I thought they sounded pretty good, not the same richness as our old Chickering baby grand, but none of the verticals we've tried have really been "great". So the sales person showed us a baby Grand Story & Clark for $6,600 and a Kawaii S3 that a university used for a year on loan but comes with a brand new warranty out the door for $5,200. That seems like a really good deal, but I'm so torn. The piano is for my kids and he hated the Kawai even though I thought it was nice enough and its the most popular piano! We both really liked the Story and Clark, but I think those are built in China now and don't know anything about their quality and reputation on their new 5'1 baby grands.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

If he hates the Kawai, that should be clear.

If you both like a Story and Clark, why not? Is it a lot better than your old Chickering?

What year is the Story & Clark piano, approximately. And are you sure it's 5'1" and not 5' long? There have been both Samick and Dongbei sourced pianos within that brand in recent years.

An how old is your son?

You need to do a little more research.

This should help.

http://www.pianobuyer.com/publication.html

Look specifically at pages

44-45 (New Piano Ratings)

169-171 (Kawai)

188-89 (Story and Clark)

Good luck !!!!

If your son doesn't like the Kawai this may not matter, but the Kawai will have better resale or trade-in value if you ever want to upgrade.

Good luck!

Rick

Story & Clark does source their pianos from several manufacturers - I have from 3 different factories right now. But then so does Kawai use different factories - just all under the same ownership.

"Liking" the piano is the trump card when making a decision. If it had been the Kawai, the advice would have been the same. Story & Clark has been around forever, they were just never as ambitious as Kawai to try to be more than a family-friendly producer of good value home pianos. At the end of the day, I'd be pretty content to know that you both liked a piano within budget.

After 10 years of ownership, I'd be pretty surprised if the percentage in resale value on the S&C vs. the Kawai will be all that different.

Look again at a Kawai K5 upright vs. the Story & Clark baby grand and see if that changes either opinion.

Sam, would your opinion on that have anything to do with the fact that you are a Stoy & Clark dealer?

Never mind... forget I said that...

Rick

There are people I would wonder that about, but Sam doesn't deserve it.

I figured he has to like the touch and sound if its going to be the instrument he plays on for the next 10 or more years.

We sold the Chickering yesterday so anything is better than being pianoless!

The Story & Clark is brand new and the salesperson said 5'1" but she was also rushed and not very friendly so she could have been wrong I guess?

[quote][/quote]

My son is 12. He started playing piano at age 7 for 2 years and then told me he "hated it" and quit. He started playing violin 3 years ago and is a very good and serious violinist. After he started playing the violin, he became very interested in and serious about music and was playing on the keyboard every chance he got and eventually begged me for piano lessons again, so he's been playing again for almost a year. My daughter is 8 and she's been playing for a year, and finally I always wanted to play the piano but my family couldn't afford lessons when I was a kid, so I am planning to take lessons now!

I think the current models are 5'1" and a couple years back they had a 5' model instead. But Sam and these others would know for sure.

This was one of the main reasons I wanted to get a Kawai!

Thank you for your thoughts! Today we are also going to see Conover Cable so that may bring some new possibilities too! I just know we need to make our decision this weekend!

Does anyone have any thoughts about Conover Cable? That's the model offered by the only dealer we haven't been to yet and we are planning to go there today!

I played a very nice Conover Cable baby grand. Darkish tone, smooth action. It was very good for its size.

Good luck!

"...We sold the Chickering yesterday so anything is better than being pianoless!"

Oh, no. No. Dear lady, there are many bad purchasing decisions that would be worse for you than being pianoless. What impatience or pressure could there be that could make a bad piano better for you than no piano--- that is, until you find the right one?

In Story & Clark's Heritage line, a few years ago, there was a 5' and a 5'4". Then it became the 5'1" and 5'7". There was a new design 5'4" in their signature line, with the more designer cabinetry. I recently had a new 5'3" arrive as well (the 5'1" is from a different factory, but it's still current). Confused? [Me, too...a little] But it doesn't change the basic facts. So it could be the 5'1" or the 5'3" as both are current. Don't worry, Rick - I'll elaborate. My point is more specific to which Kawai. The bigger artist series models will have better resale than Story & Clark, but from what I've observed about the lower to mid-level models is that they don't fare much better than other instruments of comparable quality. What is important for a more home-level piano to create fair resale is 1) a good upfront discount, and 2) continuity of the brand. Which brand makes little difference after 10 years or so.

Makes perfect sense to me, Sam... thanks for elaborating.

Rick

There are a gazillion new baby grands at that price point and some of them really are quite nice. Don't rush. I hate to admit the following, being roughly 1.5 years into my PW membership, but I had sold my console and rushed to buy a piano within 1 week. I got a great deal on a great piano but I certainly learned a heck-a-lot more since then; and the information since learned would have seriously prolonged benefited the shopping experience .

Conover Cable is/was made by Samick in either Korea or China. I'm not sure they are still being made, but the ones I played a few years ago were decent little pianos with a mellow sound that would be really nice in a home setting.