Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Adult Beginner in Singapore: Buying First Piano

I am staying in HBD and therefore have to consider space constraint. Anyway, for a starter, isn't a grand piano an "overkill"?

On the other hand I am more inclined to want to just buy one piano and forget. Meaning don't have to upgrade anymore. It is realistic?

I think jay's secret moive is very touching and surely did inspired many to take up piano and learn the 4 hands pieces too. Does't matter if it did "kick start" the piano interest in someone or not. Those destine to enjoy listen and playing piano music are indeed choosen

Well, a good reliable, long lasting piano is as usual.... ta da... yamaha lor. May have some little small hicups, be generally super reliable. Tone and touch from day 1 to 15years later is expected. After that, many will still perform well. sorry, no statistic to prove but just a strong sense after servicing numerous yamies.

But if you like a little more complex sound texture, you may like to try petrof or bohemia. But it's good to keep the inner action at a prefered RH other wise sticky situation may occurs. Recommend to put 2 heater rod or even 3 !! hehehe 25W x 3(KiaSu syndrome) = 75W. Still less than your 40" LCD tv

A cat A COE price can easily buy a new U5!!
Or 1/3 of the price, you can buy a
pre-own yamaha !!

cheers

Seeth,

Getting a lousy piano (poor sound quality and heavy touch) actually kills one's interest in learning the piano.
Resale value will drop too.

Since you have a flexi budget, you should go for the better ones.

Find something with good tone and medium touch.

NW,

I guess I can't really appreciate the importance of a good piano when one is learning how to play it.

I thought that it doesn't matter cause it is more on focusing on the fingers than the sound quality. Only when the time comes (may take years), when fingers can literally "fly" on the keys and music flows, that that is the time when a really good quality piano is crucial. No?

Hi snoppycar, can you share how low the RH drops to with 2 or 3 heating rod?

I still think you'd be not doing your homework properly if you don't play a Sauter grand. I am quite familiar with Bosendorfer (used to play one at Uni) and Fazioli. And when I was at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt last week I played Steingraber, Grotrian-Steinweg, Bluthner, and Seiler. Even after allowing for the noise and unsympathetic acoustic in the exhibition hall I am certain that I chose the right piano.

Your option 3 is not very risky. It is ultra risky. I PM'd you previously about the difficulty of getting service from the local dealers. I can tell you that I am not just hypothesizing.

There is also the risk of damage to the piano in transit. So you will have to make sure that your freight forwarder is adequately insured, or else you take out the insurance policy yourself (in your case, your parents would do that). And if you have to make a claim, pray hard that it doesn't take the typical 1 - 2 years.

Just one example that I heard of is a woman who went to Europe to buy a Bluthner. It arrived in Singapore badly damaged. The Bluthner dealer refused to repair the damage (even for money), so she had to fly in a tech from the Bluthner factory. All the money she saved disappeared very rapidly.

If you are hoping to buy direct from the factory, then you should also be aware that the majority of them will refer you to the closest local dealer.

hello! I need some help, hope some of you could provide me with some answers...

I'm looking into buying a piano and I'm deciding between 2. The first one's a Steinway (produced year 1944,art case,rosewood,1.8m), and the other is a Bluthner ( produced year 1885,rosewood,1.95m). I'm currently veering towards the Steinway as it's a beautiful art piece and has fantastic tone,however I have some concerns.

Will such rebuilt antiques survive the humidity in Singapore? Are there equipped technicians available in Singapore who can help tune and maintain it? And will there be a market available should I wish to sell it later? Will ivory keys pose a problem in exporting it? Do any of you own such pianos and what are your experiences?

Also in this case would you rather just buy a brand new Steinway (another option for me) or pay the price for a very beautiful(looks and sound wise) piano?

technician wise in singapore you should have no problems. there are many expert technicians running around the place.
as for whether something like a rebuilt antique survive the humidity in singapore... i don't know either? but there is always the dampp-chaser system and chemical desiccants that you can use...

actually, i find it really hard to tell you why i somehow boil down to the bossie and faz. ok, i'm not a technical person so dun laugh at me for this.

ok, for the bossie, it gave me this very depressing bipolaric feeling. when playing it, the piano and me feels like one, and the sounds it produces conveys precisely the mood and feelings the song has. it is like the whole surroundings just changed with it and mutated into a peaceful coalition with the piano-pianist subset. however, when i start to play vigorous fast yet loud and heavy pieces, it seems to not be able to catch up.

for the faz, it is strong, young, wild. everything about it is boastful. the bass pounds like a black-belt karate rather than an elephant. its treble shoots like unseen arrows whizzing by yet hitting all on the same bulleye. it gives an exciting feeling to play like a whole new building waiting to be destroyed. however, when the slightest technical mistakes are played, or slow soft songs are interpreted wrongly, the whole character loses its bravado and grandiloquence, which then starts to feel like sheepish arrogance.

when i play other pianos, these feelings just don't come to me as easy as these two. but right now, these two are more of perfect compliments then subsitutes, therefore making it a very very very hard decision to make, if only there's a switch that can just change its whole personailty from a bossie to a faz.

Went to Yamaha and noted they have U1, YUS3 and YUS5.

Was told that U3 and U5 have been replaced by YUS3 and YUS5.

But why the U1 is not replaced by YUS1? Is it coming soon?

Anyone know whats the difference between U1 and YUS1(maybe replacing u1 soon)?

from what i've heard, the YUS5 is poorer than the original U5. They said that the material used is of poorer quality. have to check that up though, cos i heard it from 2 yamaha dealers and 1 steinway dealer only.

Hi All,

I'm an adult beginner (been learning for 8mths) looking for my first piano. I'm looking at a 18-yr old Kawai NS15 from a dealer, any comments on it?

I was thinking of getting this cos' I like the touch and tone but my friend just told me that a Schimmel (>10yrs old) is available for ard the same price, $3k+, from a private owner.

Shld I wait and look at the Schimmel, or just get the Kawai? (I can't wait to get a piano to practise!)

Thanks.

Hi neerod,

Welcome to PW!

Unfortunately it is impossible for anyone to give you an opinion on second-hand pianos without inspecting and playing them, and without knowing the history of the piano.

I tried to buy a second-hand piano 2 years ago, and gave up because I didn't have the time to spend weekend after weekend wandering through piano showrooms and answering adverts in the papers. So in the end I more than doubled my budget and bought a new piano. And even then I got a lemon! (It has since been replaced by the dealer at no cost to me.)

So if you can afford it, buy new. If you can't then you will have to take a risk with the second-hand piano. You can mitigate that risk somewhat by paying a piano tech to go with you to assess the pianos that you are interested in.

me too agree. buy new. somemore you already said you like the touch and tone.

I thought the same. Second-hand pianos are cheaper, but that does not mean lower depreciation, judging from the asking prices at the shops.

I have a silly question. Pardon me if it is really silly. But how to buy a new piano? Do I just pay up and wait for it to arrive. Or I must hire a technician to check it? Or am I allowed to test and select the best one from the dealer's warehouse etc..?

Assuming that you've picked out which one you want (either by playing it or you know exactly what you want anyway), ask the dealer to prep two for you and let you test in the showroom. You then pick one. If you are buying from a large dealer then they are very likely to have stock in their warehouse.

Once you have selected the piano, please note down the serial number of the piano! You then pay 50% as a deposit, the rest on delivery. You may wish to ask the dealer to open the piano up so that you can take a look inside for any obvious damage. Better yet, have a friend or a tech come with you to inspect the piano.

If the dealer doesn't agree to this then go elsewhere. If the dealer says that he's got only one of the model you want, then you either accept that piano or look for something else, not necessarily in the same shop.

Make sure that the piano's serial number is written on the invoice. When the piano arrives, use the serial number to check that you got the piano you selected! Inspect the piano for damage. Pay the balance when you are satisfied that everything is in order.

All dealers will offer at least 2 free tunings in the first year. Insist that the piano be tuned immediately after delivery, and that this tuning NOT be included in the free tunings.

Oh, err, I forgot to say that my post about the visit to the Frankfurt Musikmesse is here .

And I also visited the Sauter factory, here .

digitus,how does the sauter compare to a steinway (hamburg)? how much does it cost?

The closest equivalent Steinway to the Sauter Omega 220 is the model C. The C is considerably more expensive than the Omega. Both are equally fine pianos when prepped thoroughly and tuned properly. You'll have to play both to see which one suits you better.

I just happen to like the tonal characteristics of the Omega. The timbre is consistent across the keyboard. Sauter pianos are also known for their incredible dynamic range. On the Omega you can go from ppp to fff and out project even a Steinway D (which is 54cm longer).

For pricing you'll have to contact the Sauter dealer Alvin. You can PM him at his nick 'Raffles'.

thanks! looks like i'll have to go give sauter a try...my prof and other friends didnt give it a good review but perhaps it may be my cup of tea.