Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Ritmuller Grand Piano GP212R1

Does anyone rate the Ritmuller GP212R1 Grand Piano as a professional recital piano?

I don't.

Do you mean the GH212R?

This one: http://www.ritmullerusa.com/Ritmuller_Update/Grand_Style_Sheets/Grands/Ritmuller-GH212R.pdf

I've heard very good reports about these pianos. They have Renner hammers and are designed by a very well regarded designer in Lothar Thomma. They may not be in the same class as pianos that cost twice or 3 times the price, but they offer a tremendous amount for the price. They are respectable instrument for a professional recital in a smaller hall.

GP 212R1 must be an older model before Lothar Thomma designed the current 7' grand GH 212R

The GH 212R is a formidable performance piano and was chosen by San Francisco's highly respected Freight and Salvage Coffee House, an international performance venue.
http://thefreight.org/

The piano there was chosen over another [highly prestigious...] brand involving the votes by a number of artists.

Very same model is right now the flagship at Ritmüllers exhibit at the 2013 NAMM show in Anaheim.

Early reports indicate piano is getting a lot of attention from early on in show.

Norbert

Thanks you guys for your excellent posts. I am Head of Performing Arts in KL, Malaysia.

Is the Ritmuller GP212R1 a Chinese copy or are they all made there?

What is the difference between the Ritmuller GP212R1 and Ritmuller GH 212R?

When was the GP212R1 made?

I have also been offered a re-conditioned Kawai CA-60 and Kawai NX-40A for the same money (about £10K UKP).

Any help would be fantastic and I need to buy a Grand in Maslaysia in the next month or so.

Cheers,
Tim

Tim,

The difficulty of your question is that responses here are mostly going to come from members in countries where the GP212RI is not offered. Pearl River, like most large piano makers, focuses on selecting product lines for specific markets and is somewhat inconsistent in the branding names used for those products in different countries.

The GP212RI is not in the Pearl River lineup offered in North America. It is not an older model. It is simply not offered here. The marketing focus from Pearl River for this product appears to be on Asia and Eastern Europe, including Russia.

The specs of the GP212RI seem promising (although the company does not specify the soundboard type). Natural competition for this piano in KL would probably be the various Sejung and Hailun products offered by different branches of the Ho family. Comparisons to used Japanese pianos would depnd on the condition of those pianos.

The piano is manufactured in Guangzhou, China at the Pearl River factory.

All Pearl River GP212 models, regardless of the brand on the fallboard, are the same. The GH212 is a substantial upgrade from the GP212. The GP212 hosts an "all spruce" soundboard whereas the GH212 has a solid European spruce soundboard. The GH212 has a completely Chinese producted action (all components) and the GH212 has some European components, including Renner hammer heads. Most importantly, the GP 212 was NOT designed by Lothar Thoma, whereas the GH212 is a Thomma design.

I hope the above was helpful.

I'm sure it was helpful in the full-blown Northeast US sense of the phrase, but I'm not sure it's accurate.

Not to be a tedious bore , but according to Pearl River's own marketing materials in China, the two largest models of the R1 series (the GP212R1 and the GP275R1) both employ a Renner action made in Germany as standard equipment (not that this is necessarily a huge advantage at this point in time since theoretically at least, the Chinese may have figured out how to duplicate Renner design and quality at a fraction of its cost). The same "Renner action made in Germany" claim is made in Pearl's Russian marketing. So, if it is indeed a fact that there is no difference in any versions of the GP212, this is an unfortunate marketing misstatement by Pearl.

The OP is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which of course is not Russia or China. However, I think there's a strong likelihood that the GP212R1 sold there is identical to the one sold in China and Russia, and is not a piano sold in the US.

Since no claim is made for the soundboard other than all-spruce, I agree with you that the board employed is likely a solid core sandwich and not a solid board (not that that's a bad thing except for piano makers trying to dance their way around it).

As for Herr Thomma, I didn't warn the OP that Herr Thomma may not have been supervising every aspect of the production of the piano he is contemplating buying. After all, there's only so much one man can do, even Herr Thomma. Since Pearl built pianos before the Thomma 'intervention' and continues to build pianos which he does not personally carry down from Mount Sinai on his back, I think it may have reached the overkill stage of tossing props to Herr Thomma (even if it's true as I've heard from Norbert that the locals in Guangzhou didn't know how to manipulate their chopsticks properly until his arrival).

Now, what I really want to know is whether the Sauter Omega shares the dubious distinction with the Pearl River GP series of not having been designed by Herr Thomma. That would be a pity.