depth of the bass and clarity of the treble for the German piano is worth the $3000 difference. Since then, I decided to go for European piano. The more I hear the sound from European piano, the more I like it and after that I could hear the big difference of the sound quality between the European piano and Japanese piano. When you hear the treble from a German piano, it is a bell-like sound “Tink” which is very clear and sweet but not sharp unlike Yamaha which is sharp and hearing for long will not be comfortable. This is just my own opinion and I am not saying that Yamaha is not good. Since then, I begin to appreciate the sound of European piano more than Japanese piano. Frankly speaking, even the Chinese piano like Hailun has a better sound than the Japanese piano as the Chinese piano had the European technology which I heard the sound personally before. I am surprise about it too! I did think about buying it but I afraid of the durability.

I was thinking why there are a lot of second hand Japanese piano than European piano? If the Japanese piano is really good then why should people sell it away and not the European piano? For me, I do not intend to change piano once I buy it. I am looking for long term and the difference between Japanese piano and European piano is about $4000. For long-term perspective, $4000 will not become significant.

My first few trips are to see second-hand piano and I still feel not comfortable because I do not know how the condition is. For people, who is interested to look for second-hand, please engage a technician to go along. It will be safer in that way and to give you a peace of mind.

Then I went to Chiu Piano at Thomson. I was recommended the Wilh.Steinburg and I was taken back by the treble sound. The treble is bell-like sound which is very clear. I went back again another time to listen again after comparing it with Yamaha and Kawai. I still like the sound of the German piano because of the dynamic, tonality, depth of the bass and clarity of the treble.

Then I went to Sauter to see the piano after a few days. I like it very much because of the sound but I do not have the budget for it as it is too expensive. Mr Alvin is a very nice person and also very patience to teach me a lot on how to choose a piano. He told me that it will be good to start a child with good piano as it will strengthen the hearing. If the child is given a lousy piano it will affect the hearing of sound that will affect the grade of higher grade exam. He shows me that the techniques of playing would affect the sound. I had seen it of how he does it and I had tried it myself. It is really amazing. From then, I do a lot of research about choosing a piano.

I also went to see Petrof at PianoMaster. I was taken by surprise for the sound on Petrof. It has a singing tone! Only when you went to the place to listen by yourself, you will understand what I mean by singing tone.

Below are the pianos that I had shortlisted which is not in order of likeness.
1) Wilh. Steinberg(AC123)
Pro: Made in Germany, affordable, some parts are from China.
Con: 3 yrs warranty only.

2) W.Hoffman(T128)
Pro: 5 yrs warranty, affordable, parts from Germany, Christofori is a big company, quite tall piano
Con: Not well known from what I feel(not sure), Bought by C. Bechstein. I heard some people said to avoid buying from Christofori which I do not know the reasons.

3) Petrof(P125)
Pro: No parts from China, 10 yrs warranty, the PianoMaster seems big company, I saw the European Certificate for Petrof and the boss is sincere and not push you to buy it. The company is started out as repair piano so I am not worry about the piano. It has a buy-back policy of 50% of the price so I do not have to worry about selling it.

4) Bohemia (132 concerto)
Pro: No parts from China.
Con: I worried about it because the new model, R132 is going to replace it. Bought by C. Bechstein.

When I choose a piano, I do not only see the piano and dealer but also the response from the manyfacturer. The reason for it is because that dealer can be change anytime. If the manufacturer takes time to response to you, you know that you do not have to worry even if the dealer is gone.

I had emailed to the manufacturers from my shortlisted list. I had emailed to C. Bechstein for W.Hoffman and Bohemia as C. Bechstein had bought over both companies. I don’t like the reply from C. Bechstein as they don’t really answer or want to answer my questions. They always asked me to refer to the dealer. From this kind response, I decide not to buy any sub- brand from C. Bechstein as I don’t have confident for good service from manufacturer unlike the good responses from Wilh. Steinberg and Petrof which I received.

I know that I can ask dealers for questions but I also want to see how the responses from manufacturer are as I will know if I can get good support from manufacturer. If the dealer cannot help me, at least I know I can get support from manufacturer. Frankly speaking, I am quite disappointed with the bad response from C. Bechstein so it had left me a bad impression about them and I will not buy any of their sub-brand. They also didn’t give more details about their piano in their website which I also doubt about their truthfulness about their piano.

When you choose a piano, you have to be careful as some piano have parts from China even though it says that it is made in some countries. I am particular about it because I spend so much but got parts from China then I might as well buy Hailun piano because Hailun started out as a supplier for piano parts.

So finally, I had chosen Petrof. The reasons for it are
1) My daughter likes the touch and sound
2) No parts from China
3) Many private piano teachers recommended Petrof
4) Personally I like the singing tone.
5) The dealer and the good response from manufacturer give me confident in buying Petrof.

What I had written is just my own experience and I hope that it helps parents on some ideas of how to choose a piano. I had read a lot about choosing piano so the shortlisted that I had made are quality pianos which are value for money. It is up to you for your choice as preference is individual choice.

If any of you decide on Petrof, and want a good price for it, do let me know and I will tell them I recommend you to them. If they give you a good price, I will tell you to go ahead to purchase it without my recommendation. The difference in price can be quite substantials. I do not get a commission for it but they just give me a free tuning for my piano. It is a win-win situation as you get a good price while I get a free tuning. That is all I get it for the good price that I help you.

Wish those people a happy time in choosing a piano!

[kathyh]

hi, rq1111


In short which model you have bought and how much?

[Dreamaurora]

rq1111:

Hi all,


I would like to share with you my experience and my research in buying a piano. I know many people feels headache as most of us (parents) do not know how to play a piano. I have used about 3 months to research in choosing a piano as it is not a cheap item. Finally, I have just bought a new piano for my daughter about 2 weeks ago.

I would like to add somethings to this. When choosing piano, need to consider more things beside tone quality e.g. action response, the 'feel' of the keys, etc. One of my students actually own a first hand Petrof and to be honest she dislikes it, always saying that she prefers to play on my Kawai K80. Whether a brand is Japanese or European does not really matter, it really depends on personal preference. Some concert artists even support Japanese brand e.g. Richter who supported Yamaha. Personally I love the sound of Bosendorfer, but now it is too rich for me :sad:. Another thing to consider is that some pianos' true capability can only come out when played by good pianists. For example my current piano, Kawai K80, without proper technique to be honest it can sound quite poor, that is why I don't really recommend this piano for beginners. Some sound good from audience but not from the player. I remembered playing NAFA LFT's Steinway D many times and feeling that the piano did not really sound from good from my side, but when I heard recordings of my playing the tone sound oh so gorgeous.

And speaking of private teachers who recommend Petrof, you sure? Not doubting your credibility, but that is a very sweeping statement to make.

[Intermezzo]

koolkat:

Hi Intermezzo. What is your current piano? Perhaps I can buy it from you when you upgrade.

hi koolkat ~ sorry for the late reply.. i haven't been back here for some time.

thanks for the offer ~ but our piano is an old korean-make, and with the whole family playing it for almost 10 years, the quality and touch response is really not good anymore. i'd not feel nice trying to sell it to anyone. would probably only sell or trade-in to those piano companies where they can restore the piano to better condition before reselling..

but really appreciate your offer anyway ~
how's your piano-shopping going? hope you can share your experience with us too!

[rq1111]

Hi parents and readers,


The reason for writing my experience on shopping for a piano for my dd is just plain sharing. I enjoy sharing with others on what I had learned.

My sharing described how I started from Yamaha to Kawai and then to European piano. I did mention that it is my own opinion.

I want to stress that I am not promoting for any brand of the piano but just sharing how I end up buying the piano that I am having now. Preferences are very subjective so I will never ask people to buy the piano that I had bought.

I had done my own research before buying and I am confident that the shortlisted of European piano that I had shared earlier are value for money that cost around $13000 to $14000. There are better pianos like Schimmel, Seiler or Wilh. Steinburg IQ24 or etc but these are more expensive pianos which I do not want to spend for my dd as she is only a beginner and those piano that I had selected can last her till diploma level. I would like to clarify that even Yamaha U1 is good enough to last till diploma level. Having a better sound piano from the start is good to train the hearing which is useful when it comes to higher grade level which I learn from some teachers’ comments.

Of course, budget is a concern too. I started with a $5000 budget to buy a piano and found that I could not buy a new and good piano like Yamaha U1. So I up my budget to around $8000 and found Kawai K5 which I like it too. I almost thought of buying then I went to see more pianos before I decide it. Then I came to European piano which I found that I like the sound more than the Japanese piano. This is just my preference. I cannot imagine having my dd to play the piano which the sound that I do not like it.

Let me share with you something which I personally had seen it. I saw the parts inside a Yamaha and Hailun piano. Even though Hailun is made in China but I am surprise that the part are quite good. I can say that it is better than Yamaha U1 for some parts. Go and judge for yourself and do not take my words for it.

Here are the websites that I had learned about piano which I hope that it will help you to understand them.
1)\thttp://viewer.zmags.com/publication/88aaeaf9#/88aaeaf9/6
Selecting a performancepiano for concert hall or home
2)\thttp://www.pianobuyer.com/archive.html
There are many achieve articles you can read about pianos
3)\thttp://www.pianobuyer.com/spring11/44.html
A MAP OF THE MARKET FOR NEW PIANOS
4)\thttp://www.pianoworld.com
A forum that discuss about piano.

It is good to see more pianos before deciding which pianos to buy. Personally, I had chosen Petrof P125 which most people who knows about pianos know that it is a good piano although it is not the best. As I had mentioned, it is my preference but anyone who is interested to buy Petrof can go to PianoMaster to see and they have Hailun (China made) which is also has a nice sound and cheap.

I hope that my sharing helps some parents or piano buyer to have some useful infor to do their research on their shopping for piano. Enjoy your shopping for piano!