Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Need Help deciding on the right piano.

Hi, I've been learning piano for about 4 years, I decided about a month ago that it's time for an upright piano. since then, the buying procces has been pretty exhausting, I was hoping you can help me and answer some of my questions because the dealers arent exactly reliable.

our initial budget(me and my parents) was 4000$ but since then we understood the importance of investing in a fine piano and it is now 7500$.
perhaps i'm traumatised by years of playing chopin in a Yamaha digital piano but I realy liked the warm, soft, sound of european pianos rahter then the colder, industrial japaneese ones. we just missed out a deal for a 7000$ Seiler Favorit (10-20 yrs), the dealer didn't even have the courtesy to let us know somone else was interested in this piano and sold it to him . Used europeans that are relatively new like this are very rare here.

here are my current options In order of my personal favorites:

1. A restored 60 years old Schimmel-5000$- realy liked this one, but isn't it risky buying an old piano? is it gonna stay with me till i'm old and have children of my own? the dealer also had a restored 90 years old Grotrian in a fairly good condition.

2.Brand new Johannes Seiler piano-7000$ it is said to be designed by Seiler company but made in china. liked the sound though.

3. Yamaha u-7 20 years old-6000$, I believe 52''. liked this sound less, although comparing to the other Yamahas and Kawais it's the best I have played. I know it's considered the best Yamaha upright, but I didnt love it.

4. An almost new Irmler 48'' piano, 4700$, made by bluthner with lower-quality component, I didn't liked the sound very much, but it seems like a good deal and the sound probably hasn't opened up yet.


so what do you think? is it ok to buy a very old restored european piano? it sounds great, looks pretty good and fits our budget.

It's OK to do that, if a technician gives it the thumbs up.

Some of those prices seem high, IMHO. You could buy a very nice and new upright for some of those prices. Charles Walter, for instance, or a W. Hoffmann. I like the Kawai K series, have you checked out the K-6 or K-8?

Educate yourself, and be very suspicious of the term "Restored". "Restored" might mean "we buffed some scratches out of the case". A piano that old likely needs significant work on the action and the pinblock and sound board probably need careful evaluation. However if a tech gives it the all-clear an older piano can be an outstanding value.

Get a copy of Larry Fine's piano book, spend some time reading this board, visit dealers and talk to techs. Above all, DON'T HURRY!

Jason

I suspect nadi15 is not in the US, so be careful about giving price advice - Piano Buyer pricing is US only.

The different Seiler lines have different origins in different markets. As a correction, the more affordable series are made in Indonesia rather than China.

Liking the Seiler is a very good sign. I wouldn't spend too much time on the ones you didn't like. As far as the Schimmel goes, much depends on expertise beyond your own. If it remains your favorite, hire your own expert to give detailed evaluation of both the work performed and overall condition. You could further ask reasonable questions about remaining life expectancy of various major and minor components. $5k doesn't buy you a lot of rebuilding/replacement parts, so assume the piano is mostly original and up in years.

You don't even like 2 out of your 4 "favourites"? I guess you need to search further.

thanks for the replies. your'e very right, I live in Israel, where the piano selction is quite poor(unlike the prices). The dealer told me that mechanism has also been reworked, but I didn't undersood if it was completely replaced(which is unlikely) or just repaired, the hammers looks good, though.

anyway I'm going this saturday to check it out with an expert.
and another option just came up-a Steingreaber in the same age as the Schimmel,that he just finished restoring, which looks like a better buy.
Also that book looks like a good read, so I'll check it out too