Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Best Upright Piano under 8,000 new and why?

I have been playing for a little over 10 years and I mostly play Chopin and romantic style pieces. I own a 1999 Charles R Walter 1500 that my aunt sold me a few months ago which I like and was barely touched since she never learned and owned it since new but I would like to see what are other good Pianos for under 8K. I have been considering a Kawai K300 for 6K new. Yamaa U1 was a little over my max budget since I was quoted 9,500. How much does a new Charles R Walter cost?

Gustavo -

All shall be revealed....

See this page - and the next page - from Larry Fine's "Acoustic and Digital Piano Buyer" annual supplement that is accessible - for free - on the PW website.

http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall14/250.html

Here's a link to the book itself......

http://www.pianobuyer.com/index.html

Lot's of great info. As you can see, a "new" Charles Walter vertical would probably cost you a tad more than your budget allows. However, be sure to read the following info on piano prices......

http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall14/203.html

Your Charles Walter is as good or better than any other new instruments in your budget. Again, after 15 years, your best investment would be to have it freshly serviced by a good tech and voiced more to your preferences.

If you prefer another upright in your price range for reasons of style or tone, it would be a lateral move, but may be worthwhile. I would still pursue maximizing the potential of your Charles Walter first.

Beyond Yamaha & Kawai, other highly regarded instruments within reach would be Hailun HU-1P & HU-5P, Seiler ED126/ED132 , Ritmüller UH-121/132, Knabe WKV 121/131, Perzina 129/130, Albert Weber 121/131, Keyserburg 121 and probably a few I'm leaving out.

You now have a list...happy hunting!

And Gustavo, don't forget that info on all these instruments can be found in the Piano Buyer.

You might find this chart to be of interest......

http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall14/42.html

http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall14/43.html

I agree - the Charles Walter is a wonderful instrument. I'd second the motion to have a technician do a full regulation and tuning, to really optimize it. Much more cost effective and you'll still have an awesome instrument.

That being said, nothing is stopping you from wandering into your local piano store and trying things out. You might find a piano that you like more. But at this stage of the game, it's all preferences. It might even be worth it to you to trade in your current instrument for the one you prefer. If you find a piano that you vastly prefer over your Walters, that's for you to discover. But yes, most folks who are familiar with different brands will say that you have a very good instrument right now.

You're ON the best instrument in that range. Look no further!

Gustavo:
I'd like to add my support to the remarks of Sam and the other members re: your Chas. Walter. If it were mine, I'd treat it to a deluxe, no-holds-barred regulation/finishing by the best tech I could find.
Karl Watson,
Staten Island, NY

Of course as a Steinway dealer I would suggest you also look into the Essex upright pianos. They are built very well. Tapered soundboards, vertically laminated bridges, pear-shaped hammers with underfelt..etc many things all piano manufacturers put in more expensive pianos. Our clients have been very pleased. Particularly the model EUP123S.

I second the Charles Walter support. Unless you have money to burn, a good regulation and voicing on the Walter will surprise you.

I agree with the majority of what's already been posted. The acoustic piano database tool on the Pianobuyer site is fun to play with when you're browsing. You can enter a certain % discount and sort via many options including brand, size, finish, price.

The Baldwin B252 gets a rave review by Dr. Lent in Pianobuyer.com and is definitely one worth looking at.

+1

Norbert

+1

Very hard piano to compete against..

Norbert

Where specifically? Can't find it.

Thank you !!!