Seiler pianos

[emma2516]

Hi, my local Steinway dealer is starting to stock Seiler pianos. They are offering an upright Seiler 50 inches tall for $8,500.
I gather that Seiler has a good reputation, but I haven't been able to find anything recent. Are Seilers still made in Germany? Is their reputation still good?
I've been considering the Steinway Boston, but feel that the Seiler might be the better buy.
I'm going to try the Seilers this week. Would love to go armed with more info. Thanks for any help.

[49410enrique]

it might be best to contact seiler if you want to be absolutely sure, to my knowledge they haven't gone the route of many makers by offerring a cheap line  made in china, or indonesia with their name slapped on. seiler is a quality old school german kid and has been making incredible isntruments for a long time, for an upright i'd almost certainly take it over the boston (glorifed up charged kawai, i love kawais, so i'd just buy one of those vs a boston, but i digress....)

depending on the dealer, really try to let your ear listen to the piano by itself, as some folks (even 'reputable' high end ones) have been known to not so nicely prep/voice competing instruments in house so the house brand sounds better, just a thought.

but yes seiler is really nice, at the end of the day go with how you feel the instrumetn responds and what you think you can make it do. bring a technician if you want, also if youdont' have a lot of repertoire consider hiring a divsersified pianist to come with you to play a variety of works and 'put it through its paces' so to speak.

[pianolive]

Seiler became insolvent some years ago and I think Young Chang took over. The last I heard the Seiler family is no more involved in the company.

The Seiler pianos were nice and so are the Boston and Kawai. Go for the one like best yourself!

[49410enrique]

Seiler became insolvent some years ago and I think Young Chang took over. The last I heard the Seiler family is no more involved in the company.

The Seiler pianos were nice and so are the Boston and Kawai. Go for the one like best yourself!

oh man what a shame! i had no idea thank you for clarifying!!!

let's hope the other ones hang strong, i.e. bluthner , sauter, ibach, etc. 

[pianolive]

New Ibach come from China

[49410enrique]

New Ibach come from China

i wonder if all of them or just a certain line, it's the first i've heard of this and they were the 'oldest' kid on the block as far as 'start date' for piano making went.

[emma2516]

I went to try out the piano at the Steinway store.

I asked the rep if the Seilers are still made in Germany. His response was vague, but as far as I understand it, the parts are made somewhere - he claimed not to know where - and assembled in Germany.

I played the piano a bit (I don't really play, I'm a violinist. The piano is for my children) and I asked the rep to play. I compared the sound to a Boston and to a top of the line Steinway upright. I thought the Seiler sounded muddy in the bass notes and a bit bright and lacking complexity in the middle range. The Boston and the top piano were both better. I mentioned the muddiness to the rep.

His reply was that the piano needed tuning and had not been prepped by the technician. I asked him when it would be tuned, and when it would be prepped and he said he didn't know. I asked him when it was last tuned and he said 3 hours ago! Plus, it didn't sound out of tune, and anyway could being out of tune affect the tone of the lower register? He said the owner of the store didn't want pianos prepped until after they were sold. Is this normal? I told him that if prepping makes such a difference to the sound, I wouldn't even consider buying a piano until I'd heard it prepped.
I commented that the Boston sounded out of tune (jangly in the upper register) and he said they just couldn't keep all the pianos tuned because they have too many. Does that sound lame to you?

I told the rep to call me after the piano was prepped. He asked me what I want in the sound, and I told him, more definition in the lower notes and more warmth in the middle range. I wasn't vague.

Now he wants me to talk to the technician to explain what I want. How much can a tech do? I don't expect miracles, and I don't know if the tech can change the piano enough to make me like it. I don't mind talking to the tech, but what more can I say than I've already said?

I don't know if I can trust the rep. I like the Boston better than the Seiler but it's a lot more expensive. Like I said, I don't expect miracles, and I know that if I want a really good piano I'm going to have to pay more, but the rep is telling me the Seiler is just as good as the Boston and cheaper too. My ears are not telling me the same thing.

[pianolive]

The tech will not be able to do much with the bass in the Seiler. Maybe make the overall sound a little more even, and the rep will not allow too many hours of work on a cheap piano.
Before Seiler became insolvent the German made Seiler pianos were more expensive than both Kawai and Boston.
My guess is that this Seiler piano you looked at, is more a Young Chang than a Seiler.
The dealers should have pianos prepped in the shop. Then after delivery there should only minor changes to be done in changing the sound so it fits your room. The basic sound quality is what you hear in the shop.
Trust your ears not salesmans talk. If you have a pianist friend, bring him/her with you.

[emma2516]

Thanks, Pianolive. Yes, I do trust my ears and it's important to me that you confirmed the technician can't do all that much. I tried out a Kawai a few months ago that was supposedly prepped to make it mellower, and it was still too bright for me.

I really don't like going to the Steinway gallery. I feel they are spinning me a line the whole time and I hate it. I like the Boston though. It's a 50 inch tall upright. They are asking $14,000 for it which seems very expensive.

My choices here are Steinway, Yamaha and Kawai. I find Kawai and Yamaha too bright. I hear over and over again that Steinway is overpriced, and I believe it, but my choices are limited.

Does $14,000 seem too expensive for a new Boston UP-126E PE?

[49410enrique]

Thanks, Pianolive. Yes, I do trust my ears and it's important to me that you confirmed the technician can't do all that much. I tried out a Kawai a few months ago that was supposedly prepped to make it mellower, and it was still too bright for me.

I really don't like going to the Steinway gallery. I feel they are spinning me a line the whole time and I hate it. I like the Boston though. It's a 50 inch tall upright. They are asking $14,000 for it which seems very expensive.

My choices here are Steinway, Yamaha and Kawai. I find Kawai and Yamaha too bright. I hear over and over again that Steinway is overpriced, and I believe it, but my choices are limited.

Does $14,000 seem too expensive for a new Boston UP-126E PE?

i think you can do way better, i have read and heard only wonderful things about what darrell fandrich has been quietly buidling for a while, essentially 'tuner pianos' he takes good quality asians as a base, guts them and carefully upgrades all the parts and carefully redoes the touch and tone.



Fandrich & Sons




Fandrich & Sons 122 Traditional action 48" Upright Piano


$5,650




Features
 


•Polished ebony finish
 •Matching bench
 •Dampp-Chaser humidity control system installed
 •14 hour preparation by Fandrich & Sons
 •Voicing by Darrell Fandrich
 •12 year warranty
 
https://www.fandrich.com/index.php?&location=pianos&action=view&index=99&image=Web - weighing - Grotrian 022.JPG

might be worth exploring,  i would for about 10 thousand in savings for what is probably a better instrument.

feature in seattle times w video
https://www.fandrich.com/index.php?&location=article&title=seattletimes01

[emma2516]

Fandrich might be excellent, but I'm in Nashville TN, and can't go to Seattle to try a piano. I have to shop local if I'm going to trust my ears. That said, the limited choice here is getting to me.

[pianolive]

I have also heard good things about Fandrich pianos from Dell Fandrich.

The price for the Boston seems okay. Both Boston and the Kawai K3 can have a nice tone if they are voiced. We have some K3 at a university where I serve the instruments and they are very popular among the students.
The Steinway uprights are nice pianos, that is the K model, but I think there are better choices.
You could look for a used piano maybe 10-15 years old that come from a private home, not old school pianos, but a new Boston or K3 will good instruments for your children.

[emma2516]

I did get the Seiler. To my surprise, the Steinway tech did a really nice job on the piano. He fixed the muddy lower notes, and greatly improved the overall sound. A pianist at the store played it for me, and a few days later I met the children's piano teacher there and she played it too. She gave it a thumbs-up. I agonized a bit longer, and then decided that for the price and guarantee it was worth it.

So now it's sitting in my music room, looking very shiny. The children are thrilled, and have been playing it frequently.

I'm not supposed to have it tuned for a couple of months, but I would prefer to tune it sooner. Also one note is sticking ever so slightly (the children have not noticed, but I can feel it) and the F# and G above middle C are buzzing a bit. So should I have the tech come out now to fix those things and then have the free tuning in August, as Steinway recommends?

[hfmadopter]

I did get the Seiler. To my surprise, the Steinway tech did a really nice job on the piano. He fixed the muddy lower notes, and greatly improved the overall sound. A pianist at the store played it for me, and a few days later I met the children's piano teacher there and she played it too. She gave it a thumbs-up. I agonized a bit longer, and then decided that for the price and guarantee it was worth it.

So now it's sitting in my music room, looking very shiny. The children are thrilled, and have been playing it frequently.

I'm not supposed to have it tuned for a couple of months, but I would prefer to tune it sooner. Also one note is sticking ever so slightly (the children have not noticed, but I can feel it) and the F# and G above middle C are buzzing a bit. So should I have the tech come out now to fix those things and then have the free tuning in August, as Steinway recommends?

I'm not surprised the tuning helped the overall sound, it means a lot. If the piano wasn't prepped it can't sound it's best.

As to the free tuning and the buzzing you have now, all you can do is call the store you bought it from and see how they respond. Sure if you have a key sticking and buzzing in two notes, you can't really live with that. On the flip side, until everything settles in you could have the tech out every few days for minor adjustments ! The store won't agree to that.

I'm touching my grand up just about weekly for a string or even a note going slightly out here or there ( I learned how to do this a number of years ago). We are in seasonal transition here and my house is not climate controlled, the piano very old. Once humidy and temp kind of settle down and the AC is on, it will be good for the summer. In the fall I'll go through the transition again till the heat is turned on. This is something the digital piano folks don't worry about !

[jplhpo]

Hey emma2516,

I know this is an old thread but I'm curious, are you still satisfied with your Seiler ED-132 (it's this model you bought right)? Is there still notes that are sticking/buzzing?

I'm looking to maybe buy the same...

Thank you.