Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Any recommended digital piano stores in London ??

I'll be moving from Brussels to London in June and would like to lease a good digital piano. I'm interested in Kawai DPs, but open to other brands.
Any recommendations from Londoneers for an honest dealer in town?
I would have to lease the instrument and pay it in installments: who gives the best monthly plans in London (or UK...) at the moment??

Thanx in advance

Hi Emiliano,

Although this is my first post I am a long time lurker here on the forum. I own two acoustic piano's and am looking myself for a good digital. In London you are spoilt for choice really. There are two outstanding digital piano outlets, both excellent and within half a mile of each other. I was there yesterday. Its Rose Morris in Denmark Street just off Charing Cross Road. They supply a good selection of Kawai and Roland piano's, I was trying out the Roland LX15, and the Kawai 95 and 65. I have still to sample the Kawai CS10 which looked like a beautiful upright. The other is a shop I will be visiting next week. Its the Yamaha Music Centre in Wardour Street off Oxford Street stocking what looks like a wide range of acoustic and digital piano's including some silent piano's if you have the dosh. Yamaha is obviously the main brand. Anyway, lots of choice. Hope this helps,

Regards,

Paul H

Hello Paul

thank you for the advice Paul: I stumbled across Rose Morris's website yesterday and noticed they have quite a selection in terms of models and brands.....do you have any experience with them?
I also found www.ukpianos.co.uk and they have slightly lower prices and free delivery in the UK. Unfortunately, they ask for 50% upfront, and that's out of my league now.
By the way, I have the Kawai CS7 here in Brussels...check it out, it's an awesome instrument....too bad I have to return when I move to London...

Thank You
Emi

Rose Morris is the only Roland / Kawai dealer in central London. They have a very good showroom. However they are expensive. Casio dealer is next door. Yamaha Centre nearby. I wouldn't call this being spoiled for choice (exactly 1 dealer for each brand), but you can see the whole range.

I wouldn't deal with UK Pianos or their offshoot* Umbrella Music given their dodgy history.

There are various good stores slightly out of London like Dawson's in Reading and Anderton's in Guildford, which offer good showrooms, service and prices.

* edit: not necessarily an offshoot per se, but seem to have close links; see below

I think you ought to remove the comment about Umbrella music which has no connection with UK pianos. I have used them 2 times so far for big purchases and in both cases have been good to deal with. I know other members have used Umbrella as well. I found them very competitive on price and offer a 5 year warranty. Unless you have personal experience of Umbrella music?

You are welcome Emiliano. I do second lolatu's caution regarding 'dodgy Graham' and Uk Piano's. My partner bought a 'Classenti 2' some years ago and what a load of garbage that device is. The prices in Rose Morris were much the same as other retailers I've come across. I think I was just delighted to be able to play the higher end models. When I get the chance Emiliano, I'll give the CS7 a whirl as it does sound such a good all round piano. I really need a digital for headphones to give other family members a break and this model sounds like it will fit the bill. Trouble is once I start, I'll probably end up getting the best I can afford.

Regards,

Paul H

Hey Paul, if you already have an acoustic piano and you are planning to use the digital for headphone playing, I would go for the CA65. Not as good looking as the CS7, but the sound through the headphones is pretty much the same, but much cheaper. If you unplug them and use their built in speakers, I noticed some difference. Maybe the ebony wood in the CS7 resonates differently from the particle board of the CA65 and 95....I tried them both at the store, that's why I picked the CS7, because in the room had more acoustic sound.....let me know if you have the chance to put your hands on one, would love to get your impression....
:-)

Musicman100, thanx for clarifying....if it wasn't for the 50% upfront I would have given them a shot :-)

That's quite a categoric assertion. Why are you so confident?

Here's why I think they're related:

- Both operate out of Enfield, north London
- The poster of this video says (regarding his new CA65) "I ordered it from UK Pianos (they had a January sale) but the order was actually fulfilled by Umbrella Music."
- The Classenti (dodgy Graham's brand) dealer locator lists only UK Pianos, Umbrella Music, and soundsmusical.com (Graham's site mentioned in the Mirror article) as dealers
- I have evidence suggesting that ex-display models from UK Pianos subsequently appeared in the Umbrella showroom


That's nice. I just wouldn't trust them myself. Have you experience of using their warranty service, out of interest? I can't see any terms and conditions listed on their site.

So your evidence they both operate out of enfield..... so I assume this shop in Enfiled must be connected to Ukpiano

http://www.northlondonmusiccentre.co.uk/

because its in Enfiled.

The reason why Umbrella delivered the piano is because since the end of last year UK piano do not sell kawai instruments any more. I know because I asked them for a quote. They just pass on the orders to Thomann,umbrella,etc

The warranty terms are on their site -

5. Who do I contact for warranty repairs?
Please login to your account and open a CASE or contact us via the CONTACT US page on the website. Alternatively you can call us on 0845 500 23 23
6. Who do I contact for out of warranty repairs?
Please login to your account and open a CASE or contact us via the CONTACT US page on the website. Alternatively you can call us on 0845 500 23 23
7. Who do I contact if my shipment hasn’t arrived?
Please login to your account and open a CASE. Alternativley you can contact us on 0845 500 23 23
8. Who do I contact if I want to make a complaint?
Obviously we hope that there is little or no need to complain, but in any event where you feel the need to complain, no matter how big or small, we want to hear from you. We are a progressive company and are always looking at ways to improve areas of our business and our relationships with customers, and that means not only listening to complaints, but also responding to them in a timely manner. To make an official complaint weadvise you in the first instance to do this in writing and either post to the address provided or by emailing us at sales@umbrellamusic.co.uk. Try to give as much information you can regards the issue you have. We will respond within 2 days to any complaint submitted, although in a lot of cases you can expect a response within a few hours of us receiving your email or letter. If you feel that your complaint needs to be escalated because you have either had no response in the time periods stated above, or that the response was inadequate, then we appreciate that you might want to speak to someone directly. Please do so by calling the main number 0845 500 2323 and ask to speak to a manager.
9. Who do I contact about repairing a product that is within the warranty period?
You will need to contact Umbrella Music, but please visit the Returns procedure page for full details on how to do this.
10. How do I find out how long the warranty period is on my product?
Please visit the manufacturers page and click on the relevant link to see details of warranty for each product
11. If my product is out of warranty can Umbrella Music arrange for repair?
For out of warranty repairs Umbrella Music uses a team of instrument repairers who specialise in repairing particular types of instruments i.e. woodwind, orchestral stringed, guitars and brass etc. We have carefully selected these repairers for their expertise, attention to detail and speediness. We can arrange for collection and return of the instruments and can usually depending on the complexity of the repair get your instrument back to you within 5 days.


What evidence have you that ex-display models appear on Umbrella web site?

musicman100... If you still want to buy from them, I don't care. However, I'll play along:

- Being in Enfield is indeed valid evidence of their being linked. As an analogy, if I want to deduce whether a particular person is my twin brother, and it turns out he was born in the same hospital on the same day, that does make it more likely. It does not imply that everyone else born in the same hospital on the same day is also my twin brother. Besides, we're talking specifically about digital piano specialists, which we've already established are rare in London (not just any old shop, or even music shop), so doesn't it strike you as odd that there are two of them selling the same gear within spitting distance of each other in an obscure part of Middlesex?

- Re: the Youtube video, it was posted February 2013, so that doesn't gel with your assertion that "since the end of last year UK piano do not sell kawai instruments any more". If what you say is true, Umbrella have been fulfilling orders for UK Pianos while they're still apparently selling Kawais. It also doesn't make any sense for a retailer to "pass on" orders to unrelated businesses. No company does that, and why would a customer want to do that?

- What you've posted here re: the warranty are not terms and conditions; it is a FAQ. Warranty terms are a legal contract that you agree to when you buy it, and contain information such as the service level, exactly what's included, transferablility, exclusions etc. It's important that such information is available before you buy, otherwise how do you know what you're getting for your money? Did you get such T&Cs documented with your order? I ask about the warranty because you touted it as something that's worth a lot, but you don't seem to know how they actually perform if you call upon it. My impression is that they have a repair-man-in-a-van who operates out of Enfield, so I'd be interested to hear the experiences of someone in the North-East, where you live.

- I didn't say Umbrella website; I said their showroom (term used loosely). I know because I've seen them. Interestingly the people at Umbrella told me they ran a music school in Enfield Walthamstow -- which, UK Pianos also do in Enfield.

On the other hand, I looked up the directors on companycheck.co.uk, and they seem to be different people. So maybe they just have a close business relationship. Doesn't really explain why Umbrella would want to sell Classenti or in any way be associated with UK Pianos, which I think is the most telling evidence of a link. Maybe someone could simply ask them what the relationship is, or if someone from the two companies reads this, they could explain.

I was looking around not so long ago and as UK Pianos are not very far away I signed up to their email list and planned a visit. Lost track of the number of emails they sent me in only a couple of days so unregistered and it put me off going anywhere near their shop. If they were that pushy by email then I didn't fancy dealing with them in person!

Instead I went to Musicroom at Hatfield Galleria (a little bit north of London up the A1). Good service, decent selection in store, price matched UK Pianos and free delivery as well.

www.musicroom.com

Musicroom are the Casio specialist next to Rose Morris. From the photos on their site, their stores seem to display mainly Casio and a few Yamahas, which is good if you're interested in Casio. The prices on their website for Roland etc. are extortionate compared to everyone else, so it's a good job they price match! Thanks for sharing your experience.

I was looking at DPs towards the lower end of the market so didn't look at the Roland (etc) prices but they were reasonably competitive on the Casio and Yamaha machines before the price match.

This thread made me curious about UK Pianos so I did a bit of Googling on the company and the owners. Very 'interesting' people and I'm pleased I stuck by my instinct to avoid them!