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Just a small correction: Boesendorfer rims are not made of beech, but spruce, butcher-block fashion. Only the top part of the rim, where the soundboard is glued and the plate screws go, is made of beech.
They do this because of their idea of a "resonant case" which should be mostly spruce.
What I like about Boesendorfer is their exceptionally high manufacture quality, although I find their piano design a bit dated.

Ron Overs, thanks for the comments on the Bechstein plates. I have heard many explanations, but yours makes more sense. Others ranged from poor alloy quality, through underengineered strut sections (they seem actually quite beefy) to badly fitting pinblocks which cause a rotaionla stress (this might also be the case).

Hi!! My name is Juano, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am a piano teacher and a piano student too. And I want to buy a new piano. I saw alots of pianos. At last, a very good piano selling house, offers to me 3 pianos:
1) A baby grand Weber (by Young Chang) at U$S 7000. Almost new
2) A Shiedmayer piano (from 1935) but like new (U$S 7000)
3) a Grotrian Steinweg (from 1935, like new) at U$S 7000
4) Steinway vertical piano (U$S 7000)

All these pianos have beautiful sound (specially Grotrian and Steinway). Weber is NEW!!! and it has beautiful sound, but I don´t know if it is a good piano or a good mark of piano.
Can you give me your opinion??
Yamaha piano and Kawai piano (both baby grand) are about U$S 11500, perhaps rather expensive for me. Thanks a lot and I will wait for your answer!!!
Juan

Hi!! My name is Juano, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am a piano teacher and a piano student too. And I want to buy a new piano. I saw alots of pianos. At last, a very good piano selling house, offers to me 3 pianos:
1) A baby grand Weber (by Young Chang) at U$S 7000. Almost new
2) A Shiedmayer piano (from 1935) but like new (U$S 7000)
3) a Grotrian Steinweg (from 1935, like new) at U$S 7000
4) Steinway vertical piano (U$S 7000)

All these pianos have beautiful sound (specially Grotrian and Steinway). Weber is NEW!!! and it has beautiful sound, but I don´t know if it is a good piano or a good mark of piano.
Can you give me your opinion??
Yamaha piano and Kawai piano (both baby grand) are about U$S 11500, perhaps rather expensive for me. Thanks a lot and I will wait for your answer!!!
Juan

Suikang:

Although I have not played any of the pianos you mention (I know them by reputation to be superior instruments), I would urge you, before making a purchase, to try out an Estonia--if you have not already done so. And you might want to research it on this forum. They are a great value and widely acclaimed. I love the tone. Of course they only come in 6 foot 3 inch and 9 foot models (other than the smaller 5 foot 6) with no 7 footer available yet. There are rumors that a seven is in the mill but I hear different things from different people.

Russ

Suikang:

Truly the best advice you've been given is to buy the piano that sings to your soul (assuming all the instruments are in comparable condition and fit your budget). There are some terrific resources on this board. Unfortunately, there are also boobs who spout off when they don't have know what they're writing about. I think you'll quickly be able to differentiate between the two.

When I was looking for a new instrument 18 months ago, I had the chance to play all three of the brands you like, plus a couple of Steingrabers. All were lovely. Obviously, I like the Bosie I purchased best of all. The Steingrabers were next in line. Followed by the Grotrian and Bechstein. But it was fundamentally a personal thing.

Best of luck!

For what it's worth, and it may not be worth much, Suikang last posted on this thread on 03/09/06. He bought a 1960's M&M BB some time later. Several months ago he was asking about an 1890's Bluthner.


Mike

I believe Juano is the individual who is of relevance on this thread.

First, I would recommend that if you have space for a grand, and the prices are comparable, get the grand.

The Weber is new, and so you are virtually assured that you won't run any of the risks of an older used piano -- loose pins, cracked board, worn out action. But it is a lower mid-level piano.

Grotrian Steinweg is one of the most highly respected brands for pianos, in the world. The real question is what the piano has been through in the last seventy years. What work has been done on it? Will it hold a tuning reliably? Has work been done on the action? What shape is the soundboard in? Strings?

As with any used piano purchase, and when you're talking about that much money, it is highly recommended to have an independent piano technician inspect the pianos.

I don't know anything about Schiedmayer pianos.

It's generally good advice to go with the piano that sounds and feels best to you. But on the other hand make sure you're not comparing tunings, since sometimes one piano will have been tuned more recently than another in the same shop, and might sound especially nice for that reason alone.

Also, you don't mention the sizes of the pianos. This is also important of course.

Charles -

Your advice to Juan is very good - except in another thread I also went into much more detail with him about the Weber. The new Albert Weber pianos built by Young Chang in Korea are much better than "lower mid level" - but the new "Legend" series built in China are of lesser quality. I gave Juan specific information about model numbers of Webers from the past ten years so he can get a better idea of country of origin and build quality.

Carey