Mid range grands - price and advice

[athomik]

One big dealer with a range of different pianos, and not too far from you would be:

Countrywide Piano Centre Ltd
194 Penn Road, Hazlemere
High Wycombe, Bucks, HP15 7NU
Tel: 01494 813388
Email: info@countrywidepianos.co.uk

Have a look at their website, they do carry a range of different makes and they do second-hand pianos as well.

[Dr Owl]

Hi Lucia,

Three showroms/workshops you might visit within an hour's drive of your home:

Chris Venables, Ringwood, Hampshire
http://www.chrisvenables.co.uk/
Primarily new Yamaha and Brodmann.

Claire Dash, Faringdon, Oxfordshire
http://www.thepianogallery.co.uk/
Usually has a range of second-hand grands; stocks of Yamaha & Kawai look low at the moment.

Jeff Shackell, Witney, Oxfordshire
http://www.shackellpianos.co.uk/
Highly rated restorer of Steinways; also Yamahas, though he has none in at present.

Later,

John

[joe]

Steinway Hall Marleybone Lane London have new and used pianos as well as Steinway,Boston and Essex superior range of new pianos,they often have trade-ins to.Dont settle for less go to the best.

[A440]

Bluthner are just around the corner too (if we are allowed to talk about pianos that arn't Steinway!!)

[Bob Pierce]

Hi Lucia

I would try Ben Wheeler Pianos, a top dealer who knows his stuff.
Good luck

[lucia]

Thanks for the advice, guys (and gals?)

[sylvester550]

Hi Lucia,
I was struck by something you said in your opening post, about wanting a Steinway eventually. I went through the same issues; good used Yamaha or Kawai, or even new? Looked at loads of others without being overly taken by them. Finished up buying a rebuilt Steinway O, after many agonies about budget/age of piano etc etc.
It is totally gorgeous, and now, 6 months on, I've no regrets at all. If it's a Steinway you want, look at Steinways. The one I bought is probably in budget for you.
Go see Jeff Shackell, or Gerry at Coachhouse in Swansea.
Have fun, Sylv

[Model V]

Another vote for Jeff Shackell near Oxford. I have bought Yamaha and Steinway grands from Jeff. If there's anyone better at setting up a piano, I have yet to meet them. Nicest guy you could ever wish to meet, and a true enthusiast.

That said, Steinway Hall are superb, although I have found the Bostons to be poorly prepared (the S&S grands are perfection).

The people at Bluthner are lovely. The new pianos are superb too imo - you might fall for one. They also had some older grands for very reasonable money last time I went there. Beware residuals, though.

I've not bought from Coachhouse but they are good people and I've never heard a bad word said about them.

Finally, in a provinical old family-run music shop last week, I found a good-as-new C3 which is going for silly money. It's a good few miles from you, though, but is a really nice C3 - even nicer than mine, and mine is nice. A well set up C3 is a match for almost anything.

MV - neither a tech nor a dealer - just someone who buys and plays the things.

[osborne1]

Hi everyone

Just an update on this thread. I finally decided to go with the Yamaha C5 which I am very happy with. My findings were:

Schimmel - very nice pianos, although I think they are fairly expensive relative to the other mid range pianos. I did like the 7 foot model, but we were talking £30k+ and there did not seem to be any scope for discount at all.

Boston - disappointing. When I set off with the search, I imagined I'd be buying a Boston as I'd tried them some years ago and really liked the tone and touch of the 6 foot 4 and 7 foot models. Only the 6 foot 4 model was available and was out of tune in the showroom. I could see it being a decent piano once prepped properly, although at £26k with minimal scope for discount, I think these are a bit too expensive for what they claim to be.

Kawai - I tried the RX3. Very nice touch with lots of control and great tone too. I got a decent price (well below £20k) and very nearly went with this piano. I see a lot of similarities between the Kawai and Yamaha pianos - the Kawai was actually fairly bright to me which I did not expect and vice versa (see below). I did not manage to find an RX5 to play but may well have gone with this option if I had.

Yamaha - I tried the C3 and C5. Both great pianos and much more mellow tone than the ones I had played in previous years. Very responsive. I see the C5 as a C3 with a mellower, rounded sound and a bit more growl in the bass. You do have to pay a fair bit extra (£1500-£2000) for the C5, but in my mind this is a good investment if you have the space. Best prices were pretty much equivalent to Kawai.

I'll report back in 5 years or so when I'm on the Yamaha S6/Steinway B trail...

Richard