Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Steinway owners...

... I want to know why you chose Steinway over many other very fine brands.

Was it...

...Tone?

...Touch?

...Dynamic range?

...Looks?

...Price?

...your favorite artist plays them?

...or any combination of these reasons or any reason I've missed that sold you on Steinway.

Also please indicate if your Steinway is...

1. ...of Hamburg or NY manufacture

2. ...a rebuild.

I would also like to know of any non OEM modifications as well, such as a different brand of hammers.

Mine is NY. For me it was superior touch, tone, dynamic range, and only as a sidelight, looks that sold me. Mine was prepped to the highest level.


*IMPORTANT NOTICE & DISCLAIMER*
I am very much aware of the Steinway bashing that sometimes goes on around here. As a highly satisfied Steinway owner, I am simply curious about what made other piano owners decide on Steinway.

I am not trying to start a troll thread. If you only want to flame Steinway, I respectfully ask that you do it somewhere else. This thread is for positive posts ONLY.

I'm serious, if this gets out of hand, I WILL request that the mods kill this topic.

I bought a new NY Steinway L in 1990 for several reasons--

1. It really sang.
2. It sounded like what I thought a piano should sound like, almost all of my recordings were on Steinways.
3. I got a good discount, it was not in a major metropolitan area.
4. I had the cash.

I had not explored the European competition at the time. Only Japanese and Korean, and nothing that I had tried with those compared.

I sold it almost ten years later to pay off the mortgage. Not a day has gone by without regret. It's like phantom limb syndrome for me. I am still hoping I can find something nearly as satisfying for a fraction of the price.

My Steinway was inherited. It has been in the family for three generations. My mother always liked it because the firm key action made it a good practice piano.

The piano is a snapshot in time because of several decals located in the frame that represent endorsements from royal families of Europe. One is Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

I tried Steinway, Bosendorfer, Bechstein, MH, Yamaha, Kawai.
All of them has the same feel (action). The only thing that I found different is the sound.

I like Steinway the best. But I have no desire to purchase the rebuilt ones, I have never found one that I even want.

My lady friend has a Steinway M purchased about a year ago. I've played this piano quite a bit and enjoy it. It has been worked on extensively by the local Steinway ace. Being an M it's only 5'7" and it does have some of that short string sound. OTOH it has more clarity than my Estonia 190. That may be due to less sustain, but the fact is it's easier to play with clarity on this instrument. I find it very enjoyable to play.

I have a late model NY L that I bought used. All original, nothing replaced. It was definitely the tone first and foremost-- rich, satisfying, expressive, even heart-breaking at times. Touch and responsiveness were next in importance. Although not as important, I like the looks of Steinway-- the satin ebony is classic and beautiful in a more subtle way than the gloss poly finishes, and the case is clean and refined looking. It was the best purchase I've ever made.

Sophia

Thanks H for pointing me here from the other thread. I have an S&S D built in 1968 from Hamburg. I thought I was going to buy a New York one but just at the right time they took mine in at Steinway Hall and I was the first customer to see it and I think I beat a few of the S&S sales men as well. The reason I wanted a Steinway was the sound. I still think they have the best sound. While there are still a few brands I havent tried yet its not for lack of looking but some of the pianos mentioned in this forum are really hard to come by. My D was purchased new by Eugene Istomin when he was living in NY. I believe the second owner was Zaidee Parkinson who recorded 2 piano music with Earl Wild. The story I got at the Hall was that she was moving to a smaller apartment. I dont know much else about her yet. I am the 3rd owner. It was restrung in the 80s and got new hammers and the action was reconditioned. The case had allot of dings and scratches from its stage days so I had the outside refinished in black poly. I also had S&S recondition the back action because that wasnt done back in the 80s. The action is now in great shape and is a little bit heavier than the average D. I really don't think I'll ever part with it.

The link to pics of LJC's piano that he posted in the other thread:

LJC\'s Hamburg D

LJC, that is an amazing story. I would never part with such a piano either. It is obviously one of those super wonderful Steinways that, like Horowitz's CD314503, is a transcendent instrument.

I bought a fully rebuilt A (circa 1912) last year. After a long hiatus (decades) since taking piano lessons as a kid I was nervous about whether I would really stick with my plans to take up piano playing now as a hobby. I was never such a dedicated piano student earlier so the fear was legitimate. And while I very much enjoy music, live and recorded, playing for enjoyment can be another matter. But I took the plunge and am thrilled with the decision. The piano has changed my life.

I debated between starting with a less expensive piano, maybe even a digital (gasp) to spare my apartment neighbors, or going for the Steinway grand I always wanted as a kid. A good friend helped me with the selection by playing so I could listen, and sharing his perspective. He's a much more accomplished pianist than I and had recently upgraded from his Estonia 190 to a vintage A himself. The most important factors for me were action and sound. As more of a beginner / low intermediate player I felt a relatively light action would be important for me. I think I've definitely developed my sense of sound since I've been taking lessons now and playing more consistently. Back when I made my purchase I could differentiate some but I also relied on my friend, for better or worst. While I wasn't going to buy a piano for its looks, I also thought it would be tough to spend all that money for something that didn't look good, especially given the instrument's prominent location in my apartment. Steinway's reputation for its pianos holding value better also helped to make the big expenditures slightly easier to bear.

In a nutshell, I'm very pleased with my decision, and actually feel quite fortunate that it has all worked out so well. If I had one regret, if you can call it that, it might be that I didn't try more different pianos. This was definitely not a purchase made in haste, so I really could have played more. But the problem I guess was that I wasn't as comfortable playing then (not to mention having limited repertoire) so it really wasn't so easy for me to try out lots of pianos in a showroom. And while my friend would have been willing to assist me, I guess he had already gone through a similar exercise and was so keen on Steinways it influenced my decision. There's no particular quality I would seek or want to avoid in a different piano; it's really more just curiousity at this point. The way I figure things, if I'm still as committed to piano playing in another 10 or however many years, and I still have a hankering to consider a different piano, maybe I'll do a little piano shopping. In the meantime, it's frankly not how I would want to spend my limited free time anyway

Tone, tone, tone, and tone!

I favor Steinways for all the other reasons listed too, as it happens, but it's that rich, nuanced, growling, shimmery, overtone-laden, malleable, round, powerful SOUND that seduces me again and again. Several times during a practice session I'll strike a chord and have to stop, hang my head, and revel in the raw visceral beauty of it. I'm always open to other brands, but none that I've tried (and I've been lucky to try a lot) has moved me this way. Other pianos are all frosting, no cake; prints instead of paintings.

I grew up on a late 1970s 1098; my grandmother had a 1940s 1098; I'm now blessed with a 1908 O, mostly original. It's dangerous to generalize, but my experience has been that most old (restored) pianos sound quite different from, and superior to, most new ones. I also happen to like oldness; it pains me slightly to see an alligatored finish be made new, a patina-ed harp re-bronzed, chipped ivories shorn. I love how every Steinway that isn't brand-new has a story--sometimes told in scars, other times locked in the hearts of its owners.

Thanks for the question.

.

I don't have a Steinway. I tried a B that made my bones melt. I lost out on it by two hours to someone who had seen it before I did.

Dear person who bought my Steinway #113983:

If you ever want to sell it, I will buy it for more than you paid.

Just send me a PM.

Thanks.


Still looking for something else that comes close.

Congratulations to all of you!

It is a pleasure to read from so many owners enjoying their chosen instrument!

Isn't this what it is all about?

Norbert

Not to veer off topic, but -- LJC, it's funny, you never mentioned this before. I have met Zaidee Parkinson. Another musician introduced us. She was very upset with her Steinway D's action and wanted my opinion on whom to get to work on it. I suggested Chris Robinson, and she later told me she was thrilled with his work. This was probably 8-10 years ago, so the Steinway she had then must have been different from yours, right? When did you get your D?

I set out looking for a model A and had my tech on the look-out for appropriate candidates (yes, I realize I was outsourcing part of the fun, but free time is not on my side). I was predisposed to Steinway due to their tone and ability to really bring out subtle lines (my dream piano was a Hamburg D that I played many years ago.)
My tech found a pretty nice A - however in the same showroom was a B that was in a different class (and fortunately on consignment due to a divorce so not much more expensive.
So bottom line
1959 NY B
Isaac Bass strings (highly recommended)

Not to veer off topic, but -- LJC, it's funny, you never mentioned this before. I have met Zaidee Parkinson. Another musician introduced us. She was very upset with her Steinway D's action and wanted my opinion on whom to get to work on it. I suggested Chris Robinson, and she later told me she was thrilled with his work. This was probably 8-10 years ago, so the Steinway she had then must have been different from yours, right? When did you get your D?

Hi Joe, No I think its the same one. I've had the D a little over 3 years now. I found an interview on the web with Zaidee it had to do with her relationship to the composer Bohuslav Martinu and there is a photo of her in her apartment and in the background is a Hamburg D. I'm sure thats my piano.

Cont'd- Sorry I had a glitch in my computer---Anyway they told me at the Hall that the piano was owned by a second well known pianist but thought it was a Hede Parkinson. He evidently didnt get the name quite right. BTW where is Chris Robinson from?Is iis Clavier House?

Horowitzian- A few weeks ago I went to Steinway Hall because they had #314503 available for those who wanted to play it. I was given a 15 minute time frame and each of my 2 friends 15 minutes as well. My 2 friends couldnt make it and I asked if I could have their time and yes I could. Then the people who were supposed to come later didnt show. So I had 3 hours to my seld on Horowitz's piano and also spend some time with one of Van Cliburn's Ds in the same room.

PS- Istomin was friends with Horowitz and I often wonder how V.H. liked my piano and what other famous pianists played my piano.

I chose mine because it chose me. It was permanently loaned to me by a virtual stranger after a sequence of events that wouldn't have occurred had I not joined Piano World in 2006.

I bought a new gorgeous NY Steinway M in 1995. I loved the tone - and could barely walk past the piano without touching (caressing?) the keys. It's action was pretty heavy.

In 2001, I traded the M for a new NY B. It had a lighter action and a lovely tone - though not as gutsy as some of the older Steinways I had played in my youth.

In 2006, I went to PianoCraft and contracted with them to rebuild a custom B - emulating some of the qualities of a Hamburg Steinway with an action that is to die for. The tone of the piano is astonishing. I have trouble leaving the house in the morning if I sit at the piano. I'm spoiled.

I've actually had 5 Steinways over the years. Each of them was a desirable piano - beautiful - but my current piano is perfection - at least for me.