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Post by petite joueuse on Mar 24, 2007 21:57:36 GMT
Have just had the best afternoon ever.
A friend took me to buy a piano for his daughter....but I had to try out loads of pianos first.
I got to play a £22000 Steinway baby grand (YUM!!), but also everything from £800 (MEGA YUCK) all the way up to beyond our price range.
Finally decided on a Yamaha U3 - just BEAUTIFUL to play - really responsive, lovely clear bass, just gorgeous. Second -hand (though apparently "pre-owned" is now the accepted terminology!), and re-conditioned - only £3000.
I thought it was well worth it. I tried a brand new £2700 Kawai and it was bright and in-your-face. The Yamaha just won me over, big-time.
I was really unhappy with the bass on a lot of the pianos I tried - chords came out as mush - individual notes sounded muffled.
I came back home and sat down at my own piano, and was delighted to discover that my bass is clear and not muffled or mushy. My piano is not a great piano, but I've always loved playing it (and I'll soon be able to practise on the Yamaha U3 whenever I want to, if I ever feel my piano is not giving me what I want).
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Post by Steve Hopwood on Mar 24, 2007 22:57:26 GMT
Those large upright Yamaha pianos are amazing value for money. Glad you had such a happy afternoon. Really glad you didn't return home, play your piano and think, "Ye Gods, but this is rubbish" and take out a colossal bank loan to pay for a new one.
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Post by trinapiano on Mar 25, 2007 1:24:14 GMT
Thats nice to hear. I went piano shopping recently too, but it was for myself. The place I went to had this beautiful rare 1912 art case steinway piano, that was considerably more than what I had in my budget though obviously so I couldnt take that one home with me.... but after looking at a few yamaha and kawai pianos I ended up settling for an old reconditioned Kawai for just over two thousand euro..in immaculate condition. I know some people really dont like Kawai's but this one just seemed really good, has a nice tone, very responsive, has a good bass, pretty heavy touch (which I wanted).. I had my mind made up on that one pretty quickly. Of course, anything I could have bought would have been a collosal step up from my more than 100 years old beat up piano at home, it was at a stage where it was hardly even worthy of being called a piano anymore, I had to practicaly fight with it to get anything other than mezzoforte! ;D I hope that your friend and his daughter enjoy their new piano
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Post by possom on Mar 25, 2007 12:42:44 GMT
I sold my Yamaha and bought a Kawai. Even though my Yamaha looked gorgeous, it was a very shiny cherrywood, it was so loud and I didn't feel comfortable with it. My Kawai is much better for my touch and the way I play, the best i'm going to get without finding room for a decent grand anyway.
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Post by petite joueuse on Mar 26, 2007 14:58:33 GMT
Those large upright Yamaha pianos are amazing value for money. Glad you had such a happy afternoon. Really glad you didn't return home, play your piano and think, "Ye Gods, but this is rubbish" and take out a colossal bank loan to pay for a new one. Well I did pay over £2000 last year to have my piano re-strung, and after Saturday afternoon, my husband suggested that maybe our money would have been better spent buying the Yamaha (or an equivalent).....but no, I AM happy with my 1950s B Squire little upright. The re-stringing has enhanced what was already a very good piano (and the technician said the strings were now good for 50 years....so I should still be happy well into my nineties!!!!)
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