Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Advice on purchasing larger upright piano - is it worth it?

Hi all

I am just after a bit of advice on what to do maybe a reality check!

I currently own a mid-1980s Yamaha SU118 which I love, though I have started to look around at some larger uprights (a grand would unfortunately not fit anywhere in my house!) to determine if it is worth trading in the Yamaha for a larger model.

I have spoken to a Piano dealer who has said that realistically I would need to be looking at German made pianos of around 130cm to feel as if I was getting any significant improvement in sound or touch, and even then this would be dependent on the piano itself.

I could potentially afford a large second hand upright, as I've seen these tend to be advertised from £9000 - 14000, however I'm not sure if I'm jumping the gun!

Would appreciate any advice - even if it is that I need to try out more of the large uprights and make a subjective decision.

Thanks

I totally think you should buy the absolute best upright you can afford. There are things about the touch and sound that a good quality piano can do, that no others can. Ive had my beautiful 52” upright pramberger for almost 20years, and it’s so good it was very hard to find a grand that was better. Finally found a nice yamaha c2 very recently.

Try some out and see if you like them.

I presume you live in the UK, and presume there are probably many European pianos out there. The ones I have played are the A124 CBechstein. I believe the A126 is very nice. I really liked the R126 (R6), August Forster 125G and the 134. Schimmel C130, and K132. Seiler SE 130, Sauter Competence 130, and the MC130, Steinway K132, and the Grotrian130.
You may try a SU130, YUS5, and Kawai K500 and the YUS5. I have never tried the Steingraeber or the Bosendorfer uprights but there are those as well. The more economic Sauter Carus 130 can be very nice as well.

I forgot there is also the Bluthner B or A which you may love. Then of course there are the less expensive Haessler and the Rhonish pianos.You really need to try whatever piano before buying it. Play them on two different days at least before committing to buy one of them.Have any used instrument independently checked by a technician.

Haessler is roughly the same quality as Bluthner, but more conventional in design. So it sounds and feels more like a normal piano-- which some people prefer. Not everyone understands the Bluthner sound, and others like it but don't think the uprights approach it closely enough to pay extra.

I own a Yamaha DYUS5.

I had ordered a new DYUS1 but the pandemic messed up its delivery so the wonderful people at Yamaha upgraded me to the DYUS5 for a nominal fee.

I love the DYUS5. It has German felt and German strings. It is powerful and has a commanding voice.

It’s a small thing but the large music desk is wonderful.

There is this 2004 Sauter Regazza at the Coach House. Some of the 122 pianos have powerful tone. You may just want to try it out.
https://www.coachhousepianos.co.uk/piano-brands/sauter/

If upgrading from SU118, you wouldn’t have to necessarily go to particularly larger ones e.g. >130cm. With European ones like Bechstein, Petrof, or Bluthener as mentioned above, you’d be able to feel a huge difference even with smaller sizes ~120cm.

Perhaps what I’d add to the list would be Boston.

There are several nice large German uprights in the forthcoming auction at pianoauctions.co.uk . Worth booking a slot this weekend to try them. Seiler, Bluthner, Steingraeber ...

Slightly off-topic but it looks to me like there could be a lot of dealer stock clearance in that list, lots of similar uprights which are VAT rated, wonder if someone in the biz has gone under.

I'm slightly biased but when I looked for a quality upright originally, before buying my current piano, I took a strong liking to the Steingraber 130 and 138, so much that I ended up with their grand.

I've been impressed by the Petrof uprights. Check out the 125 and 135. The fuller bass is enjoyable. Yamaha YUS5 has a truly powerful bass.

I am buying a Yamaha YUS1, because it is 48" tall and not the YUS5 because it is 52" tall.
If there were a 45 inch YUS I would have considered it.
Had a 52" upright about 10 years ago. It had enough volume to fill a stadium and the action made it very hard to play quietly.
When you try a large piano try to play it quietly unless you like loud a lot.

Chas, YUS1 is an excellent choice. Enjoy -

A good 130 size possibly European piano or an SU130 (K800 may work well too?) with a great tone and sensitive resonse would be a good substitute for a small grand. If you are looking for a real improvement over the SU118 make sure you get it. It's not true that 130 size pianos have a heavy action, they do not.

The K800 I had had a heavy action.

We have at least one member who owns one, perhaps he will tell us his experience.
I have played the K500, YUS5, and a whole number of European 130 uprights.( Forster, CBechstein, Academy, Residence, Concert 8, Sauter's, 130's, Schimmel, Petrof, Grotrian and Petrof) and none of these were really heavy at all. It's possible you played an unregulated K800 or that you are very sensitive about key resistance.

Hi all, thank you for your comments!

I've been to a few piano dealers and tried, among other pianos, the full Steingraeber upright range, a second hand Sauter 130, a Petrof 125 and the Grotrian 125. I was surprised by how well my Yamaha held up against some much more expensive pianos in terms of sound.

I wasn't massively struck by the Steingraeber or the Sauter, but enjoyed the tone of the petrof and the Grotrian. Next step is to try some Bluthner and Bechstein pianos!

They may have a different action to Bluthner uprights. (I am not sure)

I used to own a K8. I would not describe the action as heavy, but it does need deeper touch and more attack to bring out its beautiful tone compared to the Yamaha equivalent.

Don’t forget to try Seiler and Schimmel!