Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum How Long Did it take you to buy your first REAL piano?

It's been going on for years for me.

I feel a bit guilty spending hours playing these pianos without buying anything yet!

But it's quite difficult to know what you want first of all, and secondly, there are often many pianos that I could imagine being happy with. And then there is the wide variety of prices to juggle as well as the deep-seated fear of getting burned in the deal.

Complicating the buying process, is that the tonal experience is completely affected by the room the piano is played in, which is different for every piano.

First piano was a keyboard. I played on it for 5 years. ( It was one of those $150 ones from guitar center.)

Then I got tired of it, and since I had been practicing so little (10 minutes a day) My parents were refusing to spend money on another piano. So, I went to cragislist and put up an ad, asking for a free one. I got a very nice used upright for free from this nice old woman who lived fairly close. To this day I still have her over once a year to play the pieces I have learned during that year for her.

Fast forward to about 8 months ago. We were up in San Francisco for the Luis Vuitton cup, and I convinced my parents to stop by the Steinway Store up there. We met vince who was a great guy, and he con"Vince"d my parents that I was at the point of needing a grand piano. I dont know how he did it, but if it weren't for him I wouldn't have a grand piano. We started our search we went to every store in the bay area. I tried every brand. I ended up falling in love with a used Boston 193.

The dealer who we bought the piano from was kind enough to take our old upright and move it to a friend who was living quite far away for free. His kids are now learning on it.

I love my 193

Thanks for your story, Nathan.

Do you mean the Boston GP-193?

What a coincidence! I've got my eye on a used one too!

What year is yours? And how much did you pay, out-the-door?

I felt so depressed when I first realized that. I thought, "oh no, now I don't know what any piano sounds like."

Some piano stores sell books or accessories. Maybe buy a John Thompson lesson book, some ukelele strings, or some piano polish to make the guy feel better.

My wife brought an old piano with her when we married. 5½ yrs later, I bought my first NEW piano - Yamaha UX - after trying just about everything on the market locally, probably 6 months or so in deciding.

That was well used by me, my children etc (all 3 learned piano, and I accompanied them in auditions for University of other instruments) so it was rather worn by then.

31 years later, I bought my first grand piano (6' Schimmel). I was forced (ill-health) to retire 2 years later - with a change of financial outlook (some cash!!!) - so I looked at upgrading to my "dream" piano - and 6 months later, took the plunge.

It will probably be my last piano - unless I have to downsize to move into a retirement home, but that's hopefully 2 or 3 decades away.

Don't feel guilty about playing many pianos - particularly the more $$ you're spending. Most dealers know you're serious if you return a few times, and, if they're any good, will work with you helping you make a decision (they hope with their product). I've had dealers move pianos or place area carpets underneath to try to more emulate a home environment.

I was fortunate enough to be in contact with a very kind and helpful professional pianist. She had a look round and found a piano she recommended. Once I had heard it I knew it would be perfect. So I actually bought unseen.

The Kawai I have in China was even easier. I shall be keeping it for a maximum of 2 years. One of my teachers knew exactly what I needed and, again, found a wonderful specimen for me. I have been incredibly fortunate.

The second Bechstein might be pushing my luck a bit too far. Anyway I should know either Sunday or Monday.

This is a bit like saying, "I haven't test driven this car on the highways that I normally drive, so how can I tell how it will drive there?" Ok, maybe it isn't exactly like that, but it is a bit.

What you are referring to is the "ambient resonance" of a particular room. The best way to be rid of that effect is to put the music rack down and listen to the sound coming at your face before it is effected by the room. The further you get from the piano, the more the room and it's particular acoustics will effect the perceived tone.

Another way to minimize this effect is to have someone play the piano while you stand at the open lid. Again, you are "hearing" the piano before it gets into the room.

I think most of that issue is about confidence. If you haven't yet gained enough experience to judge what you prefer and what you don't prefer, then things like room placement can really throw you.

My 2 cents,

Yes, one rebuilder actually suggested that I try the piano
in my home, if I was serious, to make sure it sounded good
there first. Moving pianos is no big deal for these people.

But the difference can be huge going from a cathedral ceiling
with tile showroom, to a low-ceiling living room with carpet.

I may hire a local dealer to move beater pianos to my house (I
need test pianos to practice technician work), which would make
me feel better about using their pianos for days on end!

Rich,

I like your suggestion, but I wonder if applies equally to an upright piano. For some time I owned an old Baldwin Acrosonic. I kept it against the wall in a 500 square foot room with a 14 foot ceiling. I thought it had a wonderful sound (guessing it was in exactly the right place in the room). Later, when I moved it up against a large window, it had what I can only describe as a bright metallic sound, as if the lower harmonics had dropped out - it hurt my ears.

- R

To answer the question, the Acrosonic was my first piano. It took me 30 second to select. It was a good friends childhood piano and he gifted it to me.

I played keyboards, then digitals for 22 years until I bought my Steinway in December. I can only imagine it was what it feels like going from a go-kart to a Maserati.

For this most recent go-around, I could safely say that it took me six months to find my piano. (My wife is grateful for me finally reaching a conclusion to this journey, I’m sure…) I guess I have “matured” in my thinking over time . The decision process for other pianos in the past took a shorter amount of time… (Years ago, I quickly decided to switch from a digital piano to an old Schubert upright, in a manner of a couple of days. I prefer acoustic over digital any day of the week—that’s probably what motivated me then to move quickly at that point.)