Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Young Chang brand any good?

I am wondering what you all think about the Young Chang pianos in general? Poor tone? Poor build quality when new?

There's a used G-150 Baby Grand Piano 4'11" and I'm wondering if it's worth even bothering to go and play it.

Three points :

1) Larry Fine rates the Young Chang as an Upper Level Tier 4 Piano after
Tier 1 : Highest Quality Performance Pianos (including, but not limited to Bosendorfer, Bechstein, Hamburg Steinway)
Tier 2 : High Quality Performance Pianos : (including, but not limited to Grotrian, Mason & Hamlin, Estonia, New York Steinway)
Tier 3 : Good Quality Performance Pianos : (including, but not limited to Walter, Petrof, Schimmel)
Tier 4 : Upper Level Consumer Grade Pianos (including, but not limited to Brodman, Wm, Knabe, Young Chang, Yamaha C)

Note : I was too lazy to type up the whole list for each category, but gave some representative pianos for points of reference.

2) : In my opinion any grand piano - and even more so when you get down to consumer level - as small as 4' 11" is not worth looking at. There are just too many design compromises in that size piano for them to be much more than a piece of furniture. A used G-150 4' 11" surely is worthy of even less consideration, in my opinion, whatever the price.

3) As with any used piano, condition is of prime importance and condition can only be determined by a technician examining the piano, no matter what the owner might say. Young Chang has had a pretty varied history, which may affect quality which, in turn, could certainly affect condition
- first aided by Yamaha when YC assembled their pianos in South Korea,
- then moved their operations to China
- Samick, their Korean rival, acquired controlling interest of YC in 2004,
- but Samick was ordered to sell its interests in the company, - but manipulations forced YC into bankruptcy,
- Hyundai Development took over YC in 2006 and claims quality control is improving the overall desirability of their pianos.
Such a history would give me little confidence in their products, regardless of the date of manufacture, particularly if there might be warranty issues with an individual instrument.

A medium-grade, decent sized vertical (upright) would undoubtedly be a much better purchase.

Regards,

It is difficult to make blanket statements about Young Chang pianos. So much depends on when and where the piano was built, the specific model, whether it has been maintained/abused, etc. While Young Changs have improved dramatically over the past several years, the G series was always the basic model suited primarily for home use. I've played both good and bad ones. You have nothing to lose by going to see the piano, but I agree with Bruce that 4'11" is mighty small for a grand. I personally owned a 5'7" Young Chang Weber for a few years and really liked it - but it wasn't the basic model.

I own a 6'1" Young Chang grand (it's around 20 years old now) and my husband (also a pianist) and I both like it. I wouldn't class it with a Steinway, but it has a nice touch and tone.

I would be wary of buying a 4'11" grand though...

I've done some research about the qualities of pianos and I find that it really comes down to the country of origin.

The best pianos are at the top. The worst are at the bottom.

1. America, parts of Europe.

2. Japan

3. Korea

4. China, Indonesia

Extremely good. Chinese manufacturing has improved dramatically over the past few decades, and I believe they are now the #1 producer (and possibly consumer) of pianos worldwide.

And exactly which brand are you talking about?

So what else is new?

If we are talking about the older model Young Chang referred to by the OP, then it most likely was built in Korea - not China.

In all honesty, I think OP's question is much better suited in the piano TECHNICIAN's forum.

Or even better still, the Piano Forum.

I guess. Either one would be better than the Pianist Corner.

#1 producer doesn't tell the story.

mazurkajoe go piano shopping or something and go play some pianos. I don't know about you, but in the past 4-5 years I always liked any Chinese piano I've played more than any Korean piano I've played. In particular, I absolutely hated the action on every Korean piano I've ever played. On the contrary, some Chinese pianos really nail action feel. I'll admit I never got to touch a premium line Korean piano like Praemberger (I hope I'm not giving an incorrect example) though, they could be much better.

I would pick any Steinway over any Chinese piano. The name does say something.

Haha, of course :P. Well, that is if you're comparing pianos in similar condition. Steinways are also made to a MUCH higher price point anyways.

Well sure, but you're going to wind up spending MORE in the long run if you buy a bad piano rather than spending a few more dollars upfront to get the best quality piano.

Not really. Steinways are much more expensive and also need lots of pampering to stay in good shape.

mazurkajoe: perhaps you could give an estimate of how many "a few more dollars" will enable you to buy a Steinway rather than a Chinese piano?

Or did you mean a few thousands of dollars?

And why do you own a Yamaha if for a few more dollars you could have bought a Steinway?

Personally, for a few dollars more, I'd go for a Bösendorfer myself . Preferably the Imperial 290.

Agreed!