In the early days of my piano quest, I played the various Dongbeis: Nordiska, Story & Clark, etc., and found them to be below my threshold of acceptability. Today I was looking for a Pramberger and called a distant dealer. He was out of the Prambergers but began extolling the virtues of yet another Chinese piano. He made some pretty strong claims about it, not the least of which that it was every bit as good as an RX or C series (Kawai & Yamaha respectively). Pretty bold claim.

Before I drive a couple hours to go see/hear this piano, does anyone have any opinion on George Steck pianos? These are reportedly made in the new Sejung factory in China. The dealer's asking price is $8,500 for the 5'-8" in polished ebony. If these pianos are even remotely as good as he claims, it would be a great deal.

Thanks.

While I don't mind driving a couple of hours to look at pianos, the claim is too good to be true.

A lot of the guys on the board do like the Sejungs, and think they have made remarkable progess in a short time.

But I wouldn't compare them to a RX or C piano.

I definitely wouldn't compare them to an RX or C piano.

But, if I'm spending under 10K for a piano and if I'm a player I would definitely see as many as I can in that price range. They are all going to be similar in quality IMHO.

If you do drive there, DO take a look at the quality of the soundboard if it's solid spruce. Down here the "inferior" solid spruce soundbaords have problems.

I wouldn't even consider the Sejung product to be on par with the Dong Bhei product, much less Kawai.

Kraniak,

If that's all you are going to play, don't bother. They're on a par with the others you played,if that.

Just remember that the piano you will be looking at will be a Sejung piano, not a George Steck. Mr Steck bears no responsibility for either the design or the build quality.

Del

kraniak:

Don't waste your time!
or money in the worse case.

George Steck and all Senjung pianos are JUNK.

Call a few piano technicians and you'll hear the true.These pianos are incredible rubbish!

Being the Western States Representative for Sejung products I felt it necessary to respond to some of the comments in this thread.
I recently visited the factory in China and took a lot of pictures which I put into a powerpoint presentation for my existing dealers and one for their customers. I will let the powerpoint speak for itself as far as the build quality.
For you that know my past retailing experience with some of the finest pianos in the world can vouch for my integrity that it is not a spin but an accurate representation of what is being produced there. I will be happy to send the powerpoint through email if any of you want to PM me with your email address. If Piano World can provide me the way to do it, I will certainly post it on the site here.

I would hardly call Solid Spruce soundboards from Siberia, Wet sand cast plates and Birch/Maple rims rubbish.

I have learned that posting on the forum can invite a whole lot of positive and negative commentary which is why most reps dont offer their comments.

I hope the powerpoint can be a constructive bit of information that will help future piano customers make an informed decision if they choose to want to see it.

Gary Egger
Regional Sales Manager for the Western States
America Sejung Corp

Welcome Gary.

Don't pay any attention to iyi. He's a troll here who apparently if off his meds again.

Gary,

Thanks for your post. I do not support the labeling of your product, or any piano I played in my hunt, as junk or rubbish.

I would like to view the presentation, if you will be so kind as to email it to me at the address in my profile.

Thanks ,

kraniak:

You could be in for a surprise - as long as you compare the Sejung 5'6 to the 5' RX1 or C1's not[/b] the larger models!

And P.S.: $ 8,500 doesn't buy you either!

Tell us about your experience later!

norbert

Where are RX1's and C1's made?

Very interesting discussion, indeed.
The only thing really matter to me is track record.
Those chinese pianos are new comer in the U.S . No one really knows how they perform or stay strong after 20 yr or so since grand pianos are considered for very long term service and use, not for come and go use like electronics.
I am sure ALL grand piano manufacturers do their best to make their products as good as possible.
Given that, spending $8500 on it does need a lot of considerations.

I guess I'll have to make the drive and try the Sejung myself. Stay tuned...

Oh, no.... IYI's back.....

GO AWAY!!!!!

Here's what you are hoping for...

Believe it, or not, at one time, Yamaha was not considered a good piano, just another piece of Made in Japan junk (that's overstating it, I know, but bear with me).

But guys who plunked down their money, and took a chance, got more value for their dollar, than almost anything else in the market. I think that is where we are with the Chinese.

Undoubtedly, some brands are better than others. Some are going to hold up much better than anticipated. Some will not. Some are eventually going to climb the quality (and price) ladder, and a rising tide will lift all boats, making the earlier pianos hold more value simply because of the name on the fallboard.

The hard part for the consumer, is to try to make the right choices.

Just like those Yamaha buyers, over 40 years ago....

Mr.Egger:

I realize some in a position similar to yours would be reluctant to post here, but I for one appreciate your comments.
Your post was well taken, and i hope we hear from you again, but rest assured few neede to hear from you to realize that your instruments are not junk.

The crudely written remarks in an earlier post don't lend credence to the assertions within them- from posts such as the previous to occasional posts concerning the poster's philosophy of music education and his resulting advice to others, little evidence has come forth regarding the intellect, musicianship, or technical knowledge of the author.

AFAIK, all C series Yammies and RX series Kawais are made in Japan.

Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is hitting the nail precisely on the head with regard to summing up my entire shopping experience. The only thing that could be added to the "Chinese Piano" equation concerns the chronology of it all. What I mean is that at one time, Japanese pianos were junk and went through a period where they transitioned into good pianos. With the Japanese, if you bought too soon, you got a good price but inadequate quality. Too late and the quality was there but the price had come up.

The Chinese are clearly in the midst of such a transition as we speak. The question to me is one of chronology, determining where the Chinese are in this transition, i.e., not buying too soon or too late, but being in that chronological sweet spot where the prices are still great and the quality has arrived. I suspect that while we're not quite there today, it could be as soon as this NAMM show.

Thanks for the insight, Jolly.

Did you go play it?

Kraniak, good post, but it goes even one step further.

Basic fact is that we're simply not getting the gist here in America what's happening over there right now!

My grandfather called it " die gelbe Gefahr" decades ago.

And when the *wake up* call will come one day it's gonna be late!

Much[/b] too late.

Meantime, keep on all shopping for your *best deals* out there, folks........

norbert

Mr. Gary Egger,

I belief you can upload your PowerPoint presentation using this "file uploader" service: http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/fileuploader2.html

After that, simply post the web address (URL) of the uploaded file and we should be able to access it using that web address (URL).

Thanks Axtremus

I did try to upload the powerpoint show but the uploader rejected it because it has extensions.

If the Forum will allow a powerpoint to be uploaded in the future I will certainly try again.

Gary

Gary was kind enough to email me the PowerPoint file and he is correct, PW will not allow the upload of this file type. It will, however, allow uploads of Acrobat files, so, I converted it.

Here it is:
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/tour.pdf

Use your ENTER key to advance frames.

I hope to see/play one of these tomorrow...

Thanks to Gary Egger for providing the slides. Thanks to kraniak for doing the conversion and uploading. I enjoy seeing the pictures of the Sejung factory.

What a wonderful and educational presentation. Thank you Mr. Eggers and big thanx to kraniak as well.

Wouldn't it be great to have more of these from different manufacturers? Anyone have any photos from other tours? Perhaps we can start a new thread for tours.

There's some M&H stuff floating around somewhere...

OK, so getting back to the original subject of George Steck pianos. Remember, it was the owner of the piano store, an hour's drive away, that insisted that these pianos were far better than DongBeis and Pearl Rivers - the best Chinese pianos he'd played. In fact, he emphatically stated that these were in the same class as Kawai RX series and Yamaha C series pianos, a tall claim that garnered much scepticism on this thread. Nevertheless, if this was even remotely possible, it was worth the mileage.

Well, I made the trek this afternoon but I thought it best to stop at another showroom around the corned from the Steck place and play a few Kawai's as a benchmark. This experience furthered my notion that a Kawai of some sort will eventually be my choice.

I then escaped the clutches of the hard-sell sales guy at the Kawai place and went around the corner for the moment of truth at the Steck place. I played the 5'-4" and found it to be precisely in the league of the previously mentioned Chinese pianos, but hey, are we surprised?? :p

I then moved over to a YC PG185 (Pramberger signature series) and was very surprised at this piano. It's tone seemed very unbalanced, having an extreme brightness, even harsh, in the upper mid-range. Most disappointing about this Pramberger was the action. I tend to play with much dynamic range, much of the time in the very soft side of that range. The YC was very inept, compared to the Kawai, not able to deliver the control I needed, ultimately dropping those notes that I wanted to whisper. I suppose that wouldn't matter much if I were a "banger".

So there you have it. Don't get all excited like I did, thinking you can buy a Chinese RX1 for $6500 :rolleyes: The dealer made it up to me though. He invited me to play a really big M&H that sat in a large, dedicated room. Playing this thing absolutely ruined it for everything else I have been evaluating. Monster bass, luscious tone, a wonderful sustain and a real pleasure to play. It made me consider playing the lottery