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Of the makes of pianos you mention Schimmel have been the best in my experience. They are made in West Germany. How do prices compare? Generally speaking the more you pay the better the quality and therefore, reliability is better as better quality materials are used for the action (working mechanis...

I've seen 2 in recent years and they appear to be ok. They were fairly new and hadn't been used much, but represent reasonable value.

Regards

As Barrie says they're not bad pianos, one other thing to consider. See if you can ascertain when the piano was last tuned, and is it tuned to A440 (concert pitch)? I've sometimes had a problem with bass strings breaking when pulling them back up to pitch.

Regards

That sounds very reasonable. Did you acquire this privately?

Have you spoken or visited any local music shops? A Yamaha or Technics specialist shop should be able to supply you with what you're looking for.

Regards

I recently helped a customer to sell a six year old Kemble Cambridge for &2000.00, the buyer was delighted with it, and I still tune the piano. Its as good as new.

It would be possible to learn how to play the piano on a keyboard but this isn't really recommended, and some teachers insist you have (or have access to) a real piano as this will give you a true reading as to the sound you are making (in terms of tone that a particular peice of music requires you ...

I am a little concerned becuase I have read some information on the Yamaha Website about pianos being made for specific locations around the world.The serial number ties up with production in Japan for 1979 (serial number D282****).Assuming the piano was made in Japan and it is about 25 years old w...

Yes it is.

This is not a model I'm familiar with, I recently tuned a M1j which was made in the late 70s and this was ok. I understand the M5j piano was built for Canada and the USA but I'm having difficulty at present in getting much info about this piano. As for price it sounds ok but get a local qualified tu...

I have a few over-damper pianos on my rounds that are adiquate for the customer's needs, some are quite good infact.

I agree with Barrie on all the comments he's made. Don't be miss-led on what 1 sales person says, a qualified tuner will be able to give you truly independant advice about this.

People tend to recognise the Yamaha name more so than the Kawai name, so the Yamaha equivelent is usually more expensive than the Kawai.

Realisticly in terms of quality there's not much to compare, both pianos are of good quality so its really a case of what you personally prefer.

Regards

I have a U1 (1990) and my piano had this problem, I'm glad to say that it was the mechanism rather than the dampers themselves. I have come accross other 90s U1s with similar problems but are relitively straight forward to fix.

Regards

It does indeed depend on where you live. Also, do all the notes work? You may like to consider paying a local tuner to inspect the piano for you, he/she should then be able to advise you on how and where to sell it.

Another place where you will get an honest opinion (and the opportunity to try for yourself) on the different pianos is Coach House Pianos at Swansea (if you ever get to South Wales). They are agents to Steinway & Son and sell a number of Boston pianos. They would have the experience with the va...

Extremely well put Barrie - especially the last paragraph.

Extremely rare that I come accross them second hand; these pianos truly hold their value. Best of luck.

I'm glad you've been warned not to be too hasty with this one, as Barrie says (if you haven't already) get a local tuner to examine it for you before you committ yourself. It does sound as though its quite old though.

Barrie Heaton wrote:Myself I prefer a Bosendorfer uprights over a Steinway any day, Piano Workshop also advertise it on this site as well

http://www.uk-piano.org/pianos-for-sale ... siteid=138

and it comes with a 5 year guarantee.

Barrie,

Glad I'm not the only one to prefer Bosendorfer uprights then.

Duplex scaling is used certainly on Steinways and Yamahas, its function - to enhance the tone throughout the mid and upper treble which helps to give greater clarity in tone especially in a concert hall where the piano's tone needs to be projected over the length and bredth of a hall. A few years ag...

Given the choice I would rather a baby grand than an upright. Some interesting points above as to the benfits of either a grand or an upright; grand pianos' actions are generally more efficient than uprights as gravity plays a more prominent part especially with the hammer return. There's less to go...

I tune a few of these Kemble Classics and I have to say that most of them have been absolutely fine.

As Barrie says though, best to get a tuner to check it over to be on the safe side.

I remember attending a lecture some years ago where it was discussed that when a piano is re-strung by certain specialist technicians that they've been known to change the scaling (the use of a different gauge of wire in certain sections of the piano - for instance)in an attempt to improve the overa...

Not farmiliar with this myself but a search on google revealed this together with loads of other links:-

http://www.epinions.com/content_73735835268

There's a detailed review here and it looks very favourable.

Regards

If they are imported pianos where they have spent a number of years in Japan's humid climate and partially restored in the UK, some of these pianos have been known also to have problems as Barrie has mentioned above. If you really like one but would like some re-assurance as to whether its free from...

If the "restoration" was carried out recently, you could question the loose pina with the person or company who restore it. The suggestions as above I couldn't add to except to advise that any work carried out to rectify the situation is likely to be expensive, get a local tuner to look at...

Well I wasn't one of those visitors on Christmas Day as I didn't do anything work related either, we had a house full which was nice to have family around as I rarely see my Aunte these days, a pleasent time was had by all. The ABPT website is both interesting and informative in every respect and ve...

Yes I had an old spring & loop upright with 8 broken hammers today and I condemmed that because apart from that the woodwork generally was in a shocking state. They live in a large semi and could well do with something better for the little one to practise on. I don't repair spring & loops m...

These pianos generally have little potential. However if the tuning pins are ok and the strings aren't rusty then if its a case of just repairing 2 or 3 hammers it should be possible to fix. It would not be worth spending hundreds to have it repaired as new but it may be ok for someone to learn on. ...

As a tuner myself, if I had any concerns about the state of the piano both from a point of view of how and where the piano is situated (i.e. next to a radiator) or the tuning pins were loose I would point it out to the customer and advise on measures as Barrie has already mentioned to combat the sit...

If you bought it from a dealer they would be best to advise you what you need. From the 2 examples I've seen (not sure what models they were) they had their own built in speake.

Thanks Barrie, we are now in contact and I'm going to see the piano next week.

That basically sums up my opinion. Ok I'm a Piano Tuner so one could argue that I'm bound to be biassed, it really does pay to keep some real pianos as provided they are decent (as these pianos probably were by the sound of it), they can be easily tuned and maintained, and will last for years. Given...

Cheers. Tea with milk and 1 sugar and a couple of biscuits then would be great.

BTW. I've removed your duplicate post.

Regards

That's great news, I'm pleased the tuner did a great job for you and that you're able to prectise the piano again now after all that time.

Just one thought; I love chocolate biscuits.

Evestaff certainly did produce mini pianos, there's the Kemble Minx pianos which are quite reasonable. It should be noted that because of the inevitable shorter strings (especially the bass) the tone quality isn't as good as that of a conventional upright piano. However they can still be a good comp...

One compromise would be to consider a mini piano, you should be able to get a second hand one quite reasonable.

Weighted hammer action means that the keys are very heavy at the bottom and are lighter as you go down, or the other way around. Normal hammer action doesn't do that. I think that's what it means anyway. So, if you want something similar to the feel of an acoustic piano, I think the best option wou...

Have you tried www.rolandus.com ?

TBH Not sure of the answer directly to your question but different keyboard manufacturers use slightly different mechanisms to simulate the keyboard on a real piano. This is usually achieved by weighted keys, they have lead weights to create some resistance to the key being pressed down while trying...

When will they learn to ask for advice Barrie, One never knows. Its a sad state of affairs, and at a time when schools are complaining of a shortage in funding etc. they certainly missed an opportunity to get something reasonable back for the school, so in response to the thread title, yes school t...

I hope all goes well when your tuner repairs your piano. Do keep us posted as regards this.

Regards

They're now marketed by C Bechstein.

There's another thread on W Hoffman here . There are several varients of Hoffman and as far as I'm aware W Hoffman pianos were usually grand pianos. Player pianos oftern came in the upright variety but there were grands too, though I haven't come accross many who's player mechanisms are in good work...

Oh dear! the things some people do eh!

TBH We won't really be able to tell you what the piano is worth, for that you would be best to get a tuner to value it for you. I will post back with some more info when I return from work later this evening (all being well).
Regards

OK so the piano has a few problems, nothing that can't be sorted out by someone willing to take on a spring & loop action. From what Barrie says, it seems to be good generally and it may well be worth fixing. The springs that have come dislodged are probably as a result of the corrasponding loop...

Ok most questions have straight forward answers so here we go:-

1 T
2 C
3 F
4 C or D (you don't need D really as C is taken as both A or B) - depends on interperitation of the C option, but a piano does produce a variation on tones and can be played both quiet and loud.
5 C
6 A
7 C

Regards

I have a customer who's having one restored at the moment and I'm overseeing the work. I have to say that in this case it is certainly proving to be worth it and would agree and say by make, yes it probably would be worth it.

Indeed keyboards do eat batteries as last year I was asked to play for a local event and my mains adaptor packed up, so I went and bought batteries for the event but after an hour or so, they were not at their best. I'd go with Barrie's suggestions.

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