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So what would be a good price on a Brodmann BG 187? A dealer here had a list sticker (meaningless I inow) of $25,000 on it and offered it to me for 19K Larry Fine's 06-07 supplement says List is in the mid 17K! I also tried a new 6' Weinbach, (joint Czech/Chinese venture) which Larry quotes at a17K list. The dealer offered me the Weinbach for 12K!!! I also can get an RX-2 for just over 14K through special arrangement with the college I teach at. What to do:-)

peter

You should be careful about the Weinbach. It is a new product and is trading off the reputation of the Czech-built Weinbach that was really a Petrof in basic trim. A Nordiska from Geneva Intl. would be very price-competitive with the Weinbach and has a longer track record.

For Brodmann, you should use the search feature here. Brodmanns are hot and have attracted a lot of attention here recently.

That RX-2 at the price your mention seems like a great opportunity if you like the RX-2 and the piano is a new one with a full warranty rather than a demo of some sort.

Call Jim Laab's in Wisconsin about the Brodmann.

3 completely different great pianos. Actually I didn't knew, that weinbach was now built in china. Earlier they were just like Petrof, great instruments. I've tried one Brodmann, the one I tried was a great instrument. The price offered is too high in my opinion (you can get it cheaper). But the instrument is worth the money. The Kawai is also a great instrument, and in this case it has the best price in my opinion. But let your ears decide. You won't regret.

Hi numuse,

I played a Weinbach upright that was made in the Czech Republic before the production went to China. It was a very nice piano. You should determine where the Weinbach was built.

Good luck, John

Oh, now I see the sizes. I'd take a serious look at the Weinbach. I don't know in what it differs from the older models, but they were great instruments, and if they are still as well built as earlier, you couldn't go wrong with them.

Buy the Kawai.

I second the Jim Laabs comment, Your close enough to his Steven Point Wi store - He really is worth a call. This is not a paid endorsement but I did purchase my Brodmann from Jim. Very helpful, friendly, treated me fair from the start, Midwest Honest. If you have a good local tech you trust even better that way your tech can tune and prep your new piano too, Our 187 has settled in very nicely with very little issues see my other post.

http://www.jimlaabs.com/Scripts/default.asp

Call ask for Jim. Tell him you have a friend in KC..

There's a Brodmann dealer in Chicago as well, Karnes Music . I was there in August and played the 187. It would be a good idea to do your comparison shopping in a relatively short period, while the memory of the piano is in your ears/hands. I've never been to GrandPianoHaus in Skokie, Il, but they are a Kawai dealer, and not too far from Arlington Heights (Karnes). Pickle Piano (great place!) is in Bloomington, not far off I355.

Make a day of it, start of at Pickle (I don't know if they have the Chinese-made Weinbachs there yet - they had 2 European made ones in November), head up north to Arlington Heights and finish up in Skokie.

Doing it all in one (or 2) days is an experience. It's what I did back in November as well.

Madison - Wilmette - Bloomingdale.

Peter -

The more I think about the 25K list price the more it reminds me why I would rather go to the dentist than play the price game with "traditional" piano dealers. $25K to $19K really. Such a deal - That makes my Brodmann my best performing investment even with the run up we have had in the stock market the last year and I have only had my Brodmann since March. This article published on Brodmann's own web site puts the price at $8000 L's which is pounds which is approx. $16000USD and I would assume then you would also take the 15- 20% European "standard" discount, vs the US "standard discount of 30-40% Here is the link to the article on their web site!

http://www.brodmann-pianos.at/fileadmin/user_upload/pianist_06magazine.pdf

Traditional dealers with 100% market - up have no credibility with me. Some people like that game I think it is bogus. This is what is wrong with just trusting your local dealer. I was thankful for the internet.

Now play a game if all three piano were the same price which one would you purchase?

It is inetersting that two people here have recommended Jim Laabs. I was going to look at a 6'!0" Pramberger platinum there. I called a local RPTcompletely at random to check it out for me first. She said she would not set foot in his store. She said you could ask non-musicians on the street in Stevens Point, and get the rap on Jim...that he is not honest or trsutworthy, and would do anything to sell a piano. She said he quickly threatens anyone who gives him negative feedback on eBay with a high powered lawsuit.

Peter

It is inetersting that two people here have recommended Jim Laabs. I was going to look at a 6'!0" Pramberger platinum there. I called a local RPTcompletely at random to check it out for me first. She said she would not set foot in his store. She said you could ask non-musicians on the street in Stevens Point, and get the rap on Jim...that he is not honest or trsutworthy, and would do anything to sell a piano. She said he quickly threatens anyone who gives him negative feedback on eBay with a high powered lawsuit.

Peter

Why - because Jim offered an honest price on the piano from the start. Not 25K. He answered all my questions, retuned every call and was down right helpful. Being in the middle of fly over land with 4 traditional dealers to choose from in my hometown - I was to the point of giving up on buying a piano, I can not tell you how much I disliked my in store experience, or the phone calls at dinner "we want to make you an offer" you need to come to the store. As a first time purchaser, buying a family piano I did not stand a chance, except for the Internet and lots of lurking on PW and other forums. Everyone here has much more experience and may enjoy the piano buying game I did not. Had I not wanted my children to grow up with a piano in our home, more importantly music, I might have bought a play station 3 instead.

I am sure that every dealer has his share of bad raps, however my experience with Jim was excellent. I consider myself however to be extremely lucky, of course some people don't believe in luck just being prepared.

I am in no way related to, nor do I have any kind of interest in Jim Laabs business or to Brodmann piano company. To all traditional dealers I have one comment loose the retail price tags.

I bought a new Estonia 190 from Jim Laabs about 2 years ago. I found him to be friendly and honest. At least he was to me.

I'd looked first at the local dealer and would probably have bought from him had he not been such an a**. I had simply asked, "what is the best price you can give me." He answered, "there is no best price on these pianos, we can't keep them in stock". Wrong answer!

The downside to buying from Jim is that his pianos may not be fully prepped. I would guess that's at least partly how he can offer such great prices.

As is said often on this forum, buy the piano that speaks to you. Don't buy one just because the price is right.

Numuse,

Early in your thread I posted a comment about exercising caution on a Weinbach because of the Czech-made Weinbach's transition to a Chinese-made Weinbach.

Mr. John Elliott, Product Development Manager for Geneva International, has informed me that the Chinese Weinbach is a completely different instrument that has been designed by Petrof in cooperation with Nordiska. It is not a Petrof and not A Nordiska. Mr. Elliott also states that Chinese production of Weinbach was underway before there was a Brodmann company. That was surprising news to me. I was interested in Weinbach earlier this year. At that time information was scarce and Geneva's Weinbach webpage was under construction. Incidentally, Mr. Elliott also had only good things to say about Brodmann (a competitive product).

I guess if you are still considering the two, you should think of them both as recently designed Chinese-made instruments. Either or both may be quite attractive to you. I don't know where you might audition a new Chinese-made Weinbach, but I do know that Geneva is very receptive to customer inquiries and would probably help you in that regard.

Ciao

Many dealerships, including me, still have the Czech-made Weinbachs in stock. They aren't usually discounted as heavily because Geneva doesn't give significant discounts to the dealers on imported goods.

However, since they are discontinued, you might find a deal.

numuse

I have not seen you on the forum lately. Did you buy anything? If so what.