So after a long piano search I am planning to buy a Kawai GE 30 in the very near future (ie. this week). One helpful poster suggested I should make sure it is prepped to my liking before I buy it. This sounds very helpful and important but I don't know what it means. To be honest, I like the bright chirpy yamaha sound a lot, but was satisfied by the GE30 tone, although I would agree somewhat with other posters that describe it as somewhat muffled. It is a new piano. I don't understand what I should be doing re: prepping, and when I would go back to check if it was prepped, and when to sign on the dotted line.
Please help! I am a reasonable pianist (have my grade 10), but I do not have perfect pitch, or an amazing ear, or any skills with hands on technical piano issues.

"Perfect pitch" is not perfect. It can be somewhat helpful for musicians, but I am affraid it's overrated. It is useless when it comes to piano tuning, and also for many other serious considerations about tuning.

Have you read this list?

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/909165/1.html

It looks pretty thorough, to me. In layman termns, all that means they checked everything, and corrected whatever needed to be corrected to put the piano in very good shape.

Not all dealers offer the same level of prepping (here, people don't even know what that is, even dealers). Market conditions, clientele, available techs (and their proficiency) all affect the amount and quality of prep. Read that whole thread for a discussion on that.

Disclaimer: I am not a technician.

Pianogal,

Prepping these days usually consists of not much more than a tuning. Most dealers are not making much money, so technician expenditures often get cut.

Buy the piano you like. Don't buy a GE 30 expecting it to sound like a C1 Yamaha, or vice versa. They are different pianos, and each has its own tonal characteristics. Even from one GE 30 to the next you'll find differences, and with the Yamahas too you'll find that there are differences from one piano to the next, even in the same model.

Find a piano on the floor that you like, make sure it gets tuned before delivery, and gets at the very least checked over. Don't buy one sight unseen out of the crate.

Dave, for the same model (say Kawai GE30), would an experienced technician be able to make one GE30 sound about the same as the other GE30?

I don't think dealers would spend 20 hours on prepping new pianos. If I want to hire my own tech to do regulation and voicing on a new piano, how much I should expect to spend?

pianogal37, if you like the Yamaha's bright sound, you probably shouldn't get a GE30. We tried several Yamaha, Kawai, Estonia and Hailun grands recently. We like Kawai and Estonia sweet tone for soft or slow pieces, but just couldn't feel the energetic sound when playing those spirited pieces.

The GE 30 has a soft tone in general, but there will be variations from piano to piano. A good tech should be able to get one to sound similar to--but not exactly like--another GE 30.

Many regulation functions need only be checked rather than actually adjusted at this stage. 4-6 hours can go a long way toward getting a Japanese grand sounding and feeling better. Much of this depends on the skill and experience level of the tech, and the demands of the customer.

I usually charge hourly for this sort of appointment, but others may choose to charge a flat fee.

Not try to hijack this thread, but based on my recent experience, pianogal37 should try some Hailun grands too if she prefers Yamaha's sound. Compared with Kawai, Hailun's tone is closer to Yamaha. Some people say you can always voice the Kawai to have brighter sound, but from my side to side comparision, it would be a very dramatic change if it is even possible.

Dave, have you done any work on Hailun grands? Thanks!

I fess up to having no Hailun experience.