I'm really shopping for an acoustic.
The hunt is on!

My husband is very "on-board" with the hunt, and is joining in the research whole-heartedly: looking up review and statistics and things to take into consideration.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a Yamaha U-something upright.
Have tested out 2 U1s, a U3 and a UX - in 2 different shops. I liked one in each of the shops, but will still try a few more.

The second shop is one my teacher took me to visit, and I really liked how they interacted with me, and they have a very good reputation. I think I will probably make the purchase from them.

So far I've been during the week, but as soon as the second shop has the new (used, so new for me!) models on the premises, we'll be going on a Saturday so my husband can join in the fun!
I think he is as excited as I am about this purchase!

I'm jealous! But have fun

Cathy

Don't mention it to Gyro...

Good luck! Have fun!

LMAO

Why, is he anti-uprights? I know some of his posts are um......"interesting" to say the least!

Anyway, I doubt anything anyone might say could put a damper on my high spirits!

He is anti acoustic

I'm jealous too. I just went throught this last year (I bought a Kawaii K5). It was a bit stressful but at the same time I wish I could do it again. Nothing against my K5, I love it, but the anticipation and hunt for a new piano can be loads of fun. I want to upgrade to a grand one day when I get a new, bigger home. It's going to be a long time before any of that happens but I already look forward to it. Good luck and please post pics when you do get your piano.

I'd say "you've got to be kidding" - but something tells me you're not.
Well, ..... to each his own. (shaking head and not understanding some people's preferences!)

A little jealous ... though my wife did say I can get one at "some point" I have an idea that she thinks it requires new furniture to go along with the piano!!!

How exciting! I bought my upright about a year ago now, and although it took me a while to get used to it, I would never want to go back to a digital. In fact, my old digital is sitting upstairs in one of the bedrooms, and a few months ago, just for kicks, I turned it on and played it a bit. I truly thought something was wrong with it, the action felt so weird and it sounded so empty compared to the new piano. But aside from the sound, I think one of the things I love most about my acoustic is feeling the vibrations through the keys and the floor when I play. Sometimes I just sit there and play slow, lovely chords to hear and feel it. I'm sure you are going to love it!

CONGRATS CASINITALY!!!
I am sure you are having a blast playing Les Plaintes d'une poupée on such a variety of pianos. Cannot wait for you to find one!!!!!

Andy- My husband has the same idea regarding furniture, and rightly so. I started out thinking that a five foot grand would be okay, but have changed my mind. Fortunately, my living room is very large, but anything larger than a five foot grand would crowd the room with its current furnishings. While this might sound evil, have you ever considered spilling a big glass of red wine on the sofa so you have to buy a new one? "Some point" might come sooner rather than later?

GlassLove: there's (usually) a big improvement in sound at even 5' 8" or 5' 10" compared to 5'. Surely the extra 8-12" could be found?

Yep, elecmuse3, those inches have been found. That is why we will have to reduce the amount of furniture in the room (I have limited my search to 5'5" and larger. My first outing in search of "the one" resulted in my ruling out the smaller grands). My husband is totally fine with that. He nixed the idea of getting rid of all of the furniture and equipping the room with a concert grand . I guess that shouldn't have come as a surprise!!!! I have a pretty nice piano right now, but I certainly have a bad case of grand fever!!!!!

Oh, what fun, casinitaly!! Everybody else is giving you good advice. The only thing I can think of to add is that you may want to record the serial numbers of serious candidates and post them on the forum to double-check the age/provenance of the piano. Not that any of your dealers would mislead you as to the age of a piano, but it HAS been known to happen. (Right, rickster?!)

And, Glasslove, ask the dealers you visit if they have any of the paper templates of grand pianos you can borrow. I know that when I just took a tape measure to my living room, I thought 5'4" or 5'5" was the longest grand I could accommodate, but once I got the templates in there, I saw I could go up to 5'10" no problem.

[edit: oops, I see we cross-posted. Never mind!]

Casinitaly,

If I was shopping for an acoustic I'd think I'd be taking a close look at the Hailun built Austrian designed Wendl & Lungs...
They seem well regarded.

Please keep us upto date with progress.....

Good luck!

Casinitaly,

Congrats,,,

If you have a budget maybe the experts here in PW may give you some options !?

Congratulations, how exciting! Enjoy your search!

Me too! I lean my foot against the side of the pedal when I'm not using it just to feel the vibrations.

What fun! There's a grand in my future too, but it will have to wait a bit till my wife stops asking "could you put the headphones on, please?"

(I don't blame her )

Oh! So many fun comments to respond to (how do you do multiple quotes??? (apart from by hand!)

Andy - I noticed that when we were talking about where to put the piano, my husband said "Well, if we put it on this wall it won't look great beside the TV, but if we got a flat screen and put it up on the wall"..... He's been dying to get a big flat screen for ages, this might be his wedge into my resistance lol.......

Glasslove : I did think about a grand at first, but..... our room is fairly big, and a grand would definitely fit, but I'd have to get a small one, and a big vertical (from what I've read) gives the same power and possibly even better sound than a small grand...... We'll see what happens when my husband comes shopping, but I truly think I'll be sticking with the idea of a vertical.

Monica, I've been hanging out in the piano forum quite a bit (lurking really ) and I have looked up all the serial numbers of the pianos I've tested. I've made a spreadsheet for taking notes and keeping track of which is which. (I also made a recording of the last 2 I tried so that my husband could hear the difference. Even though the recordings were not great quality, the "brightness" of one model was really easy to hear in contrast with the second. The ones I've tried out so far have been from 1980 - 1995.

Elwyn: I've never seen a Hailun here- not on any of the websites even in mention. There are a lot of German brands, the Kawais and Yamahas and Young Changs, Steinways ....I played a Petroff on Monday, which sounded good but was ever so "stiff" it was really hard to play!

MaryBee - I get to have those sensations when I play at my lessons: the piano at the school is no great shakes, but all summer I've been playing on my teacher's grand piano and wow....it is just a whole new world.

My budget is a maximum of 4,000 euro (5,000 USD give or take a bit). I know I can find a good used upright in that range.

One of my biggest concerns is how my husband is going to react when he stands beside an acoustic and starts to understand how loud they are! ack!!!
He has been doing research and listening to the sounds of various models on -line (for example at RickJonesPiano.com) and he's very aware of the change in the quality of the sound - but the reality of the volume is going to be an interesting fact to deal with.

I spoke to my neighbours downstairs yesterday and told them that I was starting to shop for and acoustic, and that I would be talking to them more about setting some boundaries so as to NOT drive them insane I was absolutely thrilled with their response - They said things like "A piano! Wow, good for you! That's fun, how exciting"....I know their daughter plays a digital (though she hasn't played for a while ) - turns out that a few years ago they tried to get my teacher for her lessons, but the teacher wasn't available..... Now I just have to talk to the neighbours beside us - but as he is a musician (dare I say "too")... I don't expect any problems.

It is so much fun to have you all share in my enthusiasm!
The next shopping expedition won't be til the 11th....... I'll be back with an update!

That's neat Casinitaly! I used to have a U3. You're going to love the step up from the NP30. But just remember that's where I started too so it never ends you know...

ohh, just now I see your post.
Congratulations, it's a lot of fun to select the right one for you. If you go in Milan for piano shops I'm sure you will find some decent ones.
I don't knoww if you are looking for a silent version or not, that would make the relationships with your neighbours easier (yeah, they are loud).

WoooHooo! Congratulations!

Cas - what great news! I have an upright (Yamaha U1, 1985) & live in an apartment, so I don't play before 8 in the morning - 9 or 10 on weekends - or after about 9 at night. My downstairs neighbour plays too, so she'd already carved out the territory & was one of the reasons I chose this place. But my next door neighbours (the ones on the other side of the wall where the piano lives) say they hardly ever hear me. It can be heard in the hallway, but probably no louder than some other peoples' stereos. But I've noticed recently, my downstairs neighbour, who's older even than me & has been playing forever, & usually plays what she knows perfectly, has been learning new stuff - I've heard her practicing a bar or 2 over & over, & I can tell she's practicing & learning something new. & I wonder whether I've inspired her to start pushing herself. So, what I'm getting to in this long-winded way is that maybe if your neighbours' daughter hears you, she'll be inspired to start playing again.

So nice to hear how many others enjoy their U1s and U3s!

Sviatoslav, you're right, there are some good shops in Milan. My teacher has been dealing with "Griffa" for 30 years and knows them well. I may go to another shop, but I was very happy with my "visit" to their place !

Carol - I think maybe the daughter (Gloria) downstairs has been thinking about starting up again, since she's been hearing a little of the digital (espeically now that we have the windows open!)
She asked me about my teacher .... and I invited her (G) to come and play duets with me!
Gloria is already one of MY students, so we know each other well and get along very nicely.

Not tomorrow, but the following Saturday, we'll be going back into town to check out the new arrivals.. woohoo!!

Oh, lucky you! I can't wait to hear what you end up getting. You must post pictures!

I can't wait either... but my next shopping expedition won't be for a week or two.....argh !!!!! Unfortunately we couldn't go yesterday.

Patience is a virtue.......right....I'm not feeling very virtuous right now

It must be driving you nuts!! I remember waiting to be able to move my piano in, & at that time I hadn't even started playing yet.

Pah - that's just something to tell kids. Us adults are allowed to get impatient!