I have a rather simple question here.
I see in Larry Fine catalogue that Shigeru is rated level with NY Steinway and above Schimmel Estonia and Seiler. However, these piano's sit in the same price range here in europe.

Does this rating have anything to do with the fact that Shigeru offers a tuning and service from a shigeru kawai technician from Japan within the first year after purchase?
Thgis service does not exist in europe.

If not, this piano probably seems like the best value for money if it can stand out like that and compete with instruments that are much more expensive.

What are your thoughts?

Regards

Shigeru Kawai, Schimmel Konzert, Estonia, Seiler, and NY Steinway are all rated equally.

I have no idea how Fine comes up with his ratings, and I have very limited experience with top tier pianos, but the Shigerus sure are nice pianos. So much so that after a few months of searching and comparing, I bought one (in Europe) Indeed my experience was that only substantially more expensive pianos (Bluethners, Boesendorfers, larger Steinway's, etc.) would have intrigued me more than the small Shigeru that I now play on... In the shop where I got my Shigeru, there were Seilers, Yamahas and some used pianos by Bluethner and Grotrian in the same price range that did not lure me away. So I would think that with a limit of funds in the corresponding region, a SK is definitely an interesting option.

The service policies of manufacturers ARE taken into acccount by Larry in his piano ratings. However Shigeru's rating would be the same without the in-home tech visit.

True, and Fine states that within each grouping or sub-grouping the brands are simply listed alphabetically.

Okay, is this for the latest annex? I've seen the annex for 2007-2008. There SK was in category 1c, and Shimmel and so on were at least 2a or lower. This has changed then?

PianoStudent

Yes. Updates are easy to find. Just follow the links to The Piano Buyer.