Piano shopping...

[George K]

Very nice, @Klaus !

[Jolly]

Congrats!

[Klaus]

Thanks! I'm not sure whether congratulations are appropriate, but I figured that life is too short for suboptimal pianos

My family will regret this. They'll soon have to endure more of my strumming it in the living room.

[kluurs]

Can't wait to hear that. Now, if you only dedicated as much attention on that piano as you do for the kazoo...

[Horace]

Beautiful piano, Klaus.

[jon-nyc]

Very nice.

[Klaus]

I find it interesting that, if you look at the Grotrian website, depending on whether one chooses the English language option or not, the decal changes.

I personally prefer the "Grotrian-Steinweg" decal.

[kluurs]

I believe that Steinway had issues with Grotrian-Stenweg back in the day, alleging that Steinweg was an attempt to confuse the US audience into thinking they were getting a German Steinway. As I understood it, as a result of a settlement, Grotrian agreed to not use the Steinweg name in North America. At least that's the story I was told. Larry or one of our other pros would know if that's true.

[Klaus]

@kluurs I think you are correct. In my opinion, they are justified in using the Steinweg name. Henry Steinweg co-founded the brand (before founding Steinway) and the naming rights were properly transferred and maintained.

[taiwan_girl]

That is awesome @klaus. Hope you have many hours of happy playing!

[Mik]

So are you banging away on it ?

[Mik]

No answer. Must be banging away.

[Klaus]

@mik I don't have it yet. I hope to get it before christmas, but from what I hear the piano movers are pretty busy at the moment.

[Mik]

So you are furiously playing the kazoo?

[brenda]

@klaus said in Piano shopping...:

... life is too short for suboptimal pianos

This.

People tend to regret the things they did not do, the things they did not buy, the quality they did not get. You made the good choice.

[SD Tav]

Very nice piano Klaus! I've hardly played any Euro uprights since dealers here have a harder time selling them compared to Yamahas and Kawais. I have played Schimmels which are just OK. In which city are Grotrian's produced?

[Klaus]

@sd-tav said in Piano shopping...:

Very nice piano Klaus! I've hardly played any Euro uprights since dealers here have a harder time selling them compared to Yamahas and Kawais. I have played Schimmels which are just OK. In which city are Grotrian's produced?

Schimmel has two different lines of upright pianos. The cheaper line is "just OK", as you say. The "Konzert" line is significantly better. Not on the same level as Bechstein/Grotrian/Bösendorfer, but really nice.

Grotrian's are produced in Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.

[SD Tav]

@klaus I must have played the older type Schimmel upright. My reaction to a Konzert grand that I played a few years ago was very positive. I really liked it. Older models not so much.

[Klaus]

Here's an interesting shopping experience:

When I tried the Grotrian, I liked it a lot initially, but I was irritated by a range of about 2 octaves in the treble. They sounded too subdued and lacked brilliance. I told the sales person (who turned out to be the owner) that I was in love with everything but these 2 octaves. He also tested the piano and agreed with me. He asked me whether I have 30min of time. He took his box of tools and began working on the hammers. First, he made a few tries with a single hammer and asked me a couple of times whether it already has the tone I'm looking for. When I agreed, he worked on all the other hammers and voiced them in the same way. When he finished and I could play again, I knew : This is it.

That's the difference between a sales weasel and a proper piano technician.

[jon-nyc]

That's great.