Need advice on upright: Kawai or Yamaha

[dcb1]

Hi everyone. I just joined the forum and am excited because I'm starting to shop for an upright piano. I started playing about 6 months ago and I'm really hooked. I'm currently playing on a 10 year old digital piano (Yamaha p80) with weighted keys so this is going to be a big jump for me.

I'm going to buy a used piano to save some money and I'd like to get something that is really nice and that should last me for a long while. I'm looking at the Yamaha U1 and U3 and the Kawai k5,k6,k8. My feeling is that if I get a 48" or greater Yamaha or Kawai I can't go wrong.

I live in New England and the piano will be going into a finished basement with ok humidity control but it gets a bit humid in the summer. (7 foot low ceilings, low pile carpet)

My questions are:
1. Do you think the plastic action on the Kawai could be ideally suited for my basement placement or does it really not make too much difference?

2. Apart from personal preference, are the Kawai or Yamaha actions better suited for certain situations? Do better players (hopefully I will become one) prefer one or the other or is really just personal taste?

3. Is it worth the price difference to upgrade from 48" to 52"? I'm not sure I can tell too much with my playing ability.

Any advice or opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[mistermoe]

Hi!

I can't tell you much about technical issues of pianos. But there are some piano technicians here on the forum which seem to have huge knowledge about this kind of stuff. So i leave those questions to them.

What i can tell you from the perspective of a pianist is, that i prefer yamaha uprights to kawai.
I own a yamaha and am absolutely glad i have t. It's a little bit better then the U series, but still affordable.

When i bought it some years ago, i played on a lot of different pianos of those 2 brands and pretty fast realized, that i prefer the yamahas. Then i decided which model, then which piano. In this order.
For me those pianos are excellent for daily practice. They have a clear, brilliant sound, which i prefer and even more important, a heavier action then most other pianos i've played on.

The sound of yamaha pianos (and i guess kawai too, but i'm not sure) doesn't vary that much as other brands do. You play on ten different new U2 and they almost all sound the same (of course i'm exaggerating a bit, but not too much). Then it's up to a good piano technician to make it sound more how you'd like it to sound.

I also had the feeling, that yamaha are more solid in the long run, which was important for me, as i practice quite a lot.
Later i played on an almost new kawai at a friends house which after some weeks already felt like it was broken. I'm interested which experiences the techs here have made. And as you want to buy a used one, this should be an important subject.

[dcb1]

This is good advice. I guess I'm still trying to pick the brand at this point. It's interesting you say that the Yamaha action is heavier than many of the other pianos you have played. I was told and I think I felt it myself that the Kawais feel heavier than the Yamahas.

Do you think that aside from action, there is a great difference between 48" and 52" uprights?

[keys60]

Yamaha and Kawai are both very good pianos. Play the hell out of each and then choose the one that sounds and plays best to you.

Are you purchasing new? Don't pigeon hole yourself into only 2 brands until you've played a lot of different pianos. Go to as many different shops as well.

Don't be afraid to offer 25 to 30% less than posted price. Pianos get a 200-300% markup. Good reason for this though. Everybody has 2 cars in the driveway, yet there aren't even 2 pianos on your block. They deserve to make a living as well. If it lists for 8K and their selling it to you for 7, offer 5.

Good luck.

[dcb1]

Well I went shopping today and played and listened to a few pianos. I'm starting to actually move away from the Yamaha and Kawais. I find them to be brighter than I like. Although, I understand you can have a technician voice them down and they sound really nice.

I played a Charles Walter studio upright today that sounded really beautiful. It was actually a 44" model but I think the string length was something closer to a larger upright. I had never heard of a Charles Walter but after some research I think they are pretty well thought of pianos. I found the tone to be very warm with good bass.

So, I think I might have been too quick to narrow down to the Japanese pianos. I'm buying used and my budget is between $3000 and $4500 so hopefully my new found open-mindedness will workout.

Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.

[ingunite]

Here's my two cents' worth...
Have you tried any Petroff or Baldwin uprights? In my limited experience they have a really beautiful sound, much unlike Kawai and Yamaha which I thought too bright and just "not right", at least not for my ears and fingers.

[keys60]

I have a Charles Walter. It has a wonderful tone and a good bass section. I've played pianos in its size range that project a little better than the Walter, but it is a well built, good sounding piano. They can be had new for roughly 6K give or take a few hundred. You know they're playing games when one shop says they list for 8.5K and another says they list for 11K.

I tuned a 40 inch Petrof a few weeks ago and hated it. (ok, that's a little harsh. I've never really hated ANY piano) The larger models are superior, but that one didn't come close to the Walter in touch, tone or overall build quality.

A Baldwin Hamilton is a really nice sounding/playing piano. Studio size, like around 48 inch or so. I don't remember the exact sized because it was a long time ago I was looking at them. Very impressive. I'd go for something around 15 years old in the Baldwin though. Gibson guitar owns Baldwin now and they have really been cutting corners in the quality dept.