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I was wondering if I was getting a good deal for a kawai GE-20(new) for $11,000. free delivery and a free tune up during 1 year?? Please help me.

TLam,

Would it be better to post this one before you bought your GE-20? Can you ask them to refund you if overcharged? Like the rest of us, you can refer to Larry Fine's The Piano Book Supplement 2002-2003.

As long as you think you had a good deal with the seller (if they don't lie to you),you should feel comfortable since every business needs to make profit to survive. The important thing is the after sale service in the years to come.

Enjoy playing your piano since what ever paid is paid.

Regards.

Romeo

I haven't purchased the piano yet. this is the offer at "best price i can give you " pitch... so i was actually wonderin if it was a "best price".

Personally, I would much prefer the RX series to the GE for Kawai. You should be able to get an RX-1 for not much more than $11,000.00. The GE-20 is only 5'1" and may not really sound a lot better than an upright that could be had for the same or less. There are other decent grands by other manufacturers that would fall in this price range that would probably be better. I would not pay that for a GE-20 but that's my own opinion.

If you don't think this is a good piano for the cost... what do you suggest if the budget is no more than 12K ... i'd prefer a baby grand...
Thanks for your help!!!!

I would think that an RX-1 at 12K would be quite possible. I believe the RX series is just better built than the GE. I own an RX-3 and I am very happy with it. There are some other Asian makes that others on this board know more about than me that would probably fall within your budget as well.

JBryan, is quite right that the RX-1 is a heckuva lot more piano than than the GE-20, at least from a general build standpoint.

The one point I think is open for debate, however, is the selling price for a new RX-1. While some may have bumped into one for 11K, I certainly didn't run across any that cheap while piano shopping. More like 13Kish, or a smidgen cheaper. If you can negotiate one for 11k, and you like the piano, buy it immediately, you have found a very good deal.

In the event your budget won't stretch, and you can't find a RX-1 for 11K, you need to do a bit of piano shopping. For 11K, you can definitely get into a decent sized Korean, which is what I would compare the GE-20 with. Try a Weber WGS-57(5'7"), a similar Young Chang, and a Kohler&Campbell SKG600S(5'9" unenhanced version).

Having written all that, however, I will say the small Kawai grands are my favorite of that size amongst all Asian makers. And at the end of the day, if you still prefer the Kawai GE-20, see if you can negotiate the price down to the 10kish point (that's without taxes, etc). The Kawai is a nice piano for the home, and nothing to be ashamed of, if that is the piano you prefer.

Thank you Jolly for your input. I do like the GE-20, when i was playing it. But again i'm not very familar with piano's. Purchasing a piano, I have to consider the amount in which it cost and the size of the piano. I don't have room for a 5'5" or bigger.

which do you prefer a Kawai baby grand or a Yamaha baby grand? RX-1 is nice but its slightly big for the room i can put it in.

Personally, I prefer the tone of the Kawai. It is a bit darker than the Yamaha, with a bit more fullness, at least IMO. but it is your piano, buy what YOU prefer.

A word about rooms and piano sizes - many piano dealers will give you a template that has grand piano dimensions on it. You can then lay the template on the floor, and get a very good idea of how much piano will fit into the room. Many people are surprised that a larger grand takes up very little extra space, especially when considering the difference in tone that is generated.

TLam,

Sorry, I thought you purchased the piano already by reading you senternce 'I was getting a good deal for a kawai GE-20(new)'.

Enjoy your piano searching.

Romeo

Have you tried using a piano template to measure the size of piano that you can fit? It's been my experience that any home that can support a 5'1" piano should also be able to fit a 5'5". It's really not that much larger.

As for Yamaha, if you like the sound of the Kawai you played, you probably won't care for the Yamaha sound. Also, while the C-series is well built, Their lower series are lacking in quality and I would agree with Jolly as far as trying the larger Korean pianos.

As far as your pricing question, that's not an unfair offer by the dealer. If this was the older GE1 or GE1A, I would think it's a little high, but there have been some pretty good improvements in the GE series that make them alot closer in quality to the RX series. The only bad part of the piano is the size. If you can fit just a little larger size get the larger size, even if you need to make a slight concession by going to a Korean piano because of price.

Jolly, sorry, didn't see your post regarding the templates. It sounds like you did a good job researching pianos and prices when you purchased your piano. You have a pretty good idea of pricing and what's a pretty good and realistic deal for the customer and the dealership. I'd like to hear a little more about your shopping experience if you wouldn't mind repeating it.

To address the question about my shopping experiences:

It's pretty much a matter of record - I started on the old board with an old Hardman on it's last legs. Due to the kindness of many people putting up with my seemingly endless questions, and giving me their best opinions, I was able to make some sense of it all. I explored all avenues - rebuilding, buying used, buying new. And each step of the way, somebody on this board had some great advice. Perhaps a general shopping tip from Penny or Jodi, a bit of technical expertise from Larry or Norbert, or the perspective of a player such as David Burton.

I've talked to, or emailed dealers from Canada to Florida. I talked to more than one distributer. Almost without exception, as long as I didn't make a pest of myself, most piano industry professionals answered all of my inquiries.

I read everything I could get my hands on, and can probably quote parts of The Piano Book. I shopped hard over four states, and planned my trips for maximum effectiveness. I probably talked to my tech a half-dozen times about his opinions, and what I actually needed, not wanted, in a piano. At one point, I had detailed databases of technical specs, combined with performance notes from the different pianos my wife and I considered. Something must have rubbed off, for I was offered a job selling pianos on three different occasions - probably just sheer desperation on the part of the dealer!

The part of the market I concentrated on, and probably know best, is the 4-10K vertical segment, and the 6-20kish grand segment. I am woefully inadequate in the higher range of the market, and I feel like I have large gaps in the sub-3.5K segment.

The problem with what little knowledge I have is that it is ephemeral. Even though a piano is mature technology, prices change. Marketing strategies change, and the manufacturers always jockey for position, so what may be true yesterday, may not be true today.

But I have a lot of fun on the board showing off my ignorance! And I think the best moment for any of the regulars here, is when someone finds the right piano for them. Those are truly the good days.

Thank you all for giving your inputs!!! i really appreciate it! Yesterday i went to go look at more pianos... the first place was a piano warehouse... literally it was a ware “house”. It was so creepy inside. I did see some nice used 5’3” Yamaha’s but feel it is extremely over priced for an 1982-83 something year old piano to be $11k and up. So that place got scratched off the list quick!
Next, I went to go look at some more Yamaha’s. This salesman was trying to sell me a GP-1 for $11,500 and a Kohler & Campbell model SKG-530S for approximately $10,500. Now can anyone tell me if this man is ripping me off? I feel the Yamaha GP-1 is over priced. I compared the sound of the GP-1 to a GE-20, I liked the Kawai GE-20 better. The more I shop and get introduced to more pianos, the more I get confused…

tlam31,

Piano shopping can be a confusing enterprise. You just need to step back, and do a little oraganization, and the process will be much easier. Things I would do, if in your shoes:

1. Buy "The Piano Book" by Larry Fine, and also purchase the pricing supplement. The book and supplement will help give you an idea of the quality and pricing level of the pianos you are looking at.

2. Piano shopping is hard enough, without comparing apples, oranges, bananas, etc., all at the same time. You need to compare like pianos to like pianos. Now you may want to group them by price. You may want to group them by size. You may want to group them by performance. But you need to establish your own system on how you group your choices. My suggestion would be by price.

3. Keep a notebook. I found that data and performance impressions can all become a pool of unretreivable facts if left to my brain's own devices. I liked to write down the prices quoted at each dealer, along with performance notes and any perks the dealer might throw in (extra tuning, voiced to my preference, etc), and staple the dealer's business card to that page. At night, after a shopping trip, I would refer to my piano notebook, and add any other data I thought was pertinent.

4. Two of us have already mentioned templates, and you have expressed some trepidation over purchasing too large of a piano. Get a template, and check out your available space. It does you no good to look at pianos that are too large, unless you are trying to "fix" a reference sound in your mind.

5. Speaking of "reference sound", I picked a piano I liked very well (one I ultimately could not afford), and said "this is my benchmark" and compared all other pianos to my benchmark piano. This is helpful for some, not so much for others. It is your choice whether this helps, or hurts. Some folks after establishing a benchmark, are satisfied with nothing less! Fullfilling for the soul, deadly to the pocketbook.

6. Buy from a dealer you are comfortable with. A good dealer is your first line of defense in the event of any warranty claims. So if you find an honest dealer, who preps his pianos well, it is worth a few hundred more to buy from such an individual. Sometimes, price is not all.

7. And lastly, enjoy yourself. The shopping experience can be a lot of fun, if you control it, and don't let it control you.

Best wishes on your piano safari, and keep us posted!

Jolly you're great! thanks for you help always...

I just found a Kohler and Campbell for $5750 brand new SKG 600-S its in the redish/ brown color..i feel its a good deal but i have to travel 2.5 hrs to test the piano. I tried the SKG 530 and the sales man was going to sell it to me for $10Kish-$11K....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the SKG-600S is in Austin, is it not? If I am not mistaken, the advertisement states that this is a liquidation sale from a failed dealer, of his leftover floor stock.

The piano normally sells for about 10K, so this would be a very, very good deal. Just be aware that any regulation, tuning issues, delivery, etc., are all going to fall on your shoulders. I would also have a few mild warranty concerns.

However at the price quoted, you can afford to spend a bit, and still be ahead of the curve. If you actually like the piano, of course!