Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related)
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Ten years ago I bought a couple of padded, adjustable piano benches at $95 each.
Ten years later, they still work, as in I can still sit on either of them to play the piano, I can still adjust their heights.
BUT, the upholstery has not hold up well. Some decorative buttons popped off. The faux leather chipped and peeled. And one bench developed some creaking noises that will come out as you lean your torso back and forth or left and right as you play the piano, creaking noises loud enough to be noticeable in recordings. (The other bench has not develop this creaking noise.)
Would a Jensen bench that is 5x to 10x more expensive have fared any better? Frankly I do not know. But I know that I can replace these cheap benches 5x over by now and still not spend as much as I worked have for a Jensen bench.
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Yeah, I've also had a couple people buy from them, and they were happy. They clearly aren't as robust as Jansen benches, but as Axe, mentioned, you can replace it every few years and still come out ahead cost wise.
As far as the creaking--that's frequently from securing two pieces (the base of the bench and the legs) that are both fully coated in polyester. Sometimes, removing the legs, and sanding the finish off the edges where the legs come in contact, would solve the problem.
It could also just be the mechanism working itself loose over time.
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@axtremus said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
But I know that I can replace these cheap benches 5x over by now and still not spend as much as I worked have for a Jensen bench.
Sure. And, you can buy the cheapest car and replace it 5X over, as opposed to buying a quality car. Depends on how much you like all the time and energy spent on buying the cheap car(s) and hoping the interior doesn't disintegrate, faux leather chipping off, particle board crumbling, padding underneath the carpet turns to dust, and the wonderful mental anguish as you think over and over to determine at what point you have had enough, and you'll start shopping for the next "vehicle" trying to save money.
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I for one think that a good piano needs a decent quality bench and not some cheap crap.
I mean, you spend a high five or even six figure amount on a piano and then sit on some cheap $100 piece of plastic? That sounds just wrong to me.
The time I spend on my piano is supposed to be fun. It feels much nicer to sit on a bench that shouts "quality!" from any angle you look at it.
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Jon, on a more serious note. . .
Chinese benches do not adhere to the restrictions on materials used. There
can beare issues with chemicals including glues and foam. There have been instances where people with allergies can easily smell the chemicals, have a reaction, and for you, I'd be concerned about inhaling chemicals which are not allowed in products manufactured in the U.S. The EPA and other agencies indeed protect the American consumer from American-made products. -
Jansen has a Pneumatic Bench that's pretty nice for around $400...
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I for one think that a good piano needs a decent quality bench and not some cheap crap.
I mean, you spend a high five or even six figure amount on a piano and then sit on some cheap $100 piece of plastic? That sounds just wrong to me.
The time I spend on my piano is supposed to be fun. It feels much nicer to sit on a bench that shouts "quality!" from any angle you look at it.
@klaus said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
I for one think that a good piano needs a decent quality bench and not some cheap crap.
I mean, you spend a high five or even six figure amount on a piano and then sit on some cheap $100 piece of plastic? That sounds just wrong to me.
The time I spend on my piano is supposed to be fun. It feels much nicer to sit on a bench that shouts "quality!" from any angle you look at it.
Agreed and if my bench for the Bosie needed to be replaced I’d spare no expense.
This is for a fucking Yamaha.
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By the way, my main bench has a nice little touch:
Only non-witches get due process.
- Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
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@jon-nyc said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
By the way, my main bench has a nice little touch:
So does this one:
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@jon-nyc said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
By the way, my main bench has a nice little touch:
So does this one:
@jolly said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
@jon-nyc said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
By the way, my main bench has a nice little touch:
So does this one:
There you go, Jon. Problem solved. You have such good friends here. They take care of you.
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@axtremus said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
But I know that I can replace these cheap benches 5x over by now and still not spend as much as I worked have for a Jensen bench.
Sure. And, you can buy the cheapest car and replace it 5X over, as opposed to buying a quality car. Depends on how much you like all the time and energy spent on buying the cheap car(s) and hoping the interior doesn't disintegrate, faux leather chipping off, particle board crumbling, padding underneath the carpet turns to dust, and the wonderful mental anguish as you think over and over to determine at what point you have had enough, and you'll start shopping for the next "vehicle" trying to save money.
@Rainman said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
@axtremus said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
But I know that I can replace these cheap benches 5x over by now and still not spend as much as I worked have for a Jensen bench.
Sure. And, you can buy the cheapest car and replace it 5X over, as opposed to buying a quality car. Depends on how much you like all the time and energy spent on buying the cheap car(s) and hoping the interior doesn't disintegrate, faux leather chipping off, particle board crumbling, padding underneath the carpet turns to dust, and the wonderful mental anguish as you think over and over to determine at what point you have had enough, and you'll start shopping for the next "vehicle" trying to save money.
The trick is to know how good is “good enough.” With the wonders of modern finance, one can always buy something “more expensive.” Just know that “more expensive” does not always mean “better.” A $100 bench is not “the cheapest.” A $7 IKEA stool maybe “the cheapest.” (At $7 a pop, I could replace it 100X over and still comes out ahead cost wise compared to a Jensen.) Your “cheapest car” analogy is but a cheap straw man.
And it’s actually quite easy to find $100 padded, adjustable piano benches (Amazon.com has got a lot of them). It is also very easy to find $7 stool (IKEA). So your whole point about “time and energy spend on buying the cheap” is not applicable to this product category.
By the way, do you have a Jensen bench (or, for that matter, any piano bench that costs, say, more than $500) ? How many years have you been using it? Any chipping or peeling on the upholstery or any creaking developed? I would like to get some real world data points to ascertain a Jensen (or some other “expensive”) bench’s long term durability.
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@jon-nyc said in Question for LD. And anyone else. (piano related):
By the way, my main bench has a nice little touch:
I used to have exactly the same bench back when I had a Bösendorfer. I wanted to keep it when I sold the piano, but the new owner offered me so much money for the bench that I sold it. The official list price for these benches is silly. I think around 2500$.
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Ax:
"And it’s actually quite easy to find $100 padded, adjustable piano benches (Amazon.com has got a lot of them)"Sure. And what kind of wood is under the paint? Does it matter? What do you think, Ax 'ol bud? How about a solid slab of wood. Would you rather have that as a piano bench lid, or cheap particleboard with a wood veneer? Rather, cheap American-made post-Katrina particleboard (sans carcinogens).
The reverse-engineered Chinese knock-off of a Jansen bench (and yes, I am the only one that knows how to spell the name) doesn't have known problems with the mechanism, inferior as it is. Sure is easier to bend the Chinese-sourced metal, whatever it is. The problem is the frame cracks, the wood is not strong enough. It's along the length of the frame on the longest part of the rectangle. Well, there is a good chance that the wood for "your" bench will be strong enough. Paint covers everything, the good and the bad. For a joint, how important is the tightness of the wood grain? Or, in general, in cabinetry, how much difference is there in one wood over another.
Except a cabinet just sits there, where a pianist is constantly shifting their weight. Well, a good pianist that is. Constantly moving, back-and-forth, front-to-back, for years. Jansen artist benches do not have music storage, as it's just one more addition that will likely start squeaking somewhere, as every joint or contact point is a potential unwanted noise.
And for the knock-off Chinese reverse-engineered junk, when a part breaks, where do you go to get parts? Jansen has a bushing kit, so "you" can replace the parts of the bench which wear over time. And in our next class, we will discuss warranties.
Push back, Ax! You can do it!! Find something. . . anything. . . and see if you can coax it into sensibility.
