UK Piano Page Piano Forum

joseph

I'm sure it is true, but not every piano is worth saving. Many will be well past their best and unable to produce a satisfactory musical result without an impractical financial injection.

joseph

Honestly? £2100 for a Danemann Upright in 1971???? WOW! That's outrageous!

I'm sure I heard that was the price of a Steinway B at that time? Which also makes you wonder, if as Dan says £2100 is £25k, where Steinways found the extra £50,000 to put on the list price....

joseph

Joe, the shop I'm referring to isn't run by anyone on the forum, and it's not in Glasgow or Edinburgh, or Aberdeen, nor is it in Inverness and I'm not saying more than that! O.P: I'm glad you went for a K3. I tried a K3 that was sitting next to a reconditioned U3. The U3 was a decent piano, it was f...

joseph

The Reid-Sohn pianos I've played are not as good as Yamaha, but then, they're from the '80s. They were good instruments in that they were quite solid, it seemed, but they sounded pretty ropey. That said, they were built at a price. They seem to have a good reputation now, but I've honestly very litt...

joseph

Feurich put their name on Hailun/Wendl und Lung pianos that are made in China, and they also have pianos hand built in germany.

I've never played either. I've never played a Wendl/Hailun piano or even heard one to my knowledge.

joseph

I've got an idea.... Have it tuned and learn to play it, then you can decide if you want to upgrade later! The piano is just a normal upright, probably not much value, but if you can get a tune out of it, it could be of value to you. Methven Simpson in Dundee were on Reform Street, in what is now a ...

joseph

It's like a computer generated response isn't it!

joseph

LOL who is this chap that's posting all the spiel from the Yamaha website?

joseph

I'm assuming they were KG-2 Kawais incidentally - I didn't look inside, but they were bought new with the building, infact may have come from the previous building

joseph

Mr Venables gesture is not just a breath of fresh air, it's going beyond the call of duty on every level, really. As for the RSAMD, it's a long time since I've been there, and I have no idea who the technicians are. The pianos are leased, that much is true. The accountants obviously think that's the...

joseph

Perhaps, or each piano should be sold with some kind of log book, and it should be mandatory for the tuner to sign it every time the piano is tuned, note any faults that could be a manufacturing problem, list anything that is the fault of the owner, and anything that is fair wear and tear. I agree t...

joseph

Thank you very much Chris, this is beyond your call of duty, I did not purchase the piano from you, as you know. As I have said before, the action is something I can live with and deal with, because actually, I've played the piano so much. The stringing is a different matter. Thank you for your help.

joseph

Joe, just to clarify on that a little: Yes, perhaps a U3 or a K6 would have lasted me longer, but I need to practise on a grand. I bought the piano at the age of 26, having not long graduated from my Master's Degree and my only instrument wasn't really up to the job, not having a proper double escap...

joseph

I'm not blaming my tuners at all, none have them have ever done harm to the piano and most of them have put a good tuning on it - except for one or two who I'll not name on the forum. Besides, in fairness to all of the tuners, this piano isn't the easiest to tune - especially considering the capo pr...

joseph

let's not forget Bosendorfer, Fazioli and Grotrian, who are also making beautiful pianos.

joseph

The piano has been in two locations: My flat in Dundee, my house in Norwich. The humidity in Dundee was higher, but I had a dehumidifier to regulate it. The humidity in Norwich is high in the summer but low in the winter. I've honestly never heard that about keybeds before, you learn something new e...

joseph

Barrie, I have a hygrometer in my room and it's currently not damp - in fact it may be a little dry - humidity is sitting at 40 percent. I don't know what it was in the summer, but we had a very wet summer. So the flimsy keybed can be fixed? Interesting. Yeah I figured that any piano under constant ...

joseph

actually, when re-stringing a piano, the cost involved isn't in the purchase of the strings, it's in the purchase of the time to replace the strings. I don't think piano wire is the most expensive thing, but a tech's time is very expensive. I guess it has to be, really, they have to earn a living. S...

joseph

exactly Withindale, in the first instance I am trying to get them to pay for that repair to be done. It's not THAT pricey a repair, in the scheme of things. However, I don't know if these grooves will return soon after, because I don't know the composition of the metal on the frame. I don't know if ...

joseph

Well, It's true that I didn't purchase this piano from Chris Venables, and he seems to have a better service in place on his pianos and is, by all accounts, an excellent technician and retailer. Perhaps in the past 6 years the product has improved anyway. The main point of my gripe is the Capo bar i...

joseph

In fact I'm considering making a garden water feature out of the Brodmann and buying a Yamaha Avant Grand N1 instead.

joseph

Well. Having thought I was coming to a solution: Here are the steps I took, quick re-cap: Contacted Edinburgh Piano Company who said it was Brodmann's fault, and that they'd had no luck with Brodmann on any other matter. Contacted Brodmann, who said it was Edinburgh Piano Company's responsibility Co...

joseph

The other thing about Bluthner pianos is, although many of them are quite worn out, there are many 120 year old Bluthner grands out there, in totally original condition, still producing a remarkable sound. The patent action can be really beautiful to play on, very fast and light and responsive, when...

joseph

If you have the money, go for the best you can afford. I haven't played a YUS3, but I have played a YUS5 and it's excellent. I'm not sure what the differences are between the two models, it may be just a different cabinet, or there may be more. The YUS3 and even the U3 will take you from grade 5 to ...

joseph

oh yeah the NU1 has just been issued! Totally forgot about it.

joseph

Good show!

The film says there are three manufacturers in the UK? Who are the other two?

joseph

When I went to Chappell of Bond Street, they also had well-prepared pianos in stock. They have good technicians. When it comes to buying, talk to them about the price - the art of buying a piano is that you talk to the seller, usually the price is negotiable. Probably Venables is a good place to loo...

joseph

I have a question, that probably can't be answered here, but here goes: Recently, in the last couple of years, I read of someone who bought a Roland RD-1000, as in their 1986 digital piano, brand new, boxed, from a music shop who had it in their basement. For some reason it had slipped through the n...

joseph

Hello, knights are good, solid well-built pianos, that much is true. However, this piano is nearly 80 years old, you don't know it's history and you don't know what condition it is in , really. If you want to buy it, take a technician along, get her or him to test the pins etc, all that stuff, and p...

joseph

I'm going to get in touch with Steinway, Bluthner, Bechstein, Piano Restorations Ltd, PeriodPiano.com, Steingraeber, Paul McNulty, also individuals who have instruments of interest. For instance, someone tipped me off that the main piano in the Royal Albert Hall, for a while, was an Ibach.... could ...

joseph

Hi everyone, Can anybody give me some information on how the concert grand piano developed through the 20th century? I know that a model D from 1890 bears quite a lot in common with the modern counterpart, but what are the differences, in technical terms? I'm interested in touch weight, inertia, ham...

joseph

It wouldn't have been that hard for the salesman to find out the age, if he has a piano atlas, which he probably does if he's buying in used pianos. The soft close fall has been installed on Yamahas for about 15 years now. When I was in first year at the RSAMD we got a stock of new U3 pianos in, and...

joseph

The price of a second hand piano in a private sale is really dependent on what you're willing to pay for it. After you've taken a technician along, consider a few things: check out the price a similar piano is selling for at a dealer, then you can slash it by half to two-thirds. Bear in mind the dea...

joseph

The sample on the CA111 is excellent, and although it doesn't have an acoustic piano action, the touch is also excellent. It isn't cheap though, although I'm not sure how much it costs. I think it's around the same price as the Yamaha NU1, which obviously fits the bill for what you're looking for. A...

joseph

Yeah, we need to know how to contact you, where to visit you in order to buy a piano and give you some moral support.

I've seen some of your videos on youtube. Sensibly priced pianos, well done and good luck.

joseph

OK I know this thread is 5 years old, but there is a Kawai digital that looks like an upright, and is still in production.

joseph

correct me if I'm wrong, I think there's also the issue that each instrument has to be interpreted. So, you couldn't use exactly the same tuning on a Steinway D as a Steinway A, or a Steinway A and a Bluthner 6. Perhaps even two pianos of the same make and model will require a different treatment. I...

joseph

update: I've called the dealer who sold me the piano and he's now in touch with Brodmann about getting the Capo sorted, the pedals sorted and other issues attended to, at the expense of Brodmann. As far as regulation is concerned, well, I guess I can't expect Brodmann to pay for a full regulation on...

joseph

Having never played one, I couldn't say. I wouldn't think they are better than Bechsteins, Sauters, Yamahas or Kawais though. I would say that they present a home-built alternative that fits within a certain price

joseph

*string breakage update* Fergus came around tonight with a mirror and a torch. We see that the Capo D'astro is grooved in several places - not just where the strings pass under it. The strings have been spaced while they are under tension, which in his opinion has weakened them. His solution would b...

joseph

plus, even the best and most reliable pianos can develop a problem such as the capo bar not being quite right. I was told of a Bosendorfer that had that problem, as I mentioned before I think. Someone else I know bought a Yamaha, decades ago, new, and it had the same problem, and he sent it back, an...

joseph

Why do sensible people buy pianos that dson't work properly They work to start with! We're pianists, not techs. They sound nice and look shiny. Anyway, it's not so much the piano is bad, it's not. It's that there are things about it that haven't been finished well. We're getting there with it, and ...

joseph

I can't honestly say I've knowingly compared the two types of wire, so I have no idea!

joseph

Just to add to the above.... He also mentioned that the string breakage could be to do with the quality of the wire. He said the tri-chords are strung with plated wire, which gives a brighter sound, and that the wire itself may not be of the highest quality. I'm not entirely sure what that means. An...

joseph

I've posted about this enough for you all to be very bored by now.... After trying a few techs, I finally found Ferguson Hoey, who lives in Norwich and builds harpsichords, as well as restoring pianos. He pointed out several things to me. There is a wooden rail that supports the wippens, you know ju...

joseph

I'll take some pictures of the piano in question and you can see what you think. It looks like Otto Bach was a name used on some pianos from several factories, rather like Irmler, and perhaps Knight imported some pianos to South Africa, and the Otto Bach name was stamped on there? It sure is a dead ...

joseph

Whilst in a church, I came across a piano that said 'Otto Bach' on the lid. It was, I'd guess by looking at it, made between 1970 and 1980, and was finished in teak or something similar. Anyway, to my eyes, it looked exactly like a Knight, it felt the same and sounded the same as one too. I was prac...

joseph

How could I forget?

Ok I'll put a link on!

joseph

The Steinmeyers I've tried were chinese pianos from the time before chinese pianos became acceptable.

Pretty dreadful actually.

I haven't tried any new ones, and of course there have been big improvements in chinese manufacture.

joseph

Hello Chip, That depends on a few things, mainly the condition of the piano. It's probably worth a couple of hundred dollars if you could get someone to buy it, but it's a 12 year old electronics device at the end of the day, so the technology in it is not the latest. Still, if the keyboard is in go...

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