On replacing a 1980 action in a Steinway, I'd do a careful inspection before I paid $2000 for a name brand. Actions wear out due to time used, not years particularly. How soft can you play the action, every note, without using the pedal? Every note has to be consistant for the low volume to be useful. The 1982 Pratt,Read action in my Sohmer is excellent in this regard, I can go very soft, and that is not really a name brand. Modern pianos I've played, some have failed this test. Notes drop out and don't sound.How fast can you play each individual note, using two hands and two fingers, as fast as you can go? Does it ever get behind? Many modern consoles fail this test IMHO.Do any keys double strike when you play loud? Do any stick down under any humidity conditions?Nights in the garden of spain really tests and action, can you play that? As far as the strike depth, the softness of the bottom, the absolute force required to play it, you can tell what you want. The S&S action might be just the ticket. Some performance Steinways have two actions, read the pianostreet article on that. It's not that hard to Remove &Replace an action, even I can do it now. I had to fluff up one damper when I did it to achieve consistency again. Have fun shopping.
Yay glad to hear you found it.
Do pay very close attention to that Steinway A. I'm badly biased, as most folks around here know, (I have and love an 1898 Steinway A, which has been restrung and has newer ivories but otherwise is all original). The early Steinway A's have a reputation for being almost unmatched in brilliance and evenness of tone over the full range; there are some who say that of all the Steinways the early A's are the most even of all, although they don't have quite the maximum power of a D.The action could make a difference. Not in tone quality -- that's the strings and the sounding board -- but in some aspects of playing. Mine -- being the original -- is very fussy to adjust (on the rare occasions when it is needed) and the newer actions -- either Hamburg or New York -- are much easier to get really right.
Kawai is a beast brand. I didn't know you picked a Kawai.
Happy Birthday Sandra! I don't have a lot to say otherwise, you answered all the questions about this piano I might have asked. It's about presence of a piano, if you sit at one and it feels alive to you, you play it and your music feels alive coming from it to you, you want to sit there and play and play, who can argue. Not me. So I will be quiet.
There really isn't a whole lot of difference between 5'10" and 6' or even 6'2" in playability if it's a quality piano. In some model pianos you might get a slightly better bass or richer if you will, and in others you might might not. Depending on the bridge layout and the stringing you might get a slightly clearer high treble, or not. And that size should fill your entire house with sound no problem unless you live in a cathedral lol. 5'10" is a very respectable size piano, when I think of small it's when they get down under 5'7" and then there are some stand out pianos at 5'5", generally they start losing bass. At least in my experience. Many people love the Steinway M for instance, very capable pianos.Yes, that action is supposed to be exciting, I'm glad to hear your experience supports the claims from other satisfied users. Much of it is carbon fiber, light responsive components with direct feel, just like fishing rods made of that material lol, compared with say bamboo or fiberglass or carbon fiber bike frames apposed to aluminum. I.E. it should have it's own little character that a lot of people are loving. Carbon fiber is noted for transmitting feel and vibration well, you should feel very in touch with the strings and or hammers compared with wood and not crack or come unglued if it takes a little pounding . Some people probably don't like it because it takes away from the organic feel of woods, it's all in ones view point. Not everyone wants to move on with technology, some want to keep the old organic feel, like owning a wood canoe vs kevlar.Let us know the verdict !
Yay !! Congratulations, enjoy ! Ya go take advantage of that open store front playing, what are doing hanging around here ? lol. That was an awesome deal I thought, pretty hard to pass it up.
Happy birthday!
Cool! Sounds like everything went well.
I've been polishing off fingerprints all afternoon, though I'm sure I won't care after a few weeks, LOL
Just be careful, we get one set of ears and ear damage is real. slow deterioration accumulates over the years and one day the ringing doesn't go away. I know, I listen to my ringing accompaniment 24/7, loudest in the left ear. Probably mostly industrial related but still.
Eek! Tinnitus is scary. So what were your warning signs? Like was it REALLY loud in the room? Enough to give you a headache? Did you have ringing following a playing session, that sort of thing?I don't think it's really bad but I hope I'll know if it's too much. The angle is fairly flat and I can't see how there could be much bounce-back off the longitudinal wall, it's just louder than the upright.
I wanted to update my thread after having my RX2 for a few weeks now....And - I LOVE MY PIANO! So so so much. In love, seriously. I also discovered that playing it with the music stand down makes a HUGE difference in what I hear. Wow I had no idea a simple thing like the music stand can affect and muffle so much of the sound. Acoustics are weird.
precisely. i performed in a masterclass where this was discussed and I have since then always done final/late prep rehearsal and practice and perform w/ the music desk completely removed, you are more directly connected to the sound it produces and it does affect your guiding of your playing.if/when you play in public or for others, if someone is incharge of prepping the piano for you, ie openin the lid, etc. make sure to instruct them to remove the music desk
I thought the RX2 would be a good fit for you in terms of size, from your description of your place/layout. Glad it's all working so well, now I WANT ONE ! No, I'm old enough to know better than to fall for that jolly green monster. But there is a Kawai dealer about 35 miles north of here and I'd be curious how the action is on a new one, assuming the shop has it regulated correctly. Assuming the shop is up and running for that matter, they had a roof cave in last winter, we had a tough winter followed by rain, guess they didn't clear it well enough before the rain hit..For the record I prefer the sound of my grand with the desk on it and the tops enclosure for the desk fully open (I can slide the desk back and fully close the lid which I don't like the sound of, but it folds back on top of the top). Doesn't matter much if the music rest is up or down because mine is the old classical ornate kind with a lot of scroll work carved out of it, so in a sense it's open either way. But the desk itself does make a difference.
You should go try some pianos at the Kawai dealer and report back what you think, if you've never played the M3 action before. Just leave your checkbook at home. I'm so not kidding when I say I like the M3 action better than the S&S Hamburg action or even the Renner. The M3 has that German precision but with just a tad deeper in the keys than an S&S (I do find S&S key depth a bit shallow) but it's also got quite a bit of 'liveness' to the key, makes it really responsive. Again, I'm not sure how much is the Kawai itself and how much I can credit to the technician.I haven't played it with the music desk off totally yet, I'm a bit gunshy about putting anymore scratches into my baby!, but I like it very well with the music stand down and the lid up on the middle stick. Also, I find it mesmerizing to watch the hammers when I'm playing, LOL.
Your enthusiasm alone makes a visit here worth the price of admission, if not the Kawai dealer lol ! But your comment above makes me chuckle, about watching the hammers. I remember doing that on my teachers Steinway years ago, actually watching the dampers lift. But the trick was this, in passages where she didn't want any pedal, did I trick her when I would lay in just a hint of pedal, the tiniest hint of pedal that helped me limp through legato !!!! That over time became a signature technique of mine that I use to this day. But the piano has to be well regulated with very even dampers.It probably never tricked her, she was a sweet old lady but sharp as a tack. Maybe she just gave up on me using 0 pedal.
Hah that's funny. I've been killing myself contorting my arms and wrists trying to get my melody legatos perfect... my concert pianist teacher is like, what are you doing, just use the pedal!Lol, so pedal isn't cheating, except maybe baroque I suppose. My teacher's a big fan of finding the easiest way to do things, can't say I disagree!
I don't know if to go psssst or shuuush, lest the pianotstreet technique police arrest us and convict us for even talking this way, But I Agree With Your Teacher . You don't want to lay into the pedal but discreet use is just plain awesome. I call it feathering, if you do it right you won't get a whole of that sympathetic resonance you get with full pedal but a smoother legato.
Oh dear....I didn't realize it was controversial! Shhh......Of course muddling isn't the goal, but both my teachers encourage 'feathering' rather than overstraining physically. Makes sense. As my concert pianist teacher says, his hands are different from mine, and encourages me to find my own way in terms of fingering too. No "One Right Way" for him, thankfully - and so different from my childhood teacher!In fact he tsks at me if I do anything unnatural, motion wise, when there's pedal to use. It's been quite a nice change switching over to the grand in terms of the range of possibilities with the pedal that wasn't at all possible on the upright. Hah and now of course there's that sostenuto that's just begging to be tried out, though I haven't used it for anything yet besides just messing around.
You might want to make a new topic for that handz.
it was reply for this thread..did not noticed that OP already made purchase, I just saw first page and it was quite busy here so I thought it is still going on
Grand piano rec's for my budget please (Read 6030 times)
