All About Choosing and Buying Pianos
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Hi Champion, does your daughter go for any grade test yet? How much do u pay for the lesson
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As mentioned in earlier threads, I would seriously consider the Hailun HL125 if the player is a beginner/amateur.
Reason #1: It’s cheap and good. At $3800+ (don’t know if price has changed after NIE bought a whole lot from PianoMasters), the sound quality is good, and strings are slightly longer than U1’s (125cm vs 121cm). At this price, it’s value for money. The compromise is a little on the action - isn’t as light as U1, but the weight is good training.
Reason #2: Pianomasters’ 5-year half-price buy-back policy. Don’t think you can find this kind of bargain common elsewhere. After 5 years, you can start the piano-shopping with new criteria all over again, with the learner’s progress in mind. Even if there isn’t any buy-back, or even if there isn’t any resale value, it’s a less than $4k expense over the 10 years.
Reason #3: Pianomasters lets you choose the piano from its warehouse. Unless you’re buying 2nd hand - hordes in the market and seriously, it’s hard to tell what’s wrong or good with just a few visits, you can’t choose the new piece that you’re putting down thousands for.
Funny thing is, there are some quality products from China we tend to ignore and put aside, simply because we hear that word ‘Made in China’ and shy away. I had that notion at first too. It’s true for most other China-made pianos, but Hailun is different.
Go on YouTube and you can hear many good reviews there, even from ang-mohs. Bad reviews come generally from people or ‘experts’ who are biased against China-made products from the beginning. Just read on and you’ll find they’d never even touched the thing they’ve lambasted throughout their comments.
I’m looking forward to get a YUS5 or equivalent as a prize for myself and my little darlings 5 years later if we all progress well. Plonking down thousands for a permanent feature at home you wouldn’t know what to do if nobody’s using just feel so…permanent heartache for me, and having nothing much to look forward and work towards. -
janicelhl:
Hi Champion, does your daughter go for any grade test yet? How much do u pay for the lesson
My P4 DD1 will be going for Grade 2 practical & P1 DD2 will be going for Grade 1 practical in Sept this year.
I am paying the teacher $150 for DD1 and $140 for DD2 - for every 4 lessons; 45 minutes each. -
Hi Champion, can your piano teacher travel to the east?how much would she charge for grade 4?
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reddiechan:
hihi, thanks for the info.As mentioned in earlier threads, I would seriously consider the Hailun HL125 if the player is a beginner/amateur.
Reason #1: It's cheap and good. At $3800+ (don't know if price has changed after NIE bought a whole lot from PianoMasters), the sound quality is good, and strings are slightly longer than U1's (125cm vs 121cm). At this price, it's value for money. The compromise is a little on the action - isn't as light as U1, but the weight is good training.
Reason #2: Pianomasters' 5-year half-price buy-back policy. Don't think you can find this kind of bargain common elsewhere. After 5 years, you can start the piano-shopping with new criteria all over again, with the learner's progress in mind. Even if there isn't any buy-back, or even if there isn't any resale value, it's a less than $4k expense over the 10 years.
Reason #3: Pianomasters lets you choose the piano from its warehouse. Unless you're buying 2nd hand - hordes in the market and seriously, it's hard to tell what's wrong or good with just a few visits, you can't choose the new piece that you're putting down thousands for.
Funny thing is, there are some quality products from China we tend to ignore and put aside, simply because we hear that word 'Made in China' and shy away. I had that notion at first too. It's true for most other China-made pianos, but Hailun is different.
Go on YouTube and you can hear many good reviews there, even from ang-mohs. Bad reviews come generally from people or 'experts' who are biased against China-made products from the beginning. Just read on and you'll find they'd never even touched the thing they've lambasted throughout their comments.
I'm looking forward to get a YUS5 or equivalent as a prize for myself and my little darlings 5 years later *if* we all progress well. Plonking down thousands for a permanent feature at home you wouldn't know what to do if nobody's using just feel so...permanent heartache for me, and having nothing much to look forward and work towards.
Hailun is buy-back scheme or upgrade scheme?
if my boy for some reason did not continue, the shop will take back the piano at 50% price? any conditions?
Champion,
thanks for the note!! will have to bring ds2 down for our shopping trip since he will be the one playing.
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maintenance wise, tuning once a year?
and what is it about 'heater'? :oops:
tq. -
Hi! I am new here. Anyone can advise choice of decent upright piano for beginner? Need to get one soon
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Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum but I've enjoyed reading the discussions on this forum. I thought I'd like to share what I've learnt during my very recent buying experience:
http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall11/65.html
You can get lots of information on the depreciation value of pianos and how to choose a piano from the above link. Just click on Table of Contents.
Cheers!
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any comments on Yamaha JX113T? Worth buying for beginner? can last till grade 8?
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Hi, chattyirena, thanks for sharing. May I ask what piano you buy in the end?
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schen:
any comments on Yamaha JX113T? Worth buying for beginner? can last till grade 8?
It's only 113cm tall.
Thought exam grade is 121cm and above? -
BigDevil:
Not necessarily. All pianos, no matter good or bad, can use to play grade 8 pieces. But of course the quality of the piano will dictate the range of interpretation possible on the pieces.schen:
any comments on Yamaha JX113T? Worth buying for beginner? can last till grade 8?
It's only 113cm tall.
Thought exam grade is 121cm and above?
Height is not that important, most important is the quality of the key actions and the pedals. Make sure the pressure of the keys can be varied like one quarter, half, etc. Same goes with the pedals. -
Finally we have made our decision and bought the brand new Kawai K3. Cant wait for its arrival. Hoefully we wont regret.
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Hi, I finally make up my mind. I choose YUS5.
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Hi Schen,
You're most welcomed. I purchased a 20 year old used U1E from The Pianoman's shop in Bt Timah Plaza last week. The salesmen who are piano tuners seemed honest and knowledgeble. The facts they gave me including serial number and piano age were easily verifiable via the internet. My piano came with 5 years warranty and 2 free tunings. The only disadvantage is that they do not have a large stock of pianos, but if you leave your number with them, they will call you for a viewing when the model you want arrives.
I had a very different experience at http://www.usedpianos.com.sg. The salesman at the second shop told me that the two available U1s were 15 years old and 10 years old respectively. When I checked the serial numbers of the pianos online, I discovered that they were 50 years old and 30 years old!
I followed the instructions in the Youtube video to check the inside of the piano. There are many other similar videos on Youtube but this one is one of the easier ones to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fn0ChTg1us
Good luck on your search! -
Village girl and janicelhl, both of you chose nice pianos, I’m sure no regrets. Enjoy!
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Any recommendations on model of second hand Kawai piano to go for?
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jce:
Village girl and janicelhl, both of you chose nice pianos, I'm sure no regrets. Enjoy!
Thank you. The piano will be here tomorrow afternoon. My son is looking forward to play his favourite tune. -
Hi janice,
What a coincidence we chose the yus5 n guess what , the delivery is tomorrow afternoon too :boogie:
My son is looking forward to his new piano n went around telling everyonejanicelhl:
Thank you. The piano will be here tomorrow afternoon. My son is looking forward to play his favourite tune.jce:
Village girl and janicelhl, both of you chose nice pianos, I'm sure no regrets. Enjoy!
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I have been thinking. Let’s say I organise outings to piano shops and then I perform pieces on the pianos being displayed and then share my opinions on them. Would any to be piano owners here find this useful?
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Cool! But pls pick short pieces.