I was planning to buy new Feurich 179cm but bought used Yamaha G2 as I didn't have enough budget.

As I saw the Feurich, it looked extremely well designed and the sound was amazing what I've never heard before.

Surprisingly, the price was almost 1/2 of new Yamaha C
when compared to similar size.

The dealer said it was manufactured in Ningbo, China but all materials from German and Austria. Such as Austrian spruce, Stephen Paulleo rust free wire, English wool pelt etc. But it is very cheap as it was assembled in China but regulating, voicing and all steps are inspected by European technicians.

I asked about the Feurich to other dealer if he knows the brand and he said the materials must be all Chinese ones. He said that if the all parts from Europe, the price will be almost doubled.

The other Feurich 123cm upright piano made in Austria was more expensive than Feurich 179cm grand piano as it was assembled in Austria.

A piano built in China isn’t a French or German piano no matter what country the components/parts are sourced from. This is like saying that Baldwin pianos are “USA pianos” because the wood that goes into building the cases/soundboard/some of the action parts are sourced in the US. That’s ridiculous. Baldwin is a Chinese piano these days, same as any other piano built in China, and so are these so-called “French” and “German” pianos you’re referring to.

The price tells you the value of piano assembling process.

Of course the other dealer would say that, without knowing or doing any research into sourcing of the materials. It is all about seeding doubt to sway you from the competition, whether true or not. A good reason some salespeople should be totally ignored. Alternatively, some are very forthcoming and honest.

The OP should ask the salesperson where he\she got the information. FYI, here are some specs on the Feurich 179.

I thought Feurich was made by Hailun in China ?

Hailun is the company in Ningbo that the OP mentions.

That a piano uses European spruce in the soundboard, or American hard rock maple in the rim or pin block, or British felt and leather in the action, or whatever, doesn't make it a European piano.

The Feurich/Hailun is a Chinese piano, and that's not a criticism of the product, but a fact. They are half the price of a Yamaha C-series, that's correct. They actually punch well above their weight for the price. They're well-designed and well made, and Hailun make a very good product. Our own Rich Galassini uses Hailun to manufacture the Cunningham piano. Chris Venables uses Hailun to manufacture Venables and Sons pianos for sale in England.

The Feurich story is a little bit strange. The current Feurich brand has nothing to do with the pianos made in Germany by Julius Feurich. Julius Feurich sold his family's company name to a group of businessmen who put an office in Vienna, and the hope was that Hailun would produce a version of the Feurich piano in Ningbo, and that the original German Feurich would remain available as the top level product. For whatever reason that never happened, and the new Feurich is basically a tweaked Hailun. There is some assembly in Europe for the top of the range upright, and it's a more expensive piano than the purely Chinese Hailun. Feurich pianos used to be branded "Wendl und Lung".

The Feurich piano is an acceptable practice piano, it's strong, it's durable, it's cheap but not shoddy, and it has many attractive things about it. For me, the sound is still not in the league of Yamaha and Kawai, who in my opinion produce pianos with a more musical tone.

I know that Rich Galassini and Chris Venables have changed the design of their respective pianos so that they sound more musical and present a mid level product at a more entry level price.

My advice to you is if you like the Feurich piano and you're happy with the price then there's no reason not to buy it. It's not going to give you the same dynamic response as a Yamaha, but half the price does not mean half as good in this game.

Other pianos to look at would be Irmler by Blüthner, W.Hoffmann by C. Bechstein, Essex by Steinway, and then look at some of the other Chinese brands such as Ritmuller, Yangtze River, Pearl River, who are all making far more musical instruments than they did 20 years ago.

Some feurich reviews by Robert, all verticals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNE5I6MVKqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U_R6k8NhYE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBT_wbd3oQU

And the 162 Grand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud2QS2nq_hU

And larger ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9QBg0-ObEA

I would compare this with Chinese pianos made in Germany and Austria.

In this context this looks like W. Hoffmann is manufactured in China It's not. It's designed by Bechstein in Germany and manufactured in the Czech factory in Hradec Kralove.

I think you meant to write Zimmermann.

As to Feurich: The 218 is actually a new design by Paulello and it's really good.

I meant to write W. Hoffmann, not because I think it's made in China, I know it's not. But rather, it's a competitively priced product and in my opinion is a good alternative to an Asian piano.

Besides W. Hoffmann, what other pianos are made in Europe and are competitively priced?

When I tried 218, the sound was beyond amazing and the big gap with 179.

Schultz and Pollman(some models) ,Wilhelm Schimmel and Wilth Steinberg.

^ Thanks.

As you are in Europe, maybe Petrof as well.

The last time I checked Petrof prices they were too premium and outside my budget. But I like their pianos. Maybe I should try to negotiate or ask the factory directly.

Keith, you are always the voice of balance and reason. 😊 I want to be you when I grow up.


Thanks for your observation, Joe. After a cursory examination of a Feurich 178, I can say that the scale looked the same as a Hailun 178. When I asked the rep. himself to tell me the differences he referred to different gauges of strings in different sections. It made no sense to me. (I don't think it made sense to him either).

I agree that today's Feurich (or the one I saw 4 years ago or so) are tweaked Hailun pianos. They are certainly prepared differently and may even use a different hammer, but that would be where the changes stopped (at least in pianos I have seen).

The Matchless Cunningham changes the plate, the soundboard, bridge placement, rib placement, hammers, and in some cases, the rim.

Last comment, musical is in the ear of the listener. Chen Hailun has no desire to take the Cunningham design and apply it to his Hailun pianos. Mainland China is his main market and a huge number of his pianos stay there. He doesn't need North America or Europe and the Hailun scale and sound is perfect for that region and his ear.

My 2 cents,

You did ask for 'competitively priced' brands not cheap ones

More seriously, do check what the prices actually are in your area. Although in the PB price guide Petrof is a premium and rather expensive brand that isn't the case here in the UK where, roughly speaking, I seemed to be able to get a Petrof for sort of 2/3rds of the Yamaha equivalent. I don't think the Petrof was quite as well made, but it was close and a very sweet piano - although I didn't buy one I thought them very good value and a clear step above some of the pianos being discussed here.

Hmm, I'll have to check again then. Since Yamaha and Kawai (of course with their most entry-level instruments such as GL-10/GL-30 and GB1/GC1) are my current choice, if there's a Petrof with comparable size and quality at 2/3 the price, it would be my natural choice, even if only from a bit of Euro-patriotic point of view 🇪🇺 😛 I haven't played many Petrof pianos but those I played, I've been always impressed. Even our old upright is a Scholze from the 1960-s which was built entirely in the Petrof Czech's factory and was supposed to be a more affordable sub-brand and is still a wonderful piano.

Petrof pricing is confusing. I think the price is the probably equivalent of Yamaha CX or maybe an SX series. It’s much less expensive than the Yamaha CF series and Kawai Shigeru where it probably ranks in quality but has a lower price here in the US. Petrof is competitive with Estonia as a more reasonably priced premium piano. The Petrof pricing has been reported to have increased some in recent years. The only Petrof I’ve ever tried was my friend’s. It was beautiful. I’ve asked before but I’d probably have to drive to Denver or Phoenix to find one.

I have played a KAWAI GX-1 piano recently, the action is indeed better than my old Petrof, but for me the tone is not comparable, I prefer much more my old Petrof vertical piano.

Irmler. They are to Blüthner what Hoffmann is to Bechstein. Irmlers are made in Poland.

I played one once and was disappointed. The sound and feel was not better than from a mediocre Chinese piano.

EDIT: Fleetwood already mentioned Irmler.

Is that so?
When I bought my Yamaha C2 8 years ago, I was also considering Hoffmann. They had two product lines at the time: Tradition, made in Czech Republic; and Vision, made in China. At least that's what I believed, based on various sources, among them the Piano Buyer.

The Feurich 218 is a completely different design by Stephen Paulello and while manufactured in the Hailun factory, it's not sold under any other brand than Feurich and is the only piano with that distinct soundboard, bridge and plate design. All the final steps in terms of regulation and voicing are done her in Vienna.

NB: I am not affiliated with Feurich, just happen to know a couple of the guys who work here in Vienna as well as Paulello.

Thank you.

I do wonder what the difference is then from the 218 Hailun that Stephen Paulello designed for THEM: https://hailun-pianos.com/product/hg218/

The Feurich Vienna123 has a label that says "Made in Vienna". Where is this piano "finished off" in Vienna ? Most of the instrument is made in the Hailun factory in China. Just wondering......?

I don't know.

To my knowledge also the Vision line is assembled in the Czech Republic. However this line uses more parts from China, and some parts have already been pre-assembled in China. Not necessarily a bad thing though. Here is a nice review of the W.Hoffmann Vision 112 (ie. the most affordable upright) from Merriam pianos. They seem to be fairly happy with it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OG8Idhw3YA