Excursion 2 and 3

A few weeks ago we went to play a private seller's 2003 Yamaha C6. I really wanted to like the piano as I thought it was a pretty good deal and my wife had liked the C3 and CFIIS we played at the dealership in Syracuse. This particular piano disappointed us both. Although it was beautiful, it had a muted bass that we just couldn't get past. My wife still wanted to buy the piano though, because she felt sorry for the seller. :rolleyes: Such is life married to an amiable personality (She is reading over my shoulder).

Then a couple of weeks ago we went to a used piano store. I have never seen such a selection of poorly prepared pianos in my life. There was one old M&H in all original condition that had a fine, rich sound to it and an almost new upright Steinway that played beautifully. As soon as we left, my eight year old son said, "I like our piano (digital Yamaha Clavinova) better than anything in there! The younger kids were all enamoured with a couple of old player pianos with pump foot pedals. We left there and went back to the Steinway dealer. Everything sounded wonderful after being at the used store. The tech had returned from vacation and the new A had been prepped (it now only had one key that stuck a little) and the B sounded better than before. The D of course was still a dream.

I've run out of time, so I'll post Excursion 4 later. I'll give you a sneak preview though. We went to Altenburgs in Elizabeth, NJ and Allegro Pianos in N. Stamford, CT. Fred and Ori were by far the best dealers I've dealt with so far and I highly recommend both of these establishments to anyone shopping for a piano.

Fred and Ori.

Now that's a surprise.....

Norbert

Odd isnt it. Some people really lay into Ori here. I have never met him or been to his store. But people who have, such Ryan E here, seem to be full of praise. I think that says something.

Good luck to the dealers here who stand up to be counted are are open about who they are. It adds value, even though we do get a bit of brand pushing from time to time, at least we know the agenda.

And Ryan - good luck in your search. Post a bit more detail next time!

Kind regards

Adrian

I've been to Ori's, even bought a piano from him. He's a class act and has taken good care of me, despite my being 1500 miles away. Of course it helps that I really enjoy the piano he sold me (Estonia 190).

Thanks for the update, Ryan, though now I am really curious to hear Installment 4. Start typing!

Anyone, and particularly any dealer, who posts here regularly become somewhat controversial. It is one of the reasons many dealers do not participate here.

While I have, on rare occasions, disagreed with what Ori has posted, the only valid "evaluation" of any dealership comes from those who have actually shopped and/or bought from them.

In that respect Ori's reputation is unblemished.

Personally, my visit to Allegro Pianos was by far the most informative I've ever encountered in any dealer (no disrespect intended to other dealers - JMHO). The first 2 hours were filled with demonstrations and discussions of grand action cross sections, sound board demos and a presentation on what goes into designing and building a piano - from the ground up. It was as much of a learning experience as it was a playing experience.

Ditto, ditto, ditto, and outstanding after-sale service too.

Why buy used? There are many new good big pianos available at great discounts at the many dealers you have in your area. Dont forget, when you buy something used, the initial price seems cheaper, however, with pianos, the 3,4,or 5 tunings year after year that most 25 plus old pianos need will cost you in the long run?
Lets put a used dealer out of business for once...(Sorry Ori, you still are the bomb, no way I could keep a customer interested for two hours with my little M&H dealer tinker toys)

Ryan,
It looks like you enjoyed your visit here.
I'm glad that this is the case, and I too am looking forward with curiosity to read about your visit.
Although I was there, seeing things from another perspective can be a very interesting experience.

Steve Chandler, Jollyroger and JerryS88...
I thank you too for your kind words, and I'm very pleased that you all are enjoying your pianos.

Kenny Blankenship,
The used piano market has its place.
After all, not all people keep their pianos forever. Some unfortunately stop playing, while many others replace their instruments and upgrade.
So, both consumers and dealers may need/want to sell the traded/unused pianos at some point.
In any case, I'm not sure why you found it necessary to apologize to me in regards to your remark about used pianos.
The majority of our pianos are sold new, and the brand names I represent can be found in the signature line on the bottom of my posts.

Although a rather significant portion of our business is Steinway pianos, the vast majority of these are fully restored, and as such I would not refer to them as "used".
Having a new soundboard, bridges, pinblock, action, strings, pins, re-plated harp, hardware and a complete finish kind of give these instruments a "new" piano feel even if they are 100 years old.
It is true that we also have quite a few "new era" Steinway pianos... but these, along with some Yamaha pianos that we usually get as trade ins, represent overall a relatively small part of our business.
So don't feel bad for me while commenting about any "used" piano dealers.

By the way, I too probably can't keep customers interested for two hours using your "little M&H dealer tinker toys"...
So if our customers are interested in gathering knowledge about pianos, I try to provide them with a FAR more comprehensive understanding of pianos, the overall piano market, and the knowledge to understand what elements of tone and touch are within my control as a technician or what is inherit to the instrument's design, parts, materials, and build quality.

I found that the more our customers know about pianos, the more likely they are to make a choice they'd be happy with for many years.