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Care to explain how a piano is made for tropical climate?

i'm not too sure myself (since i play only, regarding this mechanical things, i ask my technician).
but two independent parties (both my technician and the old guy at chiu piano) have told me that they have seen cracked soundboards on petrof pianos in singapore
so ... yeah, i guess better not buy a petrof

ok sorry guitarman i didn't read your previous post.
So you are not looking for something top of the line. Well, if that is the case, then i guess your best bet is to go to AsiaPiano. The reason i recommend them is that i have done two deals (one my student, one not) with them in the past and up till now the comment is still quite good, and more importantly, they have something like a "money-back guarantee". So, let's say in the first 2 years, your son somehow decides that he doesn't want to learn any more, you can sell the piano back to them at 70% of your purchase price. in this way, the risk becomes much smaller and you don't end up losing a large chunk of money..

How many petrofs with crack soundboard? Is it only petrof? I've played on a knight with crack board too. If the piano is not properly taken care because of the owner's negligence, you can’t say is manufacturer's fault or the product is inferior?

I am sorry but sometimes I think it is unfair to discredit a company because of owner’s negligence. Cracking soundboard happens (except laminated boards) if the climate is too dry or the fluctuation of humidity is too great from too dry to too wet and vice versa as a result the glues give way.

"It is the climate not the piano"

Yamaha, Kawai or Petrof are established brand and good quality pianos. There is nothing wrong with any of these pianos. The only different is that they use different materials, different scaling, different construction and so on. As a result they sound differently and feel differently from one another. Try all these pianos. Play as much as you can. Ignore the salesman. Finally pick the one that you like.

Oh crack soundboard is not as bad
as crack ribs...

Anyone attending piano recital at Art House on 28th Dec 7.30pm.
Pianist: Alexander
Piano: Tadah... Fazioli !!!

I'm going yeah..yeah yeah (So young, Corrs)

Hi eFatz, and welcome to PW, and our own little thread!

If some parts are not made in Japan does not mean poorer quality or lower durability. The American Tier One manufacturer Mason & Hamlin recently switched the source of their action parts from Renner to a Chinese company. And of course they were slammed for it. But I doubt that M&H would do such a thing if they felt that it compromised the quality of their pianos.

In the car industry BMW and Mercedes Benz source their parts from around the world. It doesn't mean that their cars are somehow less reliable or of poorer quality than if all the parts were made in Germany. For example, BMW and MB buy some of their wiring harnesses from a factory in China. That factory's quality is higher than any other source of wiring harnesses that those two car makers buy from. I know, because my brother owns that factory.

Jay is right. Listen to what you hear from the various dealers with polite skepticism. The ultimate arbiters are your fingers and ears, and some research. If you like the piano and the price is right then put it on your shortlist.

As for the issues with Petrof, they could very well be due to owner negligence. Or it could be the use of construction methods that don't stand up well in a tropical climate. Or both. We just don't know.

The best thing is to treat your piano right from the start and you will be rewarded with years, sometimes a lifetime, of pleasure. Make sure that the relative humidity around the piano is within safe limits, and have the piano tuned and serviced regularly.

Thanks for all your advice. They are invaluable and will be taken into consideration in my decision making process.

I tend to agree with digitus that the quality of parts sourced from China or other 3rd world countries are not necessarily inferior in quality to those from the traditionally superior Germany or Japan. But the reputation of these countries have yet to match the more illustrious counterpart.

Having said that, i did sample some made in china pianos without being told they were made in china (cant remember the brand)... and i did think the sound was fabulous until someone told me its from China, and suddenly, its no longer viewed the same way. I know i am guilty of pre-judging a product base on its country of manufacture... but i am only human. i hope that someday, pianos made in china will be viewed (and sound) the same way as those made in japan, if not better... at a fraction of the price.

Coming back to the piano search, i have decided on the K5 ... as its sound-price-value suits me. Afterall, i am buying for my 4 year old to start learning. i think to many, the K5 is already a very good piece of piano to start off with. When he is ready someday, i'll not hesitate to replace it with get a better one.

Thanks all for your sharing your views and knowledge.

Guitarman: Congratulations on your choice of a fine instrument!

You don't have to apologise for your reaction to made-in-China pianos. When Japan was struggling to re-invent itself after World War II goods made in Japan also got the same kind of reaction.

Actually the availability of cheap Japanese, Korean, and now also Chinese pianos is causing a lot of anxiety in the piano world. There is major rationalisation going on, and many old and established makes are either being bought out or else going out of business altogether.

Yo to Jay and Digitus!
well, i have learned at a very early age not to trust SALES personnel. (sorry if i offended any sales people here)
The person who told me about these is actually my piano technician. Yes, he works for one of the major piano dealers in singapore (i won't name which one), but i do believe he is fair, as he gives me very impartial comments about the pianos that his company deals with.
The thing about Japanese pianos with foreign parts is this: the PERFORMANCE will not be affected, but the DURABILITY is. this means, within the first 5 years you should not see any problems, but after 5 years the problems will start to surface. The older Yamahas and Kawais made before 1993 are extremely hardy and durable, they should not give you any mechanical problems within the first 20 years of purchase, but my technician has told me that the recent pianos that he has serviced, a lot of the new yamahas and kawais are starting to have snapped strings in the first 5 years.
As for Petrof, i do think they have a very sweet tone indeed, but the mechanical aspect is not good, as in, i don't like the touch and as i have said, more than 1 experienced techncian has told me about cracked soundboard in singapore.

See this thread for some perspective: Give me a reason to buy new , particularly the comments by John Pels.

I am not from Singapore, but I have enjoyed this thread so much, I have read every page of it! The views expressed in this thread are very down to earth, whereas in other threads your head gets sucked up into lofty heights...so now you can have your head in the clouds but both of your feet firmly on the ground!

doremi, where are you from? You got me confused with your adult beginner "series" of threads. :p

Yes, this is a really informative thread and I've enjoyed reading every page of it too. As a adult beginner, buying a piano is a really daunting task. Not knowing how to play and what to look for in a piano, the risk of putting huge sum of money into a lemon (or something that is just not what I wanted) is just too high.

After reading this thread and a number of other threads in PW, I decided to go on the safe side and buy a used 131cm Kawai that comes with 5 yrs warranty. With a piano, I can now concentrate on my lessons and hopefully, one day I would be able to play well enough to choose the grand piano that I really like.

Oh, once in a blue moon I visit the general area, and I want to come prepared for a next time. A tall 131cm upright for you now, and a 9 feet grand for you soon! And season's greetings to all!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at PW.

Just realized that my church's piano is a Grotrian grand.

Hi Everyone, Merry Christmas!
I am new to this forum and I have a quick question. I just bought a used Yamaha U3 for my daughter. I noticed that the serial number stamped on the gold coloured plate is different from a serial number that is on the soundboard.
Is there any cause for concern? The serial number on the gold plate is 3 million + but the number on the sound board is 1 million +.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

You have a wealthy church! Whoever recommended the Grotrian has impeccable taste! I hope that your church is looking after it well.

Hoho...a 9 footer would be quite unlikely for me lah.

Hi I'm new here... thought of buying a new piano but am not very sure what are the things to look for when choosing a new piano. Any advice anyone ?

snoopycar, the resident expert, will hopefully be back soon to answer the questions. You can also read through the previous pages of this thread, they contain a lot of information.

I like Singlish with lah, lor, paiseh, etc although I don't know exactly what the words mean and can only guess at the meanings. Is it a mix of English, Malay, and Chinese? It amuses me to no end.

Larry Fine's "Piano Book" would be a good place to start. The ranking system gives you a rough guide to what your options are. But keep in mind that the prices he gives are for the U.S. You can get the Piano Book and its annual supplements from Kinokuniya.