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Many of you know that I'll be retiring soon ... 1 year 5 months and 21 days from now ... and we'll be moving to the Pittsburgh area.

I'll be buying my next piano there, so I thought I'd look for piano dealers in the area. Maybe I'll even drop in on one of them when we're there for Thanksgiving week later in the month.

I used the dealer locators on the Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai web sites. Here's what I found:

Kawai. . .Vittone's Music . . . . . . . Greensburg

Roland . .Fort Pitt Piano Co . . . . . .Pittsburgh

Yamaha . .Modern Piano . . . . . . . . .Wexford
Yamaha . .Waddell's Drum Ctr . . . . . .Wexford
Yamaha . .Johnstonbaugh's Music Ctr. . .Allison Park
Yamaha . .Music Showcase . . . . . . . .New Castle
Yamaha . .Brighton Music Ctr . . . . . .Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .Northern Sound & Light . . . .McKees Rocks
Yamaha . .Hollowood Music & Sound . . . McKees Rocks
Yamaha . .Pianos 'n' Stuff Music . . . .Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .Volkwein Bros Inc . . . . . . Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .DC Music . . . . . . . . . . .East Liverpool
Yamaha . .Guitar Ctr . . . . . . . . . .Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .Empire Music . . . . . . . . .Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .Guitar Ctr . . . . . . . . . .Monroeville
Yamaha . .Johnstonbaugh's Music Ctr . . Pittsburgh
Yamaha . .Main Street Music. . . . . . .Irwin

Fifteen Yamaha dealers ... but only one Kawai and one Roland? And the Kawai dealer is a tiny store way far out of town!
Even here in Raleigh there's a very well-stocked Kawai dealer. In town, not in the hinterlands.

So, are the dealer locators defective? Or is it really that hard to find those brands?
All I can say is &^%@#*<>!$@

There's no longer a Jay Roland here to provide more information. But there's always Kawai James.
Or maybe some of you live in the Pgh area and can add to the list above?

I remember reading that you don't want an acoustic, is that still the case?

Correct. I've tried and liked the NV10. I want to look at the N1X, too. And maybe a top Roland, WTH.

At the moment, the top Rolands are no match for the top Kawais and Yamahas, either in product performance or after sales support. For the latter claim, I should add the caveat, "IMO."

BTW, for the N1X, you might consider a long drive eastward to visit Rich at Cunningham Pianos in Philly.

The point was that Yamahas are easy to find. There's a slew of Yamaha pianos available at the Sam Ash here in Raleigh. And another dealer has the AGs.
The Pittsburgh area has fifteen Yamaha dealers. So the point is: Yamaha is easy. (No need to travel to Phila for those.)

The sticking point is the Kawai. I've tried the NV10 here in Raleigh. Twice. But where will I find such in Pittsburgh?

Let that be the question for the forum. Does anyone have an answer?

My experience is dealer locators are seldom accurate or up to date for any kind of product. I tend to do a google search, in this case:
Kawai piano dealers near Pittsburgh PA
but that doesn't seem to turn up anything you didn't find, so it looks like that is a barren area for Kawai dealers. Yamaha is a much bigger company and sells many more types of products, I guess one of the advantages of being big is you have more dealers.

In the UK the dealer locators are totally defective and way out-of-date. The only way to find out is to go on to the individual websites, and some of these just aren't that good either.

The profile of who's a dealer for which brand can change in a year. I'd suggest worrying about that when you're closer to the actual time of purchase. That's 2 NAMM shows from now...

Every Guitar Center and Sam Ash I visited carried Roland and Kawai product. How many models was always in issue but..... For the high-end Roland pianos with the nice cabinets and speakers etc, you need to see an acoustic piano stores as they have a different sales channel.

You can always send an email to a maker's "contact us" link on their USA website and just ask them ... give them your location.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Dunno about Wales, but Northern England has loads of dealers who sell just about everything. Riley's in Bolton is well stocked; Rimmer's too. My local shop sells most everything in the price range I'm concerned with, and stock comes in regularly.

What is the reason for not wanting a real piano Mac? I am going to try to talk you into one.

And when I do you will forever thank me, I think.

Update ... I followed the advice above (send an email to a maker's "contact us" link on their USA website and just ask them ... give them your location).

I mentioned that the Kawai locator found only one small shop in a small town about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh (and over 50 miles from where I might be moving to).

I got a quick reply saying, basically, that's all folks. There's just no other dealer around.

Perhaps this is some sort of cosmic hint. Like a "Pay no attention to that Kawai which you'd have to go 50 miles to even look at - look at that beautiful N1X over there!"

What brings you all the way from NC to Pittsburgh? I'm in PA myself, but eastern PA, which is quite a long ways away, it's a big state, so I can't tell you what's out there. Used to have grandparents out in White Oak near Pittsburgh, but that was a long time ago, and all I remember being interesting out there was the hobby shop. Little stores like that are likely gone by now.

Hi MacMacMac,

I live in Pittsburgh and you are positively correct unfortunately in regards to Kawai. That dealer is an hour drive from me. I am heading there next week most likely, but want to wait until we find out the price and availability of the NV5.
I visited Modern Piano in Wexford this last week and really liked the store and the salesperson. She wasn’t “salesy” at all and just told me to try them and let me alone for a half hour until i approached her with questions. I wasn’t crazy at all about the Roland store. Just my 2c

Others have had luck ordering Kawai pianos from dealers in California. Generally good deals too, including shipping, and should be all covered by the warranty. Perhaps ordering from another state is viable. These aren't acoustic pianos.

Yamaha's dealership and distribution reach is a major win for them.

I am just wondering why does macmacmac not want an acoustic?

There are many reasons for not getting acoustics, and any one of them is good enough:

• want a grand piano action and can't get an acoustical grand piano (for litany of reasons)
• want to play at night or without disturbing family
• sensitive to notes being out of unison and don't want to tune the piano at <whatever> frequency
• want a new instrument and new acoustical pianos are too expensive, especially if they are grands
• don't have space for an acoustical grand piano
• previously had an acoustic piano already and was happy to see it gone
• etc etc etc

Why should it matter what MacMacMac's exact reasons are? If he wanted an acoustic piano, he would have mentioned it at least once on here.

I don't want an acoustical grand piano either (for one or more of the above reasons ) and won't look at an acoustical upright. No way. Not going to do it.

That is why you have two piano's

I owned a Kawai upright for more than a decade. But the cost of tuning, the cost of repairs it needed, and the loudness ... these things prompted me to switch to a digital.That digital is now eleven years old. It's worn, dated, and unsatisfactory. I'll replace it with a better one.