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Mta88, I have read your post, here:

Don't they sell keyboard covers with an elastic band to protect from dust ?


In an acoustic I would imagine to leave the piano closed would be better to have less dust collection.

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Very funny. I am still double proofreading the post for errors and you have already responded.

I don't know about the elastic cover for the P95. I guess I could ask at the place where I bought the slab.

As far as the 3 legged piano, it doesn't sound as good with the lid closed. I only ever play ppp, so softly, but it really dose make a difference in the piano. Digital guys spend huge money buying laptops with grand piano sounding software, speakers and amps and special headphones - so for me, I can't be so lazy as to not open the top for the best sound even if I am only playing wrong notes.

I stand corrected, you are correct.

Okay, here's a DC-suburbs update, as well as an update on my journey.

I just drove to The Piano Company in Leesburg, VA, which is an authorized dealer for Kawai (and Yamaha and Bechstein and several other makes).

They had a Kawai MP6 and an ES7 on the floor. They let me play to my heart's content, so I noodled and played wrong notes and such for about 20 minutes, bouncing back and forth between the two. The ES7's sound was coming from its own speakers; the speaker-less MP6 was going through an amp about five feet away.

I soon realized that it was unfair to compare the two sounds like that, so they gave me a pair of basic headphones, which made the comparisons much easier.

There was also an acoustic grand just next to these DPs, a Kawai RX2, which I bounced over to several times for comparison.

The ES7 won the contest hands down. It felt and sounded much more like the acoustic grand than did the MP6. If anybody has any further comparison info for these two, I would be grateful.

Now, here's why I will buy it from these guys, assuming I pull the trigger tomorrow: their price on both DPs was exactly the same as all the Internet prices I've seen (Kraft, Sweetwater, Musician's Friend, etc.--$1,999.99 for the ES7). So there's no reason on earth for me to buy this piano online. These folks are a short drive from my house, and they allowed me to compare to my heart's delight. They earned my sale today.

After they wrote up the sales order on the ES7 (and no, I haven't had a credit card swiped yet), they invited me to sit down at the $75,000 Shigeru (sp?) Kawai from which allegedly come the samples for the DP. Sweet it was indeed.

So I had lots of fun in the piano shop today.

So, ClsscLib, it's The Piano Company in Leesburg. Very helpful, and had both in stock.

Well...in the sense that perhaps the samples came from that model, the concert EX. I highly doubt that the actual piano got shipped over from Japan.

$75K actually sounds quite cheap for an EX to me. Makes me wonder if that's really what it was. The other Shigeru models get talked up quite a bit by dealers in my experience. Or maybe the economy or whatever has driven down the prices on these concert grands.

PS: Kawai James, the Kawai locator page you linked me to had a Piano Company store in Manassas, VA, but there doesn't actually seem to be one there.

(For the vast masses who are not in Northern Virginia, apologies for this very specific info.)

No, probably not.


No idea. I had never seen one of these before--having never in my life been in the market for one. She just sat me down at that keyboard as I was leaving, just to give me a bit more keyboard fun.

I made the same mistakes on the expensive long grand as I did on the $1,500 digital, though.

Thanks, Dave. I know that store from my initial acoustic piano search of 18 months ago. Back then they were also repping Fazioli -- do they still?

That was the first time I ever heard the 16-foot Fazioli concert grand. An imposing instrument, to be sure!

Good luck with the ES-7. Please report back on how it grows on you!

Yes; in fact, the first acoustic comparison-grand I used today was a Fazioli, probably a six-footer (didn't note the model), which was the closest one to the ES7. It wasn't in great tune, but sounded nice.

I always wish I were a better pianist when I go into a piano showroom. But I did have some fun today at that store. It helped that I was the only customer there at noon on a Friday, I'm sure.

Shepdave-"After they wrote up the sales order on the ES7 (and no, I haven't had a credit card swiped yet), they invited me to sit down at the $75,000 Shigeru (sp?) Kawai from which allegedly come the samples for the DP. Sweet it was indeed."

That is the most impressive sales technique I`ve ever heard . . . Hope you enjoy your new to be instrument! I`m sure you`ll do some recordings . .

Hi shepdave, Congratulations on your new ES7. It's truly a wonderful DP.

Congrats Dave!

And thank you for the info about the dealer locator - I'll forward this to the folks responsible at Kawai America.

Kind regards,
James
x

I'm confused I wasn't trying to be funny.

Thought your concern was about dust collection. I suggested a cover for the digital piano and just keep the piano closed when not in use.

Of course u should open it when playing.

:s

Congratulations on your ES-7 Dave.

Gosh I really can't wait for my p-105 to arrive..

So excited.

I'm sure your purchase will give you many years of pleasure.

Read up on the ES-7 and it really seems to be a decent instrument, albeit a bit pricey, but seems to be worth it. I wish our piano stores stocked kawai and roland.
Such a pity.


Cheers.

Michael_99 Disregard the 2nd to last post I thought u were offended for some reason..

U were referring the how fast I responded I think lol..

I got it! Picked up the ES7 yesterday. Unfortunately, the music store gave me the wrong X-stand (the light-duty one, and I paid for the heavier one). Moreover, I could not fit the piano, bench, stand, and gig bag into my wife's car with my wife still in it, so I'll go pick up the gig bag (and swap out the stand) tomorrow.

But I took the ES7 out last night and played it on a table, and it's über-cool! I am very excited.

Thanks to all of you for your great advice.

I'm just sure a funny comment about leaving the "bag" at the store could be made here LOL.

Congrats on your purchase, and I hope all is worked out with the store quickly s you can get on to enjoying it!

Yes, of course, it's about music more than furniture. I know that. But it's also about maintaining a successful 37-year marriage, which has been a part of my life much longer than my piano studies will ever have been.

So, no, I'm not going to dig in my heels and stand my ground on this. Not at all. I'm looking for a solution here that accepts the importance of this piece of furniture to my wife.

I am sure this thread has already gone somewhere else, but I just wanted to throw in there that I went through the same thing--I had a very old spinet in my living room which was taking up the space for where any new piano would go and a deep abiding nostalgic need to hold onto the spinet. Which was shared by my mother, so now you've got TWO people whose attachment to the piano was quite deeply engrained. For her part, she was only ok with that piano not being in HER house because she knew it was in her daughter's house.

So believe me when I say, I understand your wife's point of view because I share it. But I also am the person who wanted a piano to play, so I was quite conflicted on the inside. Like you, I considered a digital as a way to reconcile the problem.

My resolution? I decided to put the spinet in storage. It cannot be fixed in a way to make it a piano enjoyable to play, and even at its best was not a great instrument, so I was loathe to spend a ton of money rehabbing it anyway. What I had to do was understand that it is now a piece of furniture, which doesn't diminish its nostalgic importance, as one can be plenty attached to a piece of furniture. But understanding it that way certainly allowed me to also recognize that not every piece of furniture with nostalgic importance has a place in my decor RIGHT NOW. So into storage it was decided it would go. And then, at the last moment, my dear friend decided to start lessons and she agreed to store it FOR me, in her living room, and we are in agreement that it is my piano, but she's taking care of it for me. Perfect situation and one that was acceptable to me and my mother as she doesn't have kids or anything that would make me afraid that there is any danger to it as a piece of furniture.

So, this is the way I reconciled the situation, and it worked out well for me--and for my mother--in clearing it out in order to make room for a Piano That Is A Musical Instrument. In fact, I was able to replace it with a beautiful mahogany 5'10" grand piano. I can't tell you how happy I am to have it to play!

One day I might find room for it, or maybe not. I am still quite attached to my old piano, and I'm sure I will always be. But for the time being, that attachment isn't coming at the expense of having room for a musical instrument that can be played. And my friend sends me pictures of my piano, like it's at summer camp, haha.

Oy vey. I'm sorry. I see you already got a digital. Oh well. I hope my post does not come off as being critical of your ultimate choice. We all solve problems differently, of course. And I can see a perfectly reasonable thought process that ends up with a digital, so I am absolutely happy for you. I know what it's like to finally have something you like to play right there in your house instead of that spinet that ultimately I just stared at with anger because it was not what I wanted it to be, haha.

ETA: Also, I just rented a digital for the summer (Roland RD700NX) since I'm away, and I'm actually a little excited to see what a digital would have been like had I gone that direction! So PLEASE do not understand me to be implying that my way is the only way!

Enjoy!

Thanks for your long post, TwoSnowflakes. I actually just read it to my wife. No, I didn't take it as criticism of my choice at all--and I'm very excited about my choice. Very glad I didn't go cheap on the DP. I think the Kawai will do me for a good while.

We have two 20-something children who are both musicians. If one of them would get good and settled somewhere, we'd probably pass the Everett on to the next generation and get a good-quality upright. (My wife just went on a flight of fancy about building an extension to our house and making a room for a long grand. I pointed out that it'd be much easier and cheaper to get an upright!)

It sounds like your problem worked itself out well, I must say.

Oh you poor poor fool! Pay attention to your wife! You only live once! I lust for a nice long Kawai Grand! You have no idea what you're missing! Did you forget to take your medication? Yes, that's it. Go back to your wife. Beg her to get back on her flight of fancy. Tell her you forgot to take your medication. The dealer will easily take the money for the ES7 and apply it to a beautiful long loving Kawai Grand. Don't worry about the money. The world is coming to and end soon. The money won't do you any good. Enjoy the Kawai Grand in the meantime. Now repeat after me: Shigeru....Shigeru....Shigeru.... did you remember to take your medication?....Shigeru....Shigeru....Shigeru....