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Just bought a Nordiska Grand 6' 1" Model k (e). Is there anyone who have experience with this piano brand. I bought it just because I liked the sound & the touch better then I liked Yamaha & Kawai.

Contrary to popular belief, Nordiska's don't come from Norway.

If you liked the tone and the touch and the price compared to Yamaha and Kawai, and you compared others as well, that is all you need.

Usually, for the best outcomes, most folks ask you question before they buy.

Congratulations on your new piano.

It is not that I didn't ask questions before I bought it, and I did some research for about 6 months here in Norway. And its true that they dont sell Nordiska in Norway, I bought mine in Houston. (Forshey's) But I must admit that out of all brands that I've tried, this one seems to me like a better piano at this price range...

A friend of mine owns one. Shes seems to really enjoy it.

True - but until they went bust and some of their factory equipment was sold to the then state-owned Dongbei piano factory in 1988 they were made in Sweden - Nordiska actually means Nordic in Swedish (it's Nordisk in Danish and Norwegian)

- incidentally, those pianos were quite different in design (much more "Euro" and "modern") than the current Chinese line (I have noticed, however, that they continue to make a Euro-studio the same way that Nordiska did it 30 years ago)

- for example, this Nordiska Bambino (spinet-like to use American terminology) was sold in relatively healthy numbers in Scandinavia in the 1960s and 70s:



Men tillykke med flyglet dit, Proppen!

Takk for det tyrri...

According to Pierce piano atlas, they moved the hole factory from Vetlanda Sweden, to Dongbei China. But anyway, I'm not a professional pianist, its just for hobby and fun, so I believe this piano will last for the rest of my time...

A good friend of mine is a piano player in Sweden and I talked to him about the Nordiska brand before buying my own. He said they were very common in schools when he was growing up but that he much preferred playing the brighter and livelier Maljsmo which he preferred over the darker sounding Nordiskas back then. I'm told that the 6, 7, and 9-foot grands now made by Dongbei are new designs and that the materials, woods, and actions are now different throughout the line. I know Dongbei uses a dark curly maple for all its cases that's indigenous to Northeast China. And I suspect all the Dongbei-made Nordiskas are brighter sounding than any of their original Swedish-made counterparts. Got my Nordiska 215 in 2004 and it is a favorite with all the professional players who have played it... I think Kjell might stop by this summer to check it out.

I'm not sure, btw, that Nordiskas found outside the US would necessarily have the same specs or parts as those imported to the US. I'm told that the US Importer, GIC, commissioned the newer designs but only has rights to the Nordiska name in the US. So I guess in theory, a Nordiska found anywhere else in the world might be made by Dongbei but be a very different piano. I think I recall posts here on PW about piano stores in Germany carrying Nordiska. Did you buy yours from a dealer in Houston because the brand is uncommon in Europe?

Howard

Ah yes, the Malmsjös were also quite popular in Denmark back then.. - although Danish schools were mostly populated by East German continental studios in light oak (to me those simple instruments simply ARE school pianos - and as can be seen in my avatar, I still like that style.. )

I have seen Nordiskas in Germany a few times and I just found out that a couple of the very few Danish piano dealers (very much a dying breed in a small country such as mine) have started carrying the Chinese Nordiskas - and apparently all the way from a 109 cm continental studio (which is probably based on a Swedish design and which should be the big seller here, where the continentals still constitute a large part of our domestic sales) up to their newly developed large grands

To howard:

I simply bought the Nordiska from a Houston dealer because I happens to be there when the dollar were very low compare to the Norwegian krona. That and a similar piano ( Albert weber made by young chang cost in Norway aprox 25-30000 usd. At that time I was looking for a piano in that range when I came accross the Ke model from Nordiska, and for me, it sounds better, had better touch then the Albert weber that I tried in Norway...