Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Comments requested re Schiedmayer c183 or Petrof before they sell

I am looking for some help as we are now looking at 2 used pianos: one is a Schiedmayer c183 serial# S132981 and the other is a Petrof - about 25 years old and it is 5'3" or 5'4".

My son played both and I think that he likes the Petrof, but the Schiedmayer was out of tune, but he thinks that it might be better because of its size.

Schiedmayer - the seller said that it is 6' in size. We did not measure it, but would like to know for sure. I have read some info on this site about this type of piano being made by Kawai, and I can confirm that the gold seal inside indicated that it was manufactured in Japan. However, we cannot determine the exact age. Can anyone tell me where to get more info? The case is in super condition and the seller took very good care of it for the last 10 years and now bought a Bosendorfer. The price being asked is $12,000 Cdn. Is this reasonable? Are there any things that we should specifically look for that could be problems?

Petrof - I did not see it myself, but my son said that it needs new hammers and he would like new keys (they seem worn out). However, it is a baby grand, approximately 25 years old, and the asking price is $9,000 Cdn + an additional $1,000 to redo hammers and strings.

We have not yet sent our piano tuner/rebuilder out to see them, but he says that Petrofs are neither reliable nor consistent (which is why I am surprised that my son who is on Grade 10 piano likes it)and he really does not know about the Japanese made Schiedmayers.

I look forward to reading all comments.

Thanks

25 years ago Petrof was a nationalized factory under the Soviet rule. The pianos were lack luster and not even close to what they have been in the past 10 years with the company back in the hands of the Petrof family.

Schiedmayer is in fact made by Kawai for distribution in Europe, typically. In the past they did not carry the ABS plastic action parts Kawai is famous for. A C183 would be 6' if you do the conversion from centimeters to inches.
I am unclear on the Kawai numbering scheme for this alternative line. Querry Kawai Don regarding the age with this serial number.

You should check out the newer Petrof's from Euromusic in Markham, you could get a 5'8" for a bit more. Petrofs are pretty good pianos - tier 2 calibre. You should check out Larry Fine's book. We had a Petrof upright for over 10 years and we had absolutely no problems without, had a wonderful tone and great tuning stability. We have a 6'3" grand for the past year and it has been problem free as well.

I just bought the Petrof IV (5'8") new for $13.8K.

gregali,

I just purchased a 5'3" Petrof, new, for $10,400. Read Larry Fine before you buy an old Petrof.

Redoing hammers and strings on the Petrov for $1,000.00 is pretty generous...I'll bet it will end up being more than that, since that would barely cover materials.

I like the Schiedmayers. They are not stencil pianos. They have a different design than Kawais, though they were built by Kawai. They have wood wippens, and I think all the action parts are wood, though there may be an ABS wippen flange. Wood vs. ABS is an insignificant argument, though, as both materials have stood the test of time.

I worked for a dealer that sold these not so long ago. In fact, my ex-wife (future wife at the time....) bought one from me, so I've had a chance to see how it's holding up.

I played it a couple of weeks ago for a couple of minutes. Though I last tuned it over 5 years ago, it was still sounding remarkably good. It always had phenomenal stability. I should really do her a favor and teflon the knuckles and check the regulation, though....

I quite liked these pianos, but they never caught on. Schiedmayer is a German company that makes celestes, I believe. They contracted with Kawai to produce some pianos (before Steinway contracted with Kawai to do Bostons).

Hope this helps!