Types/Brands of Piano

[superman1980]

Hi all,

A very interesting post today.

For those of you who perform professionally or even just play for pleasure, what do you think is the best type of piano? What sounds, tones, or even characteristics would you associate with certain pianos? For example, lots of people tend to say that Steinways have a much heavier sound, especially in the lower registers.

Here are some popular brands (in North America) to get you started:
Steinway & Sons
Yamaha
Samack
Hoffmann
Kawai
Boston
Bechstein
Fazioli
Baldwin
Bosendorfer

Feel free to add some of your own brands that you like.

Which one do you think is the best? Worst?

Thanks for taking time to read this and please answer.

[blazekenny]

I have alot of experience with the Bösendorfer pianos. Just some random thoughts - Beautiful and heavy bass tones, but the bass seems very weak compared to this, making it kind of unnatural to play no. I also saw a Bösendorfer being replaced by another piano, because it was too heavy for the stage. They also seem to get out of tune pretty fast.

Yamaha pianos seem to me to be the easiest to play, on the mechanical side.
I still consider Steinway pianos to be the finest instruments, I would definitely choose nothing else when playing with an orchestra

I would also like to add the brand Petrof, just because they are freaking everywhere in my country haha

[indianajo]

I'd like to point out that grand pianos are simply not available to me, unless I rent the hall they are located in, or take a lesson with tuition paid to an institution that owns one. My current income doesn't extend to that luxury- it is cheaper to buy an old console and maintain it myself.   I have opinions about the sounds of various grands, but it is from 3 meters away.  Steinway grands sound great, Kawai grands sound pretty good, as do Yamaha grands.  I have actually played a 1940's Baldwin grand recently with a loose tuning pin; I really liked the sound, the touch was a little heavy but hear the others are heavier.  The middle pedal worked properly sustaining only the notes hit before pedal depression, which is surprising for an unmaintained piano banished to the fellowship hall over a decade ago.    I played a 1950's Sohmer grand as a student in the 1960's and fifties; the touch was fine for me then but the sound was in an 11' x 14' living room so the sound was pretty muffled.  Bechsteins, Bosendorfers, Petrofs are not to be heard in this state or the next one, and when I was in Nashville TN last year,  none of the dealers had a used one, either.  
My favorite console pianos are Steinway, Sohmer, Baldwin, Wurlitzer (last two before globalization)
Kawai.  I own since 2010 a 1941 40" Steinway, and love the action and the way the sound projects at the player instead of out the back. It has very stable tuning pins. the action is very fast and consistent at low volume.    The 1941 Steinway has no middle pedal, which I miss on some repretoire. I auditioned a Steinway 44" studio piano in 1982, and didn't like how heavy the touch was, and I found the bass sound really boring in a mall piano store out in the middle.    I bought a 1982 Sohmer 39 console at the previously mentioned mall store, and love the sound especially the bass notes,  the action is faster than I am and consistent at low volume. The Sohmer is not pitch stable, requiring attention thrice a year.  The Sohmer does have a middle pedal, lower half dampers up.   I also auditioned in 1982 at the mall store a 44" Everett studio piano after Everett had been purchased by Yamaha but before the Michigan factory was shut down.  I liked the sound of the 39 Sohmer better than the Everett, but the Everett touch was equivalent to the Sohmer, not the heavy 82 Steinway.  
I've played a seventies Kawai 40 console at a church I attend, and find the touch okay and the sound okay, but it is not very loud.  I've played a 200x Yamaha 44 studio at a teachers house, didn't like the sound of the bass notes, and really didn't like the sound dampner middle pedal instead of having bass note dampers up middle pedal. The Yamaha has consistently fast action.   My church has replaced the seventies Kawai with a Yamaha 44 studio, which has really boring bass notes, inadequate volume for a 300 seat auditorium, and further is desecrated by having a cheap microphone set inside and some Yamaha PA speakers with 8" woofers set out front, which makes the whole setup sound like a $4 transistor radio program of a piano. I refuse to play or sing with that failure.
In a previous 150 seat church I used to play a seventies Wurlitzer 44 studio, which had competent sound and was fast enough. It was quite loud and really filled that auditorium without any electronic reinforcement. The sound was kind of boomy, without a pinging attack of the Steinway 40 or the Sohmer 39.   I played the Wurlitzer 44 again 2012 Christmas service (the pianist was in the nursing home when I visited) and the intonation of that Wurlitzer is really holding up although the congregation has dwindled to almost nothing, meaning probably no tuning service.  I played a nineties Wurlitzer 40 console at a students house last year, and it was a piece of trash, having horribly inconsistent touch at low volume. The sound was nothing special.  
My favorite console for 300 seat halls is the Baldwin 40 Acrosonic console from the fifties and sixties.  There is one of these at a church that holds a town charity dinner weekly, and I play sometimes, last Christmas pre-Saturday in particular.  This model has a really bright sound with an aggressive attack, and is the loudest console I have ever played. I played one of these at a Piano Guild contest about 1965, and was again really impressed by the response and especially the volume.  I've had some practice time on a Baldwin Acrosonic 36 spinet two years ago, and was very pleased by the tone, althougn of course a spinet action is not very fast.  All these Baldwins have consistent action, the 40's up fast action.
Baldwin also made a "Hamilton" model console, which is a competent piano but lacks the bright sound of the Acrosonic and is missing an additional fifth of dampers on the upper end which makes some of my repretoire a sound little mismatched.  The other models I've mentioned (except the 90's Wurlitzer) were missing only the top octave of dampers.    
Pianos I truly hate are Kimball (made in my home county) and Winter.  Also many beater pre-WWII uprights in Sunday School rooms, especially the ones with missing key tops.  Some prewar uprights may be fine, with a few at Salvation Army or Goodwill showing real possibilites, but they are soo heavy to take home.  I'd like the prewar tinkly sound for Scott Joplin or Fats Waller but I'm getting too old to move one of those home and up the stairs.  300 lb consoles are a dream to move compared to an old upright.  

[iansinclair]

I haven't had the chance -- or privilege -- of playing too many of the brands you mention.  And, as long-time readers of this forum know, I'm sort of a Steinway kind of person!  So my comments may not be wholly unbiased...

Steinway & Sons -- M,B,A, and D (don't know about others) -- really brilliant top and tremendous base.  Enough so that going from Steinway to others I find that I'm not giving enough power to the lower notes.  Folks going to other way have to calm down a little.  The action tends to be a little heavier, IMHO, but no less responsive than others I've tried (my A is an unrebuilt 1898 and a tad slow on repetition relative to my newer M or some of the others).

Yamaha and Kawai -- A nice, responsive piano, but I find them a bit bland in comparison.  Both have excellent actions.

Baldwin grands -- A really wonderful and rather mellow tone quality, IMHO.  Very likable.

Bosendorfer -- on a good day, spectacular.  Very good action and tone; brilliant -- perhaps more so than a Steinway in the bass.  On a bad day... they are temperamental beasts, in my experience.

Boston -- the only ones I've played have been school pianos (at Tanglewood) and played half to death.  Not surprisingly, a Steinway sort of tone and feel, but just not quite.

Pianos I'd love to try: Estonia (not on your list, but very good reputation), Fazioli, Bechstein

But for the time being I'll stick with my Steinways...

Uprights and spinets are a different matter.  My sister has a Steinway spinet, and it is a real joy to play.  Light action and excellent tone, very even across the range.  No power, but that's to be expected in a spinet.  I have had the misfortune of playing a beat-up Baldwin Acrosonic, so I have no comment on that.  I have a Steinway "upright grand" (the big one, heavy as lead) which needs rebuilding, but has excellent tone.  The action is best left undescribed -- but that's because it needs work!