What brand of piano do you own?

[pianist88]

I have a 1950's John Broadwood upright, how about you? Oh and I was wondering, are Kawai pianos any good? 

[ajspiano]

Mine is a Yamaha U3 Upright, an older one.. it was built in the early 70's.

Usually the new kawai uprights I've played have outshone the yamaha's in the same price range..

I've also played more than a couple of the kawai shigeru range of grands. They were pretty nice instruments.

[johnmar78]

I actually did some reserach on yammaha vs Kawai pianos both in upright and grand.
For Kawai upright/grand  in the last 10-25 years has a HEAVIER action than Yamaha.

But in the recent last 5 years, the Millinium action by Kawai has achieved no less reponsivess than Yamaha grand or even the renner actions by Steinway. I dnt work for any of them, I used like Yamaha, but now I prefers Kawai's new millium action that composed of carbon fibre parts that is anti -moisture components which I think(as a chemist) is better than wood. The control and touch is just as perferct as I wanted. Try it out youself in the piano shops and be a judge youself.

[faa2010]

I have a piano yamaha ju109pe.

I was afraid that it wasn't going to be of a good quality, but after the piano was brought to my house and I tried it, I started to practice there without knowing it.

Many can tell you that it cannot be of good quality because of the name, place and year when it was built, but if you don't try it, you won't know.

About something that can distinguish the marks, Yamaha's sound is brighter, and the keys are not heavy like in a Steinway & Sons.

[unholeee]

kawai k3. there was a marked difference in a mahogany version i heard in the shop - sounded amazing. but in the end settled for the cheaper black version.

[chopin2015]

When it comes to pianos you can use and abuse, yamaha!
Especially if it is with a warranty. I wouldnt but a steinway through regular every day 5 hours of practice and play, even if it had a warranty. Yamaha makes a lot of stuff, and theyre loaded. They can afford doing extra stuff for their customers in case you broke your piano. (Wonders how does a piano break all the way?)
Kawai has some grands that actually do have a heavier action than some of the new yamaha grands. And agreed, in the past 10 years, kawai has come up with really nice grand pianos, overall. I would totally rather have a gloss ebony finish kawai when it comes to grands, but with uprights and the like, yamaha for durability.

My baby grand is a chickering. Year 1938
My practice piano is a yamaha european upright(very petite)

[hfmadopter]

My baby grand is a chickering. Year 1938

I played out in a club on a Chickering grand ( A WHOLE BUNCH OF YEARS AGO NOW) and thought it was a very nice piano to play. They made quality instruments, I didn't know you owned one !

Edit:

I still own my 1898 Henry F. Miller Parlor Grand.

I own a Kawai MP6 as well.

[drazh]

hi
mine is a yamaha u300s  built in 1994

[chopin2015]

hi
mine is a yamaha u300s  built in 1994

Omg I just looked those up! Can you tell me about the digital aspects of this piano?

[lukediv]

My old piano (still in use for teaching) is broadwood upright as well (early 1900's). They are a great little make. wouldn't think of trading it in!

Kawai's are awesome! my new piano (new for me) is a GE-30 and i love it. tried a lot of other brands and i found it to be the best, except for steinway haha. however, the kawai for me outshone the C Bechstein of the same size, in my opinion

[drazh]

Omg I just looked those up! Can you tell me about the digital aspects of this piano?

dear chopin 2015
I bought it second hand. built 1994. the didigital sound through its headphone is very good. but after several months
some keys(most b keys) arenot working

[h_chopin148]

yamaha upright not that good
i want a steinway baby grand

[rachmaninoff_forever]

A Suzuki digital!

I wanna get my hands on one of those Fazioli f308's.  Or a Steinway D.  Or a Boosendorfer imperial. 

I'm not a fan of Boosendorfers, but all of their imperial grands are pretty kickass.

[mzpinke]

I am lucky enough to have two pianos.  the first is a 1940 Mason & Hamlin Symetrigrand -- terrific sound from such a small grand piano.  The second is a 1968 Steinway 1098 upright (46 inches)  -- both pianos are so much fun to play.  As you might expect, the Steinway has a bit heavier touch.

[iansinclair]

didn't we do this once before?  Primary piano -- 1898 unrebuilt (and still glorious) Steinway A.  Secondary piano -- 1924 Steinway M; still sounds and plays great, needs a LOT of cosmetic work.  Tertiary piano -- 1904 Steinway 6' (more or less) upright; played rarely, in tune but just needs exercise.

The M has a lighter touch than the A, and quicker repetition (no surprise there) but does not have either the brilliance or the power of the A.  I might add that its action is very smooth, but if something goes a little out of whack adjusting it can be a real bear.  Well, the dampers are easy -- which is a good thing, since there are a couple I need to work on a little... someday... when I get to it.

[hfmadopter]

didn't we do this once before?  Primary piano -- 1898 unrebuilt (and still glorious) Steinway A.  Secondary piano -- 1924 Steinway M; still sounds and plays great, needs a LOT of cosmetic work.  Tertiary piano -- 1904 Steinway 6' (more or less) upright; played rarely, in tune but just needs exercise.

The M has a lighter touch than the A, and quicker repetition (no surprise there) but does not have either the brilliance or the power of the A.  I might add that its action is very smooth, but if something goes a little out of whack adjusting it can be a real bear.  Well, the dampers are easy -- which is a good thing, since there are a couple I need to work on a little... someday... when I get to it.

I think M's tend to run on the mellow side regarding tone. My Miller sounds much like an M but has more power. Course, last summer I did tone down the hammers. I need to do more action work now. I just roughed that out last summer, making the piano playable after sitting for a long time ( a couple hammers were blocking up against the strings and others way away). I need to install new damper felts some day.

My piano sings well but Steinway unquestionably has a certain ring to it's tone that I find most pleasing ! I guess I will just keep going with what I have though. Not complaining mind you, just observing.

[bronnestam]

I have a digital baby grand, a Yamaha CLP 465GP. Bought it last fall and I am totally in love. It is so pretty and has a great sound. An acoustic is out of the question right now, unfortunately. But I am overall very fond of the bright and clear sound of the Yamahas, my dream piano is a Yamaha concert grand.

[hfmadopter]

I have a digital baby grand, a Yamaha CLP 465GP. Bought it last fall and I am totally in love. It is so pretty and has a great sound. An acoustic is out of the question right now, unfortunately. But I am overall very fond of the bright and clear sound of the Yamahas, my dream piano is a Yamaha concert grand.

Nothing wrong with that piano ! I have not found one in a store locally to play on as yet but with the GH3 action and decent sound engine that these have, plus as you say the beauty. You can't want for much from it.

 If I lived in a tight area to neighbors or in an apartment situation or similar surrounding, I would most likely just have a digital. Perhaps just my MP6 or maybe something like your grand. As it is I have the room for a full acoustic grand piano so I keep mine. I have to say though, I play the digital a lot. Today's decent digitals are not the digitals of the past.

[pianist88]

We have about eight pianos at the university I go to, all yamaha uprights except for a grand piano (can't remember the brand), the yamahas have a very nice sound indeed, but the weight of the keys are different for every piano. I don't know why but I've always preferred a "lighter" weight with the keys, if you know what I mean. Having said that, I don't mind playing a piano with a "medium" key weight. The grand piano has a beautiful sound, but the keys are a bit too weighty for my liking. But that aside, it does have a beautiful sound

[caryljamesthompson]

At my home studio I own a 'Casio' Privia (main practice keyboard).

At the parents home (about 20 minutes away), I have my 'Huntington' upright piano.

And at my practice studio I have a bright-sounding, Yamaha grand at my disposal .

Wish I could own my own grand piano, but both my home AND wallet are way too small to allow such nonsense!

[magic_sonata]

I own an all mahogany Boston grand piano, manufactured by Kawai and designed/sold by Steinway in the US.

[indianajo]

I own a 1982 Sohmer 39" console bought new. I got a "bargain price" and while the tone is beautiful, it tends to lose tune on one note in a month or two.  I believe the store found this problem and gave me the discount for cause.  The piano tuner when it was two years old addressed the problem by installing a $150 humidifier, which was completly useless. I'm finally getting some ideas about sandpaper on the peg as a shim, or perhaps an oversize peg.  
In 2010 I bought a 1941 Steinway 40" console, the Early american model.  It has a beautiful tone and after I got it in tune (took seven adjustments, hadn't been tuned since 1966). it stayed in tune for 2 years in a poorly heated house.  It has veneer damaged by little boys with metal toy cars in the forties, that is why the pro restorer abandoned it to be bought by me from craigslist. It is very fast, except one sticky note that I need to disassemble and look at the bushings or something. The note only sticks in the dry winter.  
I have played a decent US made Kawai 40" console piano at the church, probably late 1970's build.  It has a decent tone and even response, but the action is not as fast as either the Sohmer or the Steinway. The action is slower than the Baldwin Hamilton the church abandoned to the gymnasium for veneer damage.  

[karenvcruz]

Yamaha Spinet, '70s.  My dad gave it as a gift when I was still in my teens.  I sold it ten years ago to a friend and it found its way back to me when she gave it back to me as a gift, given we lost everything in a huge flood disaster.

I love it so much, considering how much I pound on it, it is still in good condition, in tune and quite a friend. However, I am aiming for a grand piano yamaha (smallest) but they are way expensive here.  I found a Ritmullet grand and liked the sound, but am not sure of its long-term endurance.