Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Convince us NOT to buy the Shigeru

I think it would be a mistake to approach any piano in a performance venue with the thought that one brand or another (among the better instruments out there) would save you money on maintenance.

Which tech you use is up to you, but our after sale relationship, service & technical resources are of huge value to the customers who choose us. We're even a frequent resource for the best independent techs in our area, offering behind-the-scenes support for the variety of things that arise in the field. Techs helping techs is good karma.

I won't speak for your dealer, but it may be a point of pride for them, too. I see this thread turning a little...while competing dealers are adversaries, you and your dealer shouldn't be. The comment about holding your nose and buying the piano is funny but rarely the best approach.

Certainly, pianos like the Estonia L225 can be harder to find, but worth searching/waiting for. I see that and other suggestions starting to roll in.

Estonia only recently started making a 225cm (7'4") grand piano, so there are not many around. I do know there is one in Chicago, though.



I am hesitant to suggest that the Shigeru will require less maintenance. True, the action parts are ABS-carbon composite, but there is still felt in the action that will change with humidity. My advice is to spend less money a less expensive instrument (i.e. Shigeru vs. Steinway, etc.) and use the saved funds for tuning and maintenance. You will need it, as properly maintaining a concert instrument is expensive, especially for institutions!

I also suggest keeping it covered, in an environment with controlled humidity, and locked at all times. Do not let students move it unsupervised, and don't use it except for dress rehearsals and performances.

Not knowing your area, it is hard to know which brands and models are available close by, but if your budget allows for a 7 foot Shigeru Kawai grand, you should be able to find a large variety of great semi-concert pianos to consider. I have a strong feeling for the Mason-Hamlin BB which should be within your budget, and I would suggest you try a lot of pianos if possible before choosing, but the Shigeru is a world-class instrument so if you like it best, your should go for it. As you know, a master tech even comes out from Japan to do the final in-home prep, and I think the action in the Shigeru is great.

I'm going to go against the grain a little here. I've found that there are times when trying everything on the market leads to a certain fatigue and increases the difficulty in making a decision. There are times when your instincts tell you, "yes, this is the one!". I think it's important to listen to your instincts sometimes. I had the impression from the OP that the Shigeru was exactly this kind of moment. It really spoke to him/her. I think it's quite likely that no other piano is going to make the same impact as the Shigeru did. I'm not advocating rash decisions or poor research in general, and if I'm unsure or ambivalent, then the only way to resolve that is to research the heck out of the matter. But if something just screams "yes!", and you have the money, I think it's better to just go for it and enjoy the magic of this revelation. I don't expect this will be a popular suggestion, but I found that the more pianos I looked at the harder it got to work out what I would like.

So, I'm not going to convince you to not buy the Shigeru - I'm going to say go with your gut.

My warning is: do not buy Shigeru Kawai SK-7, you will regret it.
In March 2011, I purchased SK-3, I think if I left SK-3, it must be in order to exchange for SK-5, or SK-7!

Two good reasons to buy a Mason & Hamlin are its WNG action and patriotism.

If everyone in your position were to follow the advice in this thread then American piano manufacturing will go bust.

American pianos seem to do ok, but tend to be on the high end. For mere rabble like me, it's the same as having no American piano manufacturing.

Patriotism is the last thing I'd consider as a reason to choose a piano. (I'm saying this as a citizen of a European country with a proud piano industry.) If a company wants to do well it must compete, not appeal to heterogeneous (non-musical) reasons for buying its products.

For my opinion its not fair to compare the SK-7 with the C7X. The Yamaha S6 is playing in the same league.

The SK-7 is a nice instrument, but I am not shure, if there really is a difference in maintenance costs lets say for the first 10 years.

Lynnie asked for reasons NOT to purchase a Shigeru and said the Boosters are prepared to support the purchase.

Imagine the Stars and Stripes draped over the M&H at the unveiling ceremony. You couldn't do that with a Shigeru.

Ando - who sounds like my mom - makes a very good point, despite my earlier post. One can get overly obsessive about a big decision. There's a romance to all of this as well. (But it would still be nice to learn about that Steinway.)

Wow! Thank you all so much!

Regarding the relationship with the dealer. With a school, the importance of the relationship with the dealer during the fundraising process cannot be ignored and unfortunately, neither can the politics (partly why we don't have unlimited options for who we can buy the piano from) :-) The dealer for the Shigeru is certainly prepared to provide the most support for us.

All the bids include the best cover and a dolly for proper moving. We do have a piano storage room and also included a humidifier in our bid request. We have consulted with several piano technicians and artists in our area and they advised us on what to request and have given us some estimates of maintenance costs so we're not completely in the dark on that front.

Sadly we can't put the three pianos next to each other on the stage and listen...nor can we travel by plane, etc. to check out some of the other pianos available.

However, I will speak to my colleagues about looking at Mason and Hamlin, as I agree American made would speak to our potential sponsors and the community.

Thank you again everyone for your advice! It's great to hear from so many!

This is really quite humorous if you think about it.

BTW

Looks like another fine institution recently chose a Shigeru SK7

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...8.141433402569516&type=1&theater

Can a couple of our PW posters more familiar with US public school culture either translate or better explain these two quoted sentences? They leave me scratching my head.

If we are dealing here with a large high school with a performing arts center and a large music department, it seems we are dealing with a school in a large metropolitan area (probably over 1 million inhabitants) offering several piano dealers to choose from. Clearly there are at least 3 dealers - Steinway, Yamaha, and Kawai - so this is not a small town of 10,000 people, where everybody knows everybody, and everybody shops at McGillicuddy's Pianos & Kazoos (est. 1912).

Two piano dealers will be disappointed after this purchase decision in any case. Therefore why not widen the decision-making to embrace more dealers? Why not include private sales of high-end used pianos? For that matter, why *not* be willing to look further afield? Don't the Boosters want the best piano for the kids?

Does the second quoted sentence mean: "The Shigeru folks will throw in free Kawai t-shirts for our choir?" Or, "The Shigeru folks are promising to service our new seven-foot piano for free for the next ten years, provided we promise to buy all future upright or digital pianos from them"?

As someone who owns both an S&S B and an SK7 I'll chime in with some thoughts. I've just concluded an exhaustive hunt that ended up with the addition of the SK7 and I've had a chance to play many of the representative samples mentioned in this thread that are potential targets for you. Of course all pianos are different so the comments about playing as many pianos that are in budget and accessible is still the best advise.

For your purposes, assuming that the SK7 available to you is at all like mine, I would not attempt to change your first inclination. My SK7 projects like many concert grands and has many very fine qualities. I love my B, but if I were going to put one in any reasonably large performance setting the SK7 would win hands down. Also in comparison to most of the other pianos I considered. I had the chance to play and consider a brand new 9' Estonia (which would likely fit your budget), but it paled in comparison. I didn't get a chance to try the new 7'4" Estonia, but from the range of models I did try they didn't seem to have the power to project in a concert setting. I can appreciate the appeal for a home, but I'd question them for the OPs requirements.

I would agree with those that have suggested a look at the M&H BB. It's certainly an option and the right price point. I played a few and they had immediate appeal - though I grew tired of their sound after a while. Fun to date - didn't quite want to settle down :-)
Another possibility for the group that was pointing to European possibilities would be a Schimmel K213 if that was available as an option. It was a contender in my evaluations and it had power, colour and tone that might work. It didn't quite make it for me - I couldn't get over the rather poor pedal operations of the Schimmels and the refinement of the SK7 action eventually won out.

While there are some other options - I don't think anyone would have a problem with your decision to purchase the SK7 assuming you have done your due diligence from the financial side. You can't be too careful these days if you're spending public funds.

I agree with the post above mine . Try a schimmel 7 foot and compare.
Myself and 2 other pianists went through the Kawai models from the rx3 to rx 6, and the shiguru kawai 6 foot to 7 foot models. Then played the Schimmel model below the 7 foot, then the 7 foot model and thats where we stayed. These pianos were all in the same showroom all in a line so it was easy to just keep moving on down one after another for comparison. The action on the 7 foot schimmel was very consistant and just felt right from the first chords I played. We didnt play chop sticks on these pianos either, we played chopin polonaises, etudes,waltzes, the rachmaninoff piano concertos with cadenza etc.. So they were put through their paces. On the schimmel going up the length of the keyboard on a difficult run was much easier and fluid. Complex chords in the bass resolved clearer and with more resonance. The Schimmel I believe was even less money than the shigeru. So thats my experience. In the end though its your preference.Everyone is different. Good luck on your search.

Just buy the Estonia They sound prettier to me...

I have tried SO many Estonias they are incredibly consistent I would just order one --

Would YOU buy a piano simply because a stranger on the internet told you to?

Your posts on this thread are less than useful.

The OP should buy the piano THEY love, not the one YOU love.