Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Looking for thoughts on Bluthner (A)?

today,new pianos are pretty much all the same.they will cast there frames(plates)using the same recipe for cast iron,in the same clinical envioroments to ensure every casting is identicall as the last one.the action and keys will be made by renner for the best european pianos ,bluthner,steinway(hamburg),bechstein etc.and no doubt there are factories in america,far east that make the action and keys and cast frames for a whole host of "different" piano firms !.if you want to have a true choice of instruments,that are as different to each other as chalk and cheese then compare pianos from the golden age..1890 1910.bluthners must be the most solidly constructed pianos,period!.they are a joy to work on and the quality of craftsmanship and materials is second to none,any pianist that has played a good example of a bluthner ,steinway,ibach,bosendorfer,lipp, erard,kaps etc from this period knows they have such a choice that just does not exist with the new pianos of today.

l must apologise if l have caused any confusion.as you have probably realised l am talking about instruments from many years ago. sadly the glory days of piano manufacture have been and gone and if anyone tells you otherwise they are either salesmen trying to "talk the talk" or are techs who havent"done the time".l am in a fortunate position in that l have worked on most type of piano from the earliest square grands to brand new steinway concert grands,and everything in between!.you can see how the piano has evolved over the years.at one period the only question asked by a quality manufacturer was "how can l make my pianos better than all my rivals pianos?"..thats not whats asked today.you can see a decline in quality from the first world war up to the worst time ever,1960,1980..and as for pianos today?..no thanks!..l want something with heart and soul,made by the finest craftsmen,useing the best materials...

LF's adjusted list price for the A in polished ebony is $32k. Boy, you really gotta want to own an upright to pay those kind of bucks for one when there are several stellar grands on the market for less. If you have truly ruled out any and all grands the A is a superb instrument.
I am amazed that no one has recommend you compare the performance of a new S&S K52 model. Call Sty Hall and ask if they have a completely prepared K52 in stock and go play it.