Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum What not to look for in a piano...

I came across this video and it made me think about what is important and what not when evaluating a piano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zQMBBFQIdc
The person and brand of piano are unimportant for the topic I want to discuss. But it just occurred to me that what the guy recommends there for piano buyers to look for in a piano, is an approach I would never use, because I consider it counter-productive.

Now, before I tell you what I think a better approach is, let me state that I don't want this to be read as criticism of the person in the video or the brand of piano he sells. That is irrelevant to this discussion.

To me, the most important factor in evaluating a piano for normal users (pianists) is its overall sound and playability.

So I would recommend the following approach: rather than going round the piano looking for "features", first sit down and play it (I'm assuming a new piano or one in very good condition, the very old ones or those in poor condition need another approach).

Think about the sound you hear and compare it to other pianos you have played. Is it pleasing, or is it shrill, dull metallic or whatever? Is the sound clear and pleasing over the whole range of the keyboard or lacking something in certain areas or overall? Does it have adequate sustain in the treble and depth in the bass?
Then, concentrate on the feel of the action. Does it allow you to express the way you want? Meaning, does it respond well to the smallest changes in finger pressure, or is it rather insensitive and / or hard to control?

Then, if you feel so inclined, look at details and construction features
First, look at the case and evaluate the apparent quality of the fit and finish, also the underside. If you notice places where the finish or woodwork looks shoddy, that can be a sign for poor workmanship. At this point, you should become very careful. It is a good time to ask for an expert opinion.

Second, go on to less important details. Check if the bass break is audible. If it isn't, great. If it is, that isn't a big problem in itself. When playing music, the bass break is seldom noticeable. Evaluate it while playing your favourite music. It has to be very bad to be bothersome while playing.

Features such as duplexes, aliquots, agraffes or pressure bars, bridge shape and string length or after-length, hitch pin or bridge pin type etc. are of little direct relevance to the pianist. If you have an interest in the construction of pianos, by all means look at them, but I wouldn't base my decision to buy a piano mainly on such features.

The important factor is the way the piano sounds and plays. Whether it has any of the above mentioned features (or others) is of little direct consequence. I have seen enough spectacular pianos without most of them, and many very average or even disappointing instruments with impressive looking technical features.

I'd be interested in reading about the other forum members experience in this area.

About the only esoteric issues that might be apparent to technicians but not most players concerning the selection of a piano are tunability and repairability. Some pianos are difficult to tune, and so it is harder to keep them in tune. Some pianos, notably spinets, are harder to repair, so if anything goes wrong, you may be looking at a big repair bill.

However, there is one more factor, and that is whether or not the sound and playability can be improved. We can help with that.

But your safest bet is to start with a piano that sounds good and plays well. A good tech can always bring it back to that point.

Calin, this thread is probably more useful in the regular piano forum. I think we technicians can't help but looking into the specifics of "features"

Ditto what Jurgen said. That piano in the video certainly could use a good tuning. I would think, if one wanted to really impress someone with how well a piano sounded, that it would at least be in tune with itself. This one is not. That does not impress me from the get go.

I just looked at the video. Wow. I never knew that the Chinese Weber baby grand piano is a "premium grade quality" piano.

Weber an "old German company"? Well yes, Weber is a common German name, a bit like Jones, and there were a few forgettable pianos with that name in Germany, but....
"Aliquot bar"?? That's nothing of the sort...
Regarding the tuning - it's not out of tune - that's the "Singing Tone" hahaha

Lots more in the video I could take issue with, but I'll show some self restraint this time....

Jurgen,

Jerry, I hope you are laughing at me and not with me, I wouldn't want you to fall into disrepute!

Weber was a name used by nine companies that made pianos. The duplex scaling bars are often mistakenly called aliquot bars by a lot of people; I am not sure why….

Aliquot is not a mistake, it is just another term for the same thing. It is like wippen or whippen versus repetition.

There were probably more than nine Weber companies making pianos. There have been at least three in recent years.

Can I do both?

This is not correct; aliquot is a patented stringing system, in which the aliquot strings are never contacted by the hammer set.

The aliquot strings are pinched at 1/3 of their length, which defines the mathematical term aliquot. Aliquot means equally divided into three. Five is an aliquot of fifteen for example.

Duplex scaling is completely different. Duplex scaling allows certain segments of the wire to produce sounds when the wire is excited by the hammer.That is the main difference.

With all due respect, to my best knowledge "aliquot" does not mean "divided into three". It means the part that is obtained when the whole is divided by a proper (or whole-number) divisor, e.g. half (divisor is 2), third (divisor is 3), quarter/fourth (divisor is 4), fifth (divisor is 5), etc.

Certainly this is true for aliquot stops in organ building:
The "Quinte" or "Superquinte" is respectively 2 2/3' (8/3') or 1 1/3' (4/3') long, being resp. the 3rd or 6th aliquot of an 8' pipe, sounding respectively at the 3rd or 6th partial.
The "Terz" is 1 3/5' (8/5') long, being the 5th aliquot of an 8' pipe, sounding at the 5th partial.

If aliquots in piano building are always 1/3, then that's a peculiarity of piano technology, but i.m.h.o. has no bearing on the mathematical or general definition of aliquots.

aliquot(adjective)
1.
Mathematics. forming an exact proper divisor: An aliquot part of 15 is 5.
2.
Chemistry, Pharmacology. comprising a known fraction of a whole and constituting a sample: an aliquot quantity of acid for analysis.

Dictionary.com

I am quite certain that "An aliquot part of 15 is 5" is an example used in the dictionary. Other examples could read: an aliquot part of 20 is 4, or of 56 is 7. That's not the issue.

The issue is that the Steinway invention or patent (as talked about in the video), was always referred to by them as the Duplex. There is a rear duplex determined by the duplex bar, and there is a front duplex as well.

We technicians know this, of course, but many dealers are truly under-informed about piano technology and as a result often venture out onto thin ice in their sales spiels. Luckily for them, most shoppers know even less about these topics and cannot tell when they are being fed BS or not.