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Hi all,

I am new to this forum so let me introduce myself, my name is Michel a 25 year old student that fell in love with the piano last year. My desicion to start playing piano came last year as i had to take a gap year from my master at university to attent to my own health. I had Cancer luckily for me a very treatable kind. Since i knew fairly sure there was no hidden lance armstrong in me i desiced not to buy a racing bike but pick up piano playing sice i now had a lot of free time. These last few months have been heavy but very pleasant becaue of the piano. i play a yamaha p-114 upright at my parrents house (where i spent a lot of time bcause of my illness) and a C.Bechstein grand at my piano teachers. But i am nearlly healthy again, spending less and less time at my parrents and desided i will treat myself to a piano (upright due to space constraints at my house) when they move out of town (this november).

i started looking for a digital piano but my experience with the silent system on my parrents piano changed my mind, i need the real thing.

i like the yamaha at my parents but compared to the bechstein grand my teacher lets me play it is pale. Offcourse this has to do with the grand vs. upright thing but i think i like the bechstein sound, so my first to do is find a bechstein upright and play it.

My budget 5000-7000 euro.(will inflate over time because well because i know myself it will..)

brands i will try new: euterp/w. hoffmann (bechsteins lower price range brands) yahama

secondhand: bechstein and bechstein academy.

any search/brand suggestions?

Hello Michel

Welcome. I used to be married to a Dutch girl and spent a lot of time in Amsterdam. Brilliant city. I cannot think of any piano dealers there though!

With your budget I would certainly be focussing on second hand pianos.

I would not limit my search to Bechstein either. There are plenty of German brands around or indeed good Yamahas and Kawais.

Do a search on all the techs around Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Den Haag - all of which are obviously not far away. Contact all of them and ask them to keep their eyes and ears open for good used pianos.

Don't be in too much of a rush.

Best of luck

Adrian

For 7000 euros you can get a perfect new upright!(ok, you might upgrade it a bit to 8000/8500 euro's because you wish a silent system installed)

Maybe not a Bechstein.
But certainly a:
- Kawai (K6/VT132) !!
- Yamaha (U3)
- Petrof (125/131) !!
- Schimmel C124
- Wilh. Steinberg IQ24/IQ28
- Seiler (Primus 122)
- Sauter (Ragazza 122 bit high list price but you might get it for 8000 euros)

Play as many as possible

I would travel a bit to visit a few stores like:
- Piano's&Vleugels Eindhoven (Nice owners!)
- Verhoog Muziek Nijkerk (Nice owner)
- Clavis Amsterdam and Nieuwegein (Great concept!)
- Van Gorp Roosendaal (Very good prices)
- Joh. de Heer Sliedrecht
- van Urk in Rotterdam

There are a few more but I don't know how much you wish to invest in your search. Good luck hunting and as Adrian mentioned: don't rush it.

There are also:

- Ypma (Alkmaar)
- Acustica (Breda)

I've never been to either. I bought my digital at Van Gorp (Roosendaal). Good prices and good service, although maybe a little out of your way.

You might also try Henk Hupkes' pianoshop.
http://www.henkhupkes.nl/

Has often very nice deals.


Wim

I've been there if you are looking for a used upright you certainly should look there. The salesperson was very nice but I didn't like the new piano's (I wasn't very impressed by the only one brand they carry, and somehow the new piano's look a bit "used" to me). But I'm just a novice so you should see it for yourself.

You could also try van Kerkwijk in Amstelveen. Very friendly with good techs. They might have a used Grotrian-Steinweg upright in the store or expected from a trade-in which are my personal favorite. (Warning these are not cheap new, and playing them may spoil you).

Last time I was in there they had a nice restored Ibach 160 grand piano for around 10.000 euro. If you have the space, they had a beautiful 1922 restored Bluthner 212 for just twice that many euri. (in case your budget is doubling each time it increases)

Back down to more reasonable prices and less space requirements, also you could play some of the Perzina uprights, at least for comparison sake. Sander's on the Ceintuurbaan just got a bunch in their store. Half the price of a new Yamaha and those with the Renner action played quite nicely.

If it must be a C. Bechstein, there are several used and vintage / restored Bechstein pianos listed for sale now on marketplaats.nl

Only consider buying one of these if you are willing to spend money on a tech to go with you and fully check it out and assess fair value. Higher risk, but you may find a gem that fits your budget.

Some of the used pianos mentioned seem attractive, but that list from Pevawi of new uprights in your price range would lead me to go in that direction. That list actually makes me salivate.

I would add the Kemble Conservatoire, the Bohemia Exclusiv, and the Bohemia Professional to the list as well (if they are available). Bohemia is now owned by Bechstein and their pianos are a much more proven product than the W. Hoffmann and Euterpe lines that Bechstein is currently introducing. From what I understand the new Euterpe is just another SMC Indonesian product which Bechstein is having built to offer a piano at a lower pricepoint.

thanks, i will broaden my search to include the piano's discussed. i think i got ths piano bug pretty bad i found myslef considering nocking down a wall between my studie and my living room to acomodate a grand... (and realised my budget would not cover the cost of that interior remodeling.)