Petrof P131 E1

[amelialw]

As most of you know, I have been looking for a good piano that would be able to last. An upright because our new home in singapore will not be able to fit a grand.

Despite that, my parents said that they are willing to spend lots of money on an upright for me and asked for a reccomendation from my teacher.

I asked my teacher to pick the best piano she has played, she has played many good pianos like steinway, bosendofer etc. yet immediatly her choice was Petrof, she said even the uprights are great pianos.

So my parents asked me to check out the estimated price and have decided on the P131 E1, it is about USD 17k and singapore $ 24K. yes, it is very pricey for an upright but my parents have decided to get it for me once I return to singapore.

If you ask me, all I can really say is yay, i've never ever had such an expensive piano LOL and I will try it out sometime before they make the purchase.

in case if you ar wondering, my parents are not going to get rid of my Kawai Grand, even if they move find a big enough apartment that will fit it in so that I will have my piano here whenever I come back for a holiday

[Kassaa]

For that price you can have a small grand?! Petrof is good, but not really good building quality. I have had a Petrof piano, traded it for a Petrof grand. Although the tone is beautiful and the action feels quite well, I have had a lot of string breaks and even somehow broke two hammers. The grand also gets out of tune within a few days after it got tuned, having normal temperature and around 50% moisture level, so it's probably lousy building quality. Can't you get a steinway upright for that price?

[amelialw]

For that price you can have a small grand?! Petrof is good, but not really good building quality. I have had a Petrof piano, traded it for a Petrof grand. Although the tone is beautiful and the action feels quite well, I have had a lot of string breaks and even somehow broke two hammers. The grand also gets out of tune within a few days after it got tuned, having normal temperature and around 50% moisture level, so it's probably lousy building quality. Can't you get a steinway upright for that price?

If you don't mind me asking, which model did you have?
My teacher said to get the best upright available if I intend to get one because for uprights there are higher and lower quality ones.
Another question is do you love in singapore?
why a steinway? my teacher has played petrof uprights and she said the higher quality ones are the best.

[Kassaa]

If you don't mind me asking, which model did you have?
My teacher said to get the best upright available if I intend to get one because for uprights there are higher and lower quality ones.
Another question is do you love in singapore?
why a steinway? my teacher has played petrof uprights and she said the higher quality ones are the best.

Steinways have a better sound and a better action, I think I had a Petrof 131 before I got my 171 grand. Petrof just lacks the building quality of a higher quality brand piano , it isn't that strong.
 And no I don't live in Singapore, are the prices there high?

[amelialw]

thanks, anyway. I will go check out these pianos and find out about the model that is slightly higher then this one. I have no idea, my dad will check out the prices when he goes back or I could always ask my sister to check

[stars1234]

Yamaha makes a nice upright (wouldn't touch there grands though).

From what I understand, the Petrof is still a built as in the old Soviet Union. Unlike, for example the Estonia, which considered the piano to be the "crown jewel" of the nation, thus put the country's name on it.  But I don't think they make an upright. Schimmel does. It might be something to compare to the Yamaha, big upright.

Petrof is okay, but a bit cheaper materials, less quality, still not a bad instrument if you can get a technician several hours to set it up. It'll take lots of tech time, while the other's won't.

As far as tuning: that's somewhat a double-edged sword, if the piano is constantly going out of tune it is either a very lousy piano or a very good one.

Picture driving a lush, luxury car--no rattles, or squeaks. Then, you hear something, and you think something is wrong, even though it may be very minor. Picture, driving a 1948 Ford truck that rattles, and creaks like crazy, you'd never hear the minor problem that you heard in the luxury car.  The minute problem is covered by all the other things that are wrong.

My tech and I work together to tune the Estonia, just how I like it.  But get this! Once set, he wanted to show me the quality of the instrument--called me over, and breathed on a string. Played the the interval we were listening to tune it, and sure enough, it had gone out of tune.  Just the heat of his breath, like the luxury car, was noticible. But once it went back to temperature--about 30 seconds, it was back in tune.

If you do get the Petrof, you can make it sound pretty good if you have a great technician to set it up. He'll be doing work that would have been expected to be done at the factory, even in quality control; just be prepared for that.

[mic2005]

You said Petrof uses bad materials... care to explain more in details? As far as I know they use European beech for hardwood and White (Bavarian) Spruce wood for their soundboard. And, these are premium wood. Don't even compare them to Japanese pianos in terms of materials. I am not against the Japanese pianos. I know they produces good models because I love some of their models, UX and U series.

And, saying Petrof is still building in the era of Soviet. I guess you still from the past.... The fact, Petrof have improved dramatically since the Petrof family took control. The quality of materials and workmanship has improved every year. I don’t sell them but I own a Petrof 131. I have also played on those produced in 80s, 90s and present. And, I see a huge improvement in this piano. One of the main different was the touch. The older Petrof pianos were noted to have heavy touch. I love it but majority think it is too heavy. I thought it have better control. ANyways, this is preference. Today, the action is smooth feels light but not as light as a Japanese pianos. But when my technician tested the touch weight, it is still the same as the older Petrof. The best I like about them is the tone of their piano – rich and full of tonal colour.

It is true that older Petrof needed more prep work before it sound and play beautifully. Well, isn't this a responsibility of a good dealer to make sure it is done properly. Today, most of the Petrof, which I was told by a dealer, the prep work is now needed less as compare in the past.

Oh... on tuning stability, I don’t find any problem with my piano holding itself!... What I was told that knowing how to tuning a piano and setting the tuning pins are 2 different skill level. Everybody knows when to increase or decrease the pins but setting it so it doesn't move is another job of an expert.

Steinway does have problem too. I was told they poorly prep when in the factory and yet they are highly sorted out and you find them in major concert halls? But the person behind these pianos, usually the dealer/technician will be the main key person to prep this piano to its best. Just like any pianos. A good piano needs a good technician.

Regards.

[Kassaa]

Yeah the tone is awesome, the touch too, but when I talked about my problems to some other people (getting out of tune in a few days, breaking stings and hammers) they all said "ow Petrof, that's not surprising." Someone said they don't dry the wood long enough for using it in a piano. Anyway, I might have a 'bad model', but the sound and action is very good so I'm still rather pleased with it . I wouldn't hesitate trading it for a Steinway or Bosie though.

[gutenberg]

I don't agree with the suggestion that the Petrof 131 is made with inferior materials. I have a Petrof 131 and can attest that it is a well built upright, capable of stable tuning, with a quality action (my piano was built in 2005 and has Renner action).

I also don't agree that you're necessarily better off with a small grand. I have experienced many under $20K grands, both before and after my purchase of the Petrof 131, and in the end was happy to return to the tone and action of my Petrof.

Finally, there of course are significant differences between pianos, whether comparing grands or uprights and whether comparing pianos of the same model, with regard to tone. Only you can decide whether a particular piano satisfies your tonal tastes. So I would try many pianos, and buy the very one I like best for tone and action.

Good luck and have fun in the process of choosing.

 

[amelialw]

I don't agree with the suggestion that the Petrof 131 is made with inferior materials. I have a Petrof 131 and can attest that it is a well built upright, capable of stable tuning, with a quality action (my piano was built in 2005 and has Renner action).

I also don't agree that you're necessarily better off with a small grand. I have experienced many under $20K grands, both before and after my purchase of the Petrof 131, and in the end was happy to return to the tone and action of my Petrof.

Finally, there of course are significant differences between pianos, whether comparing grands or uprights and whether comparing pianos of the same model, with regard to tone. Only you can decide whether a particular piano satisfies your tonal tastes. So I would try many pianos, and buy the very one I like best for tone and action.

Good luck and have fun in the process of choosing.

 

thank you! I have asked others about this same piano and they all feel that it is a very good upright piano.
yes, I will try the various ones and in the end pick the one that I like the most but I am leaning towards getting a Petrof upright.

[amelialw]

I did go and try out the highest end Petrof uprights.

Was very suprised that it has such a nice tone, touch and it responded so well for an upright. Have already decided to get one if I move back.