Stranger still, it's the street name for a can of whipped cream, used for the Nitrous Oxide high.

Congrats! Your new-to-you piano will give you a natural high.

Congratulations on your new Shigeru! I'm sure you'll be ecstatic with it's sound and performance. No matter what you decided, the fact that you researched the options, tried different pianos, and made your choice based on your tastes, playing, and needs, means you made a well-informed decision that you can feel happy and confident about.

Please post pictures when it's delivered. Congratulations again. Fabulous Christmas present to yourself!

greetings,
Why would you think you need new strings in this piano? I have many pianos in my care with strings 60-100 years old and the strings are just fine. In fact, a number of Steinways from the '20s and 30's I care for have less false beats than brand new Steinways.

Spend your money on regulations and voicings, instead.
Regards,

pianoloverus,

Maybe we should change it to say,
"A piano is only as good as the long term maintenance it gets by a qualified tech over its lifetime." We've all heard the sad tales of high end pianos that went for years without tuning, voicing, or regulation.

j&j
Please note I have started this thread to discuss these issues. I think they are out of place here now that the OP (who knows the importance of maintenance) has decided on a new Shigeru SK5.

Not really. The condition of the piano is dependent on the care of the tech.

But if one starts out with a very poor piano no amount of tech care will make it great. And even after 20 years a sensational piano that's not played eight hours a day and is kept in an appropriate environment may very well sound much better than an inferior piano even if the the sensational piano is simply tuned once a year by a tech with average ability. Of course, it also goes without saying that more frequent care by a great tech will make it sound even better than minimal care by a tech with less skill.

Suppose you had these two choices:

Choice 1:You are given a well prepped highest quality performance grade piano(the very highest level in the Fine rankings)of your choice for free. You play it 1-2 hours a day and keep it in a room with stable humidity at the correct level. You have it tuned once year by a tech with decent but not super skill. Every ten years you can get one day of voicing and one day of regulation by the same tech. All the tech services are for free also.

Choice 2. You are given the same size intermediate level consumer grade piano for free. You play it 1-2 hours per day and keep it in a room with stable humidity. You have the services of a super tech who comes twice per year for tuning and also does lengthy regulation and voicing every 4 years for as much time is necessary. The tech services are for free.

I bet a lot of people would choose choice 1 and that their piano would sound and play far better after 20 years than those who chose the second option.

Ed--thanks for your input. All I can say is that the RPT who inspected the used SK5 is VERY reputable and that is what he advised. I think, in retrospect, it was more of a "consider this" but not "you'll have to". And, he was coming from a very professional viewpoint of keeping the piano in "optimal" condition, not just "acceptable".

SK-5 (new) delivered today...with assistance of a crane to reach 2nd floor of the house...video to follow.

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/IMG569.jpg

Unbelievable!

Going to see some tomorrow myself

Congratulations!!

See new thread "SK5 delivered"