John, I have lived in Texas for 30 years. I haven't been spending as much time here at PW. I just have too much going on. It's just one of those topics that needs clarity, so I figured I'd proffer my two cents. I think it was likely the same two cents I proffered a couple of years ago however.

From my corner this comparative piano bleat is typical of US upper crust materialism
(ie. return on one’s buck) ... not a thought given to the 1st grade child who presumably will apply the first sticky fingers to the ivories.

Sometimes the Yanks give us the pip.

And here am I ... quite happy to teach on my ancient Grotrian Steinweg ... but then I can really play the jolly old piano ... and delight in taking the role of Pied Piper to the enchanted rats.

btb, can the attitude. I'm a teacher, and piano tech is my hobby, which allows me to have some instruments that I likely couldn't plunk down copious amounts of cash for. That doesn't change the reality as I see it. The original poster postulated a comparison and sought opinions. Opinions ensued, of which yours was one. I'm glad that you are teaching and I'm glad that you "really can play the jolly old piano". Many of my clients make 10 times my income easily. Many of them have uprights or spinets. I don't demand that they buy grands.When they seek to replace them, I make my opinion known.

I have proffered on this list that I attended college with many other pianists that grew up on uprights and learned to play very well. Nontheless the preference was and always will be a grand. If I had X dollars and had a choice as the original poster suggests, I would always buy a grand. You might be interested to know that I too can play the piano, in fact I'll bet most of the teachers posting here likely can. At this point I'm getting a little tired of the good old USA taking it on the chin. We don't have much to apologize for. Our standard of living is good. It is the goal of capitalism after all. If you are unhappy with yours, hop on a plane and immigrate. There has never been a country that afforded so much for so many. With our economy contracting you can get a great deal on a grand.

What would "The Tales of Winnie the Pooh" be without Eeyore? (LOL!)

A grand it will be, though I'm not sure which one yet. I played a 1098 again; its tone (as with many other used uprights in this price range) is not as nice as even the small grands I've heard.

Thanks for the constructive input everyone!

Thought you chaps deserved a reminder of Eeyore ... thanks Kentucky Ann.

Defensive US patriots make an ass of themselves ... tiddely-pom.


[img:left]http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/Eeyore'shouse.JPG[/img]

"Have you all got something (to eat)?" asked Christopher Robin with his mouth full.

"All except me," said Eeyore. "As Usual." He looked round at them in his melancholy way. "I suppose none of you are sitting on a thistle by any chance?"

"I believe I am," said Pooh. "Ow!" He got up, and looked behind him. "Yes, I was. I thought so."

"Thank you, Pooh. If you've quite finished with it." He moved across to Pooh's place, and began to eat.

"It don't do them any Good, you know, sitting on them," he went on, as he looked up munching. "Takes all the life out of them. Remember that another time, all of you. A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference."

(It appears a sensitive soul found a discussion comparing pianos to be inconsiderate.)

From: The House at Pooh Corner ... pages 15/17

They came round the corner, and there was Eeyore’s house, looking as comfy as anything.
“There you are,” said Piglet.
“Inside as well as outside,” said Pooh proudly.
Eeyore went inside ... and came out again.
“It’s a remarkable thing,” he said. “It is my house, and I built it where I said I did, so the wind must have blown it here. And the wind blew it right over the wood, and blew it down here, and here it is as good as ever. In fact, better in places.”


“Much better,” said Pooh and Piglet together.
“”It just shows what can be done by taking a little trouble,” said Eeyore. “Do you see, Pooh? Do you see, Piglet? Brains first and then Hard Work. Look at it! That’s the way to build a house,” said Eeyore proudly.

So they left him in it; and Christopher Robin went back to lunch with his friends Pooh and Piglet, and on the way they told him of the Awful Mistake they had made. And when he had finished laughing, they all sang the Outdoor song for Snowy Weather the rest of the way home, Piglet, who was still not quite sure of his voice, putting in the tiddely-poms again.
“And I know it seems easy,” said Piglet to himself, “but it isn’t every one who could do it.”

Would Eeyore have preferred the Steinway upright over the Boston grand? How could his house have been "comfy" without a piano?

Thanks for the thoughts John ... I’m "comfy" with my Grotrian Steinweg ... although hypothetically I might find myself taking a look at the

1. Steinway 1098 vertical
(built after Steinway improved the tuning ease and stability in 2004)

however, in the interests of getting a return on the buck,
the OP might be advised to take another look at the IMHO unknown

2. Boston GP-156 baby grand (5'1"), 2002 model

Whose manufacturer doesn’t get a mention in my 478 page reference book PIANOS and their MAKERS by Alfred Dolge

Make mention the reputable piano makes of Chickering & Sons (1823) or Mason and Hamlin Co., in Boston ... and you’re obviously in another ball game .

However, the patter which sets the scene has all the ingredients of a society dame wanting to impress quasi-cultured visitors with a bit of focal interior decor ... a grand piano (the architect talking).

If only more research was given to achieving the basic objective of being able to freely play the piano ... and you and I, John, know what it takes to learn to play the jolly old piano ... poor little "sticky fingers" is not likely to get a look in on the modernistic Boston grand which is likely to be firmly locked to avoid depreciation (to quote gloomy Eeyore).

Underlining the dumb Victorian adage: Children shall be seen ... but not heard!!

I’ll none of it.

I somehow fail to understand the validity of a treatise (the aforementioned Dolge) originally published in 1911 and how it necessarily relates to the present. That would be like buying a history of the car published in 1911 that would by necessity exclude some fairly illustrious makes produced since. That would be the equivalent of saying that if an auto manufacturer didn't exist in 1911 that any contemporary manufacturer cannot be taken seriously. Boston is far from my favorite instrument, but I would still pick a Boston grand over a 1098 and I have played both. Having said that, I would also prefer a Steinway grand to a Boston grand, but that is not the debate. For clarification, the 1098's I played were brand new to the college the year I enrolled. They weren't worn out when I attended, nor were the grands. They were all new instruments, so it was a decent situation for comparison. I played a Grotrian Steinweg grand in the early 1990's and I preferred it to the 1098 as well.

There is more than a little presumption going on to imply that the original poster has no interest other than to impress the uninitiated with a grand piano.