What piano do you have?

[jeremyjchilds]

I have a Seiler Primus.

I like it a lot.

I have of course. tweaked it a lot...to make it really perfect.

Any other Seiler Owners?

[term]

mine:



sounds nice, affordable...pretty much average but ok for me.
Unfortunately mine has some problems with the hammers (it's new, buyed 6 months ago) so I can't tell how it really sounds like when everything is ok. I'm still waiting for someone to fix it -.-

[_dhj_]

I have a Ronisch 3 crown from around the time of the First World War.
It's in terrific condition although at the moment it's in need of tuning. =/
I can't be bothered to take a photo of it but it looks like this one I found on google:

[stuffradio]

I have a Kemble something... are they any good? We've had it for like 20+years lol

[gkatele]

Bohemia 185BR. I've had it since January 2007. It is wonderful.

[gutenberg]

I am awaiting the arrival of my new Petrof 131 upright. Very excited!

[ganymed]

mine:



sounds nice, affordable...pretty much average but ok for me.
Unfortunately mine has some problems with the hammers (it's new, buyed 6 months ago) so I can't tell how it really sounds like when everything is ok. I'm still waiting for someone to fix it -.-

how much did you pay for your bechstein?

[stevetrug]

I have a Kawai 6ft Grand and a Yamaha P60 digital for night time playing.

[melismatic]

I have a Seiler Primus.

I like it a lot.

I have of course. tweaked it a lot...to make it really perfect.

Any other Seiler Owners?

me!  I have a Seiler Grand!!! I love it soooo much. 

[amelialw]

i have a Kawai Grand KG-2E at home. Before that I had a 60 year old Heinzman Baby Grand.

[tradge]

I have a Welmar upright. It's not amazing, but it's fine for praticing, and you cn get good tones, dynamic variation and articulation out of it

[zeeshanb]

2001 Steinway 1098.

[kiwi_bd]

2001 Steinway 1098.

How much does your 1098 cost?

[jabbz]

I have a T.G.Payne London upright. It's a magnificent piano, just about the best tone from any upright I've played, although the action is very light. I'm looking at a grand of some sort for my next piano.

[kayordee]

I have a Kawai KS-2F worth $12,000AU I LOVE IT!! . I've always wanted to play a steinway but there are no dealers in australia but i have heard of a few places which sell them.

[tanman]

Kawai upright.
I broke the music stand and chair... 

[concerto_love]

yamaha upright.... very light and bluring pedal, I guess

[concorde331]

kawai upright and yamaha digital ypg625.  the kawai sucks! it's out of tune and the hammers double strike. it sucks, so i usually practice on my yamaha digital which sounds as good as a concert grand.

[quantum]

kawai upright and yamaha digital ypg625.  the kawai sucks! it's out of tune and the hammers double strike. it sucks, so i usually practice on my yamaha digital which sounds as good as a concert grand.

I used to have a Kawai that did double strike.  The problem was the let off rail comes loose from it's supports.  On mine it was a simple matter of tightening the screws and was quite easy to fix. 

See #29 in this diagram:
https://www.concertpitchpiano.com/UprightActionModel.html


To the matter of tuning, you'd need to get it tuned every 6 months or so.  Probably good for a tech to go over the piano as well. 

[concorde331]

thanks for the tips quantum!  i do usually get the piano tuned every 4 to 6 months, but it goes out of tune easily (probably because of how much i play)...  but i'll definitely tell the technician about the double-striking.

[joyfulmusic]

I have a 7' Pearl River.  I love love love it.  When i was thinking of buying it I came into the piano forum and asked if anyone knew about these pianos?  The silence was deafening.  So I went there, and spent an hour each time playing it.  On the third trip, I composed a beautiful piece right there in the piano shop.  That was it.  i bought it.  Pearl Rivers are built in the Yamaha factories.  I have a great technician who tweaked the entire keyboard precisely to my liking.  The bass is full and glorious. 

[alpacinator1]

I have a Heritage spinnet, a Christman upright (out of tune and in bad condition, rarely play it) and a Casio wk3600 keyboard

[sarrasani]

Rieger Kloss (the same as "Bohemia", czech made) mod. Janacek (1,85).
And Kawai Mp-9500 digital.
Bye,
Sandro.

P.S.

Not well refined, but good pianos these "Bohemia". Renner 100%, Abel hammers, and excellent sound.

[iheartpiano]

After years of crying and whining about how much I hate my piano (Koehler and Campbell upright), I finally caved and purchased a Kawai GM-12 about a month ago.  A piano dealer by me was having a such a great sale that I just couldn't pass up, although immediately after purchasing I had buyer's remorse pretty bad.

Waiting for the piano to arrive was pure hell, but I must say I am completely happy with it and I feel it is the best purchase I have ever made.  What makes this even better is that my old piano sold just last week.       

[chopinmozart7]

yamaha and hayes

[stars1234]

Estonia 190 (6'3") high gloss, black polyester finish, Renner Action & Hammers.

This is a wonderful piano.
I played many and it came down to a "real" Pramburger," an M&H 7', or this Estonia.

Finally choose the Estonia.  (the other two pianos were sold within the week & someone came in the afternoon I bought the Estonia, to buy it.)

The Estonias are exceptional buys for the money.

I had this one checked over by the head of piano tech dept at a local University school of music.  His assessment is it is a top-tier piano.

I had it checked by the head of the piano tech dept from a school of music in another university in another city. These are all concert/performance piano technicians. His assessment: it is a top-tier piano.

Essentially, it is very close to a Hamburg, Steinway B; which is exactly what I wanted.

The upkeep on this piano is about $700/year.  --it takes lots, to keep a sports-car going.

Pianos at this level are all about the same. It becomes a matter of personal preference.

This piano is mild, sweet, ringing, warm. The Renner action will do anything you want.

I am going to have a concert regulation put on it ($3,000), to really balance the keys and action parts. Its down & up weight is okay, but the touch weight (play weight) is a bit heavier than I want--so we are going to pull it down a few grams. That will make a huge difference in the ease of being able to play quickly.

In any concert instrument, this kind of regulation must be done--even with Steinways.

The factory makes wonderful pianos, but the final steps are done after the piano is where it's going to be.

I went from a 100 yr old upright to this piano. It was like moving from a Yugo to a Lamborghini. Step on the gas on this thing and it goes, back off and it  comes down quick. It is extremely expressive.  --As I played Chopin Waltzes, it almost seemed as if the piano was playing itself. It let me do things I could never do on an instrument not of this quality.

When the una corda is set correctly, the tone is bell-like, angelic--a timbre shift without loss of power, or I can put the pedal all the way down and go for a true una corda--keeping the strings in the groves, but playing only two instead of three.

My technician loves to work on it because of how it responds.  I drive him crazy though, because I listen and will say, "no," that's not quite right. He'll say it sounds okay to him, but let him check with his electronic tuning instrument and sure enough, I'm right.

We usually set a two octave temperment, with nearly a 1/2 step stretch in the last few notes of the top and bottom. A "concert stretch" tuning gives the piano the dazzle you hear from good instruments in recital or recordings.  The tuning is not the same as a "regular" tuning. Tuners who do concert/performance pianos know what I'm talking about.

The problem with having such a sensitive piano is just breathing on a string will send it out of tune--of course, it comes back right away, but it is that sensitive.

It has duplex tuning in the treble that is adjustable.  Most pianos with aloquats, have them fixed. With the Estonia, the aloquates are movable, so you can do different things to the duplex tuning.

This piano has increased in value. It is worth about $20,000 more from 2 1/2 years ago, when I bought it. It is hand made--somewhere around 450/year. The factory is some 40 miles south of Helsinki.

---

regarding double strikes.

--they go with the territory.

The faster you play, the more you ask from the piano.  from ppp to fff, the closer the hammers have to be to the strings. This means double strikes are inevitable.

The choice has to be made between speed or the probability of double strikes.

If you listen to recordings of great pianists, you can hear double strikes. Glenn Gould had almost no distance between the hammers and strings. His recordings are full of double strikes.

Once you decide what you want---speed & double strikes or slower and no double strikes (I go for the dbl strks), its a matter of learning the piano and working with it.

You can tell where there are likely to be double strikes and make accommodations to limit them. So, dbl strikes are not necessarily bad, especially when you are playing very fast, at p or pp, ppp.

A fine regulation, attempts to get the most from the piano that is possible. The best hammer sound on all dynamics. Playing ppp is dangerous, because all pianos have a point where the jack will not escape, if played too lightly. This is the catastrophic failure point. You have to know your piano, to know where that is and how softly you can play. But you should (on a good piano) be able to go from ppp to fff to ppp in three notes.

So, Estonia = Hamburg Steinway at less than half the price.

Bob

[morningstar]

I have a Beale upright

[mad_max2024]

I now have a yamaha C3S in addition to the upright pearl river I already had.
It's probably the best piano I ever played in. 

Now I have my eyes set on getting a cheap electric guitar for learning.
Already have an acoustic.

[pianisten1989]

Bluthners... Don't know the model though...

[morningstar]

Beale.

[smiggy]

A lovely, upright, Yamaha piano; purchased in August 2003.

[momopi]

Mine is old... 80+ year-old...

[deshaiesm]

I have a Kurzweil numeric piano, which feels like a real piano. I bought it in 1996 but I cannot wait to purchase a real piano one day.

[db05]

They're technically not mine, but my aunt's. I needed a piano to practice on, but there's no quiet room in our house for me to play my own piano. My aunt had 3 pianos (looooooong story how that came to be) and I had them all fixed for the price of a second-hand Kawai upright. Really cheap, yeah. Plus my parents and aunt shared the expenses. Ah I'm so stingy.

The one I use for practice is Winkelmann, German parts, custombuilt for my aunt 30 years ago. The pedal is high, it hurts my foot after a while. 1 1/2 tones out of tune. Moderately loud sound, slightly heavy touch, uneven in some parts but all the 3 pianos are like that. I like it best for the robust sound and sentimental value. This is the one I practiced on when I was around 6 and quit piano much too soon. I hasn't been played since and now I get to play it again.

Another one I can use is Trebel, a local brand. Soft sound with very heavy touch. But I like the tone, it is different from all the pianos I've heard. Very mild. The pedal is low but hard to move. The best thing about this piano is that it is ut almost in tune. The old owners had it tuned regularly before they had to sell it.

The Mercedes is in my aunt's room, now she can use it anytime she wants! A whole tone out of tune, and we have a hard time getting sheets to stay on the music stand. Other than that, what can I say? 

I could get those pianos fixed better, but I'd either need a better technician, new parts and/ or a lot more money. If fixing costs more than a second-hand piano, forget it!! I'll just wait until I have my own space and save for a electronic and a grand.

[keyofc]

Bosdendorf or Steinways ?  yeah sure
I don't know anyone that can afford either one.

[alexalin]

Well,according to me piano is a great instrument that plays a soft and beautiful full music and their is no such instrument which gives music just like piano.

[philipps]

I have a Blüthner 211cm from 1908.
It was reconstructed by Blüthner in Leipzig this year.
It has a warm sound, which is perfect for chamber music with strings.

Philipp

[csharp_minor]

Yamaha Clavinova Clp 370 ( I'm embarrassed as the guy above me owns a Blüthner )

I WILL get and upright later when I have enough money! possibly another Yam.

[gyzzzmo]

I have both yamahaclavinova clp-950 and (fnally) a new SB 44 yamaha grand wich i love.

Gyzzz

[amelialw]

I have a Boston Grand 178 (5'10") now, just got it 2+months ago from my dad as a present. I fell in love with this piano about 3 years ago when i tried it at my best friend's house in canada.
so now i have the same piano as him

[williamhhay]

I love my Yamaha Clavinova CLP-150. Played it now for five years, still going strong!

[aslanov]

I recently got an uprite Kawai K3 this past september. my first piano. i went to a steinway dealer and tried their steinway's bechstein, essex, boston, schimmel, etc, then i went to a kawai dealer that had yamaha's, kawai's, fazioli's, steinways, and a Shigeru Kawai grand. i must say that the Kawai K3 sounds better than all the other uprites i tried, and the shigeru kawai (althought not the most expensive grand) sounded much better than the 20K more Fazioli, and the keys responded well, richer more brilliant sound.

Overall, i got a great deal on this kawai k3, i found that it usually goes for around 8000, and managed to talk them down to 6200 with everything included, delivery, tax, etc

[lynno]

Well ,Im cerrently using Walters Piano C0 _New York _1791 but im trying to bye a new one im not sure yet what brand i should get...
I guess YAMAHA is really good ..I dont know..

[markrp]

Steinway B 1990

[hristo]

i have a very ole russian piano,black ,in a perfect form,it`s Belarus.I have it for 20 years ,but the piano is more 40 years old!!!I love it!!!
Any one heard about Russian pianos?

[aslanov]

i have a very ole russian piano,black ,in a perfect form,it`s Belarus.I have it for 20 years ,but the piano is more 40 years old!!!I love it!!!
Any one heard about Russian pianos?

yes back in my country my grandfather had a russian piano...its around 50 years old, and its called "Krasniy octyabr" (red october) sound is suprisingly good for a piano thats gone without tuning or restoring since his death which was about 20 years ago.

[peterdacey]

Well ,Im cerrently using Walters Piano C0 _New York _1791 but im trying to bye a new one im not sure yet what brand i should get...
I guess YAMAHA is really good ..I dont know..

Yamaha is really good. I recently got a U3 and it's fantastic!!

[richard black]

Any one heard about Russian pianos?

Yes, just a few Belarus and Krasniy Octyabr pianos turn up here in the UK, and quite a few Estonia (from Soviet days, I mean) instruments. The Estonias are quite decent for what was then a very cheap piano, but the Belarus and KO instruments mostly haven't worn well and are tinny as hell. My wife, who grew up in the USSR, tells me that KO was pretty much the bargain basement brand. I would probably still prefer one to a Yamaha, though.

[dss62467]

Just started taking lessons again after a 25 year break.   I didn't like my teacher when I was a teenager and I was too into doing what teenagers do.  But my father finally gave me the piano that's been in our family since he was a boy with the condition that my daughter start taking lessons.   So now we both are taking them and I am so mad I stopped for so long.

Anyway...I've got a Story & Clark upright from the 1940's.  It's a nice instrument, but I plan to buy a baby grand in a few years.  The Story & Clark will be an heirloom.   I suppose the baby grand will be too, since I'll die someday.

[csharp_minor]

Yamaha Clavinova Clp 370 ( I'm embarrassed as the guy above me owns a Blüthner )

Ha ha! Just re-read my old post! I have a Blüthner now too! It’s a 1900 upright, still working well according to the piano tec that tuned it for me. It has a nice mellow tone, I got it in January .

...and I still have my Clavinova for night practice.