Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Fazioli F212 Vs. Bechstein B212???

You are fortunate to have such disposable income.
Makes me wonder why you don't do some travel to play them both.
You'll know in an instant what is best.
Nothing others say regarding their choices ought to matter.

I too lean toward the Bechstein, only because you have played it and liked it. While the Fazioli is every bit as good, it has a different tonality and touch. You may or may not like it, so why not go with the sure thing.

LOL!

I think the Fazioli should get the guernsey here!

I think KB7 is pulling our collective leg here.
If you have that much money to pay $120,900 for either piano without having ever seen it, without negotiating the price down to the street price of $100,000 or less, then you clearly have too much money. You should go ahead and buy both and spare yourself this tough decision.

+1

+2

I so hate to be duped when giving an honest answer. Makes me not want to respond to those that ARE honest, just in case.

If this is the case here, are you now pleased to pull such a prank?

If not, how about some more info for us?

From the OP's posts on other threads we've learned that he bought a 2007 Yamaha P22 for $800 - then sold it and bought a 1970 Steinway 1098 for $400 - which he currently owns. He encourages us to "read the ads" to find the good deals. While his interest in high end pianos may be sincere (he's asked about them in other threads), I question the basic premise of this particular thread.

I just saw an add on Pianomart for a Bechstein 280. The sad part is that in the background, there is a Steinway D and a three-manual organ console! This is, like, a person's house. The nerve of some people!

As others have said in this thread, you are paying too much for these pianos. A new Fazioli F278 was (and might still be) available in the LA area for 90K. If you can not find these pianos from a dealer in the $80K range or less, you are not trying (or are trolling).

All,
Before we all continue wasting time on this thread:

I sent a PM to the OP, offering to help him out by speaking with him at length on the phone about his goals for the piano, and then going to NYC and choosing one for him and negotiating a great price - far better than the prices he is quoting. In other words, being his personal shopper. I had already planned a trip to NYC on Saturday to try out the very pianos he was referring to.

He never even replied to my message. I would contend that the post is a fraud, and should be ignored. If you re-read it a few times, it's quite easy to see how ridiculous it is.

Just for the record though, the two pianos in question are both truly magnificent, but they are completely different. I cannot imagine anyone not having at least a slight preference, if not a strong preference, for one or the other. To choose either without playing the other would be to make an uninformed decision, unless after playing one, you fall so completely in love with it that you cannot imagine possibly loving something else more.

John

Look, I tried most of the top brands and I prefer Fazioli...both the touch and the sound... but that's just me... but I have heard there are some reliability problems.

I second Way2Go. I smelled BS on my first reading. Then when I saw that he is able to communicate with a deity on where to donate money...

This is a kid. how old not sure. Here is one of his older posts"

"Hello again. I was just wondering how much a 1970 Steinway 1098 usually runs for? Reason being is becase I have a Steinway 1098 that I got locally and I am wonering what the avrage price is for that year. The piano is in mint condition and plays like a dream. I am going to Portland,ME with my parents this week to look at a Bluthner on the Maine craislist that I found. It's about 6 years old. Is $50,000 a good price? Thank you for all your help. smile"

lol

And this, folks, is how unsubstantiated rumours get propagated...

Asonge, I suggest you either elaborate by citing specific examples of the "reliability problems" to which you are referring, or else consider removing that defamatory statement from your post. Having closely examined their workmanship and attention to detail a couple of days ago, I would be very surprised to learn of any such issues. Indeed, the Fazioli instruments I saw oozed of quality throughout, and were clearly designed and built by total perfectionists. For example, the length of the dead (unstruck) end of each treble string is adjustable by a small moveable brass bridge. Why adjust the length of the dead end of a string? To optimize the overtones induced in them by sympathetic vibration. Now try to imagine how long it must take to dial this in correctly for each string, given that every time you change the position of this little moveable bridge, you have to loosen all 3 strings, move the bridge, then return all 3 unisons to pitch, and it has to be done one note at a time, since the rest of the piano has to also be at pitch.

Maybe you are confusing Fazioli pianos with Ferrari automobiles, with which Mr. Fazioli compared his pianos in a video interview I recently saw online. Given the frequency (and cost) of repairs needed to keep a Ferrari on the road, I was surprised to hear him make that comparison.