HELP! Dazed and Confused! - 04/22/06 04:48 PM
I want a grand piano. I'm not sure what kind of piano I want, but I want one. I began my search by talking to dealers around the country to look for a nicer used piano. At the time, I was considering Yamaha C2 or a Kawai RX series instrument. In the process of calling, I found a used Estonia grand in another state. I had not heard about them and was referred to this forum to do some research.
Estonia feedback seemed very positive and set out to do more investigating. Before I could do much, the piano sold. Boo-hoo!
I first visited the local Steinway dealer who carried many brands. There I found Petrof, Boston and mostly Chinese pianos. I plainly stated I wanted to avoid Chinese instruments. It's a personal choice.
The Petrof was descibed to me as a "poor man's Steinway". This was a little disturbing to me as I didn't feel as I looked like a poor person and had not asked about Steinway. When I mentioned I had researched Estonia, I was told they had carried Estonia and Petrof side by side for years and that Estonias simply wouldn't sell while sitting next to a Petrof. I told him I wanted to play one and he said he thought the local Estonia dealer had moved out of his old store in the middle of the night and was most likely out of business.
The salesman then told me I should look as Boston and began bombarding me with the Steinway spin on selling a Boston piano. During the conversation, he told me that within the country of Estonia, Boston was the number one selling piano. He claimed Estonians don't even buy their own pianos. I felt a snow job and I left. I don't think he could have told me the truth if he had too. (Certainly an opinion.)
I then went to the local Estonia dealer to see if there was a chance he had a used Estonia. He told me they were fairly rare but would contact me if he got one on trade. I told him of my interest in a C2 or RX2. He showed me a Kemble grand piano model 173. He told me Kemble was a division of Yamaha, and the 173 was the same piano as a Yamaha C2 except for the name and the color of the metal inside. He pulled out the key bed of the piano and indeed it was marked Yamaha. The piano sounded and played really nice, however, again I wondered if this made any sense. Why would Yamaha do such a thing?
He had a really nice selection of Estonia pianos but the new ones were out of my price range. I told him what the other dealer had said about selling Estonias and Petrofs side by side and he claimed the other dealer had never sold Estonia at all and that indeed HE was the first dealer in their market to ever sell them.
He also said I was over-stressing the buying issue and that what I should really focus on was finding a piano that I loved and buy it. He said the best way to buy a piano was by playing as many pianos as I possibly could.
I aksed him about whether he was going out of business. He said the building they had been in for 10 years had been sold and they had just opened their new store. It certainly did not look like the seedy atmosphere I was expecting, the store is beautiful and filled with lovely instruments, mostly Eurpoean.
However, I don't know if I buy the "Kemble-Yamaha" thing. I felt like the snow was beginning to fall again.
Today I am going to another large chain store. I would much prefer buying from a locally owned store, but I don't know how to sort through the bull and get to the bottom line.
Anyone here who can help me sift through fact or fiction would be appreciated. I just want to know the truth about what I am hearing.
God this is to long and I apologize for spelling (the spell checker doesn't work) but this is a huge purchase for me and I thank-you ahead for your help.
Cheryl
Estonia feedback seemed very positive and set out to do more investigating. Before I could do much, the piano sold. Boo-hoo!
I first visited the local Steinway dealer who carried many brands. There I found Petrof, Boston and mostly Chinese pianos. I plainly stated I wanted to avoid Chinese instruments. It's a personal choice.
The Petrof was descibed to me as a "poor man's Steinway". This was a little disturbing to me as I didn't feel as I looked like a poor person and had not asked about Steinway. When I mentioned I had researched Estonia, I was told they had carried Estonia and Petrof side by side for years and that Estonias simply wouldn't sell while sitting next to a Petrof. I told him I wanted to play one and he said he thought the local Estonia dealer had moved out of his old store in the middle of the night and was most likely out of business.
The salesman then told me I should look as Boston and began bombarding me with the Steinway spin on selling a Boston piano. During the conversation, he told me that within the country of Estonia, Boston was the number one selling piano. He claimed Estonians don't even buy their own pianos. I felt a snow job and I left. I don't think he could have told me the truth if he had too. (Certainly an opinion.)
I then went to the local Estonia dealer to see if there was a chance he had a used Estonia. He told me they were fairly rare but would contact me if he got one on trade. I told him of my interest in a C2 or RX2. He showed me a Kemble grand piano model 173. He told me Kemble was a division of Yamaha, and the 173 was the same piano as a Yamaha C2 except for the name and the color of the metal inside. He pulled out the key bed of the piano and indeed it was marked Yamaha. The piano sounded and played really nice, however, again I wondered if this made any sense. Why would Yamaha do such a thing?
He had a really nice selection of Estonia pianos but the new ones were out of my price range. I told him what the other dealer had said about selling Estonias and Petrofs side by side and he claimed the other dealer had never sold Estonia at all and that indeed HE was the first dealer in their market to ever sell them.
He also said I was over-stressing the buying issue and that what I should really focus on was finding a piano that I loved and buy it. He said the best way to buy a piano was by playing as many pianos as I possibly could.
I aksed him about whether he was going out of business. He said the building they had been in for 10 years had been sold and they had just opened their new store. It certainly did not look like the seedy atmosphere I was expecting, the store is beautiful and filled with lovely instruments, mostly Eurpoean.
However, I don't know if I buy the "Kemble-Yamaha" thing. I felt like the snow was beginning to fall again.
Today I am going to another large chain store. I would much prefer buying from a locally owned store, but I don't know how to sort through the bull and get to the bottom line.
Anyone here who can help me sift through fact or fiction would be appreciated. I just want to know the truth about what I am hearing.
God this is to long and I apologize for spelling (the spell checker doesn't work) but this is a huge purchase for me and I thank-you ahead for your help.
Cheryl
