C1 , C2, what to do??

[lagin]

Hi all, I was wondering is there any really SIGNIFICANT differences between a Yamaha C1 and a C2.  I have the opportunity to have my parents help me get one, but I really don't know if I need the 5'8 C2 when a 5'3 C1 would fit so much nicer, plus save my parents the $3,500 dollars difference.  I played many grands of various sizes and I must say that Yamaha's C1 was the ONLY 5'3 grand that actually sounded beautiful and compared to my 5'7  1977 G2 that I'm thinking of trading in rather than refinishing.  

Please don't just say, get the C2 cause it's bigger and bigger is better!  I was wondering if anyone that is familiar with this series had any more articulate thoughts, lol.  If it helps at all I am an advanced player, but will be done my diplomas in 2 years and will just have this piano for my own enjoyment, as I teach downstairs on the big upright which is in the studio.  This piano will be for the living room upstairs.  The 5'7 I have isn't huge huge, but you do think "piano" before you think "living room," which might not seem to be such a bad thing for some of you!  

BTW, does anyone think it is just a selfish waste of money to get a piano that sounds and feels exactly the same as yours just because it is 4 inches smaller (if I go with C1), and 30 years newer (though the inside of my piano has been kept up beautifully, the knuckles are the only thing that need replacing soon), and in imaculate condition (my piano does look like, well.......... hmm... some paint will do the trick I think), and has a polyester finish (just found out mine is latex, so yeah.......drat, no patch jobs on that stuff).

My main reason is the outside though.  It has large scratches along the sides, though it didn't cut all the way through the paint, so it still looks black.  The gold paint has been worn and scratched off most of the pedals, one key is chipped, the bench is missing a small chunk, there is one mega scratch right through to the wood on the front from when the bench lid broke and whacked into it (my dad fixed the lid, btw), and I have no idea how, but when I bought it, the lady had skillfully covered over with some sort of paint so that you couldn't see them - all the many many many chunks missing from all over the edges!  Now the metal shows through.  Each time I wipe my piano down, more appear!!  Not good paint I guess.  And being a latex finish, it has an overall scruffy appearance because the paint gradually get mottled.  I guess from hand touching it and such.  BUT the inside IS immaculate and it sounds like a dream.

So do I be content, for it does look okay from across the room, but I seriously do need to get our lawn furnature paint out and repaint all the metal spots, and thus save $10,000.

Or do I trade it in plus $10,000 ($13,500 for C2), and get a brand new piano that sounds and feels pretty much exactly the same.

Of course I want the new one, and my parents are willing to help me get it, but that's a lot of zeros, no?

Yes, I could refinish, but can I change latex to polyester, and would it be worth the $$$$$ to do it anyway??

[lagin]

So what?  As soon as I rule out the most common response nobody has anything to say! lol

[quantum]

So besides the aesthetics, is there anything you don't like about the sound of your G2?

How important is the aesthetic factor of the piano to you?  Does the current aesthetic of your piano in anyway hamper or impede the way you play? 

Is it getting to the point where you feel that a change in piano must happen at this very moment because you are just unhappy with your current instrument?  Or can this change in instrument wait a few years? 

Would you be willing to wait a few years to save up money to get a higher quality instrument?  By higher quality I don't necessarily mean longer.  Maybe a different model or brand. 

[lagin]

I wouldn't be willing to wait too long because the store I purchased my used Yamaha from 2 years ago will take it back for the full price I paid for it, and we asked them to hold that deal for six more months which they agreed to.  I played the C1 again today and have decided that I like the mellower duplex scaling voice it has compared to the drier clearer sound of my G2.    After playing my G2 with the lid open today (which I hardly ever do as it gets a bit intense), I decided that a C2 would be just too big of a sound for the small room.  If I get the smaller one, I can play with the lid up and not blow my eardrums when I play powerful chords. 

The C1 has a much nicer bass sound than mine too, which surprised me because my piano is 4 inches longer.  For those of you who think I'm hooked on Yamaha, I am!  I have played Young Chang, Boston, Mason and Hamlin, Kawai, Yamaha, Petrof (I like these alot too!), Pearl River, and Ritmuller grands some in various sizes in my search.  (These are all we have that are local - we only have 3 dealers, and even then I had to go to another town to see them).  The Boston and the Petrof were okay.  In fact, the Petrof and the Yamaha would be a tight decision for me, but the Yamaha price tag helped me with that one (and especially the fact that the store will reimburse me.  Mind you, they take less off the retail price for a trade in, but it still works out to a better deal than selling privately and purchasing, for there is no tax on the trade in value.  I was actually surprised that I liked Yamaha way better than even Mason and Hamlin.  I suppose it's alot what you've grown accustomed to, as well, though.  I just love the sound of them.  They are so nice and bright, and the C series with the duplex scaling combines nicely the brightness with a bit of richness.  I like them alot.  So to answer my own question, lol, I am planning to go with the C1, but will have to wait till after tax time to know when exactly I can buy it.  Yeah, for April taxes, eh? 

Oh, and yeah, being a girl (don't know if that really has anything to do with it or not), the aesthetics of my piano is important, to me at least.  That is why I was originally considering refinishing my G2 before I discovered this C series.  It's a poor excuse, but when I moved in to this house I had, 1. my clothes, 2. my dog, 3. a foamie, and 4. my piano, oh, and 5. my grandmothers dining room table!  Now that I've been here awhile, we have actually repainted, got new flooring, real furnature, ect. ect., (I feel like I'm living on Debbie Travis' facelift, but just over a couple years rather than days!) and the piano is starting to look like the odd one out.  I know alot of people wouldn't care if they even had a living room if they could have a nine foot concert grand of their choice in the middle of it instead, but I don't put THAT much importance on my instrument.  My living space is very important to me too, so I dunno?  Girl thing?  Some girls would protest I'm sure.   

Hmm, I have developed the habit of randomly typing bunny trails..........so I'll be done now.

[Axtremus]

Lagoi wrote:

I was actually surprised that I liked Yamaha way better than even Mason and Hamlin.

No need to be surprised. A preference is a preference is a preference. Yours is not any less valid that some one else's.

On the other site, I commented that perhaps the $3500 can be saved towards a C3 purchase, just because I thought the "jump" from C2 to C3 is so much bigger than the "jump" from C1 to C2. But if you do not foresee C3 coming into the picture, then I'd prefer C2 for the sole reason that is larger and should theoretically give you a stronger bass.

That said, there is nothing that says the "stronger bass" is a "good thing" that's worth $3500. In the end, it's still a value judgment call that only you (and your parents) can make. Just have to go with your guts on this.

Good luck.

[lagin]

Thanks, Axtremus.  I'm going to town with my mom today because the church we go to got a new grand and I'm dying to go see what it is.  I have a suspicious it might be a C2 which would be perfect because then I can compare better, but don't know yet.  I was really surprised too, that my 5'7 had a weaker bass than the 5'3 C1.  Do you think that's because of the age of my bass strings or perhaps the lack of duplex scaling in my older model?

[sven72]

Hello Lagin, your last post is several months old. I was wondering what you had decided in buying the C1 or C2?