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Grenache

Hi, Re the original question of K3 v U1. I'm a player, not a tech, but I compared the two when I was looking to buy a few years ago. I liked them both, the K3 has a mellow sound whereas the Yamahas are known for their bright sound. In my case, I wanted one with the silent action factory-fitted, and ...

Grenache

Hi everyone, It's a while since I posted, but I thought of everyone here and wanted to share this with you. When I was out in the car yesterday, I heard this programme on Radio Scotland, The Jazz House, and it was a special illustrating the history and development of jazz on the piano. I found it a ...

Grenache

You're welcome!

Grenache

Hi

I have the Sennehiser HD457, excellent sound and very comfortable to wear for long periods. They also have a straight cable.

Grenache

Hi Sharon, I haven't got round to trying that out yet, just used it with headphones for silent practice. The manual for the SG option on my U1 can be downloaded here. I think a different box of electronics is on the B series. http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/piano/english/silent/SilentSG_e_X8696D...

Grenache

Tryer, Please be patient; this is a forum, not a shop. Some members check the posts several times each day whilst others are too busy to check more than once or twice a week. Just checking in after being away for a few weeks :D I have a Yamaha U1 with the SG Silent option, and still believe I made ...

Grenache

I've got neither! I have a Yamaha with the silent option, and the middle pedal moves the shank stopper to prevent the hammers hitting the strings. If you engage that then forget to switch on the electronics, it's a bit like Joseph Cooper on Face the Music. At least you could tell what he was playing...

Grenache

See also the comment from poster Pianomate in this thread:
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-forums/vi ... php?t=6655

Grenache

PianoGuy wrote:
What'll make it difficult is that nobody is likely to be carrying both Kawai and Yamaha Silent models in the same showroom.

I must have been quite fortunate, then. I tried both in Smiths in Paisley.

Grenache

The piano will have to be up-ended so make a cardboard template of the side of one and see it will pass through the doorways. I I did this last year and it was really helpful at working out how the piano could be moved. I have an old cottage with narrow doorways and a narrow hall, and it required a...

Grenache

Theres another nutter asking people to pay £4k for a Challen simila r to one played by the Beatles. NOT the one played by the Beatles but just the same model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 260311958029 is the ebay number if you want a laugh. A financial crisis certainly seem to bring them out of the wo...

Grenache

Hi Dave,

Glad to have helped. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I know what you mean about waiting too, but it will be worth it.

Let us know how you get on once it arrives!

Best regards

G

Grenache

Hi My Yamaha came with a polishing cloth, a book of instructions (including how to operate the Silent system) and a music book. The music book contained a couple of pieces which I played through. The rest were either too difficult or I already had the music. It's also difficult to use the book as th...

Grenache

... if you can afford the Guinness.

I'm just back from a holiday in Norway - we stopped at a well-known Irish pub in Oslo, for a pub lunch. I didn't drink as I had a car, but they wanted £7 a pint for Guinness

Grenache

Hi,

I think that's ridiculous, as you say you are at home more.

Name and shame them here!

Grenache

If you quite like the Kawai, I would suggest going to try out the Kawai with the silent option, and play it for as long as the dealer will let you. I found it heavy going quite quickly, and even after playing for only 10 minutes my hands were hurting. I have small hands anyway, so that keyboard was ...

Grenache

Hi Rane,

Make sure you're happy with the feel of the K3 with the silent option - just in case you've played a K3 without. I found the touch very heavy - in fact too heavy for my liking.

I chose the U1 silent.

Best regards

G

Grenache

Grenache When did you purchase your U1? I am looking quite seriously at the K3 with a silent fitting. According to the dealer Kawai have just changed the silent system on their pianos. and the millenium action did seem to be a fairly light touch. I definetly like the tone of the Kawai over the Yama...

Grenache

Of course, I hope that the goods / services work out ok, but I have had to recourse to s75 of the Consumer Credit Act on one occasion a few years ago, and BoS paid up once I set out my case.

Grenache

And if it's a purchase of over £100, I'll always try to use my credit card, so you have protection there if the company goes bust or otherwise fails to produce the goods or perform the service.

Grenache

joseph wrote: I think the Edinburgh piano company are an excellent firm actually, and having bought my Brodmann from them I am in a position to say so.

I would agree with that, a Brodmann from Edinburgh Piano Co was my close second choice when I was piano hunting last year.

Grenache

Well I'd like a real one. I nearly bought one years ago but can't afford it now nor do I have the space. But I would settle for a digital one with the right sound.

Grenache

I don't know if you managed to hear "Click On" on Radio 4 yesterday, it had a fascinating item about making a digital copy of an antique harpsichord. The news item is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7617177.stm and it will be on Listen Again till Monday 22nd Sept. The item star...

Grenache

DMathew wrote: and the sound at the dealers did appeal to me more than the U1 I tried at the store.

Remember that the accoustics of the shop can make a difference, if these pianos are in different shops.

The U1 I played at the shop sounded bright there but more mellow when I got it home.

Grenache

Hi, I have a standard domestic dehumidifier (£120 in B&Q or similar) which is left on all the time. It has an adjustable humidistat which turns the thing off when the humidity gets below the set level. I used a couple of cheap hygrometers to experiment with the setting. In the summer months it r...

Grenache

A cheap option is to buy a "microfibre" cloth, it picks up the fine dust well.

Grenache

Yes, congrats on a nice choice, I'm sure you will enjoy playing it for many years.

Grenache

I think I've probably mentioned before, but I was also comparing the Kawai vs Yamaha with the silent option. The touch of the Kawai with the silent option was exteremely heavy and playing it was very hard work. Although the Yamaha was slightly heaver with the silent compared to the same model withou...

Grenache

There was one advertised in Norway a few months ago (the ad is no longer online). It described it as a "taffelpiano" by Joh. J. Langholdt
piano-forte-fabrik, Hamburg

I have no other detail about it.

Grenache

That's an interesting fingering, Joseph, when I was taught many years ago (and I haven't had lessons for a while), it was to use 1 on the white notes, 3 on the black notes and 2 for C and F (for the right hand).

I'll have a go at your suggestion later when I can get off this computer.

Grenache

Another suggestion is to use the coloured wax/polish material you get for cars. I can't remember the name, but it's like T-Cut, only coloured. I think it's called Color Magic. When my Yamaha was delivered, one of the white keys had a distictive mark on it. When the tech came, he was going to go into...

Grenache

Hi, I've just looked at old photos, no, it's not identical, it's similar style frame round the top of the action, but the split is in a different place and the felts are different colour. Sorry!

Grenache

The photo of the action looks like the Herrburger-Brooks action in my 1926 Kessels. I'll need to dig out photos of mine, as I no longer have that piano, just to see if my recollection is accurate.

Grenache

Hi Yes, I would recommend crucial too, I think if you type www.crucial.com/uk it will give you their UK site. Also, when adding memory, make sure you are taking antistatic precautions. I make sure that my PC is earthed - i.e. plugged into the mains but the mains switch must be off, so that the earth...

Grenache

Hi

According to a German piano forum, there was a piano maker in Leipzig
Förster, Wilhelm - between 1832 - 1891.

It confirms there's no relation to August Forster, and lists two other makers called Forster in Leipzig.

Grenache

Hi, I've been trawling the internet, thanks to Mr. Google, for anything about Geissler, or Geißler... There's a different piano by Geissler on eBay Austria for sale, one of the pictures has the same unicorn & crescent: http://cgi.ebay.at/Klavier-von-Geissler-Hofpianofabrik-Zeitz-Nr-23111_W0QQite...

Grenache

The Caird Hall was once described by Billy Connolly as "like the Clyde Tunnel, but with seats in it". I'm not so sure, but it does have an interesting layout. I also think that for the first 40 years of its life it was second biggest concert hall in the UK, the Albert Hall being the first....

Grenache

I live not far from Dundee as well, and it's been very humid outside in recent weeks, around 80% most days. I have a portable dehumidifier which is running constantly in the room the piano is in, and it just about keeps the room down to low 50s % RH.

Grenache

Also consider a Brodmann. I test-drove the 125 upright last year when I was piano-hunting. It had a nice touch and warm sound, as well as being attractively-priced. In fact it came second on my list to the Yamaha U1.

Grenache

I would agree with that, I played a U1 and a K3 side-by-side and the Kawai is not so bright. Both were new. BUT I felt that the Kawai had a heavier touch. I wanted a piano with the silent attachment, and the Kawai Silent was incredibly heavy - after playing it for about a minute my hands ached. The ...

Grenache

Hi,

My Kessels piano had a Herrburger Brooks action (overdamped upright), but the frame and case were labelled Kessels. It was made in 1926.

If you have a photo of the action I could see whether it looks like mine. (I don't have that piano now but still have photos of it).

Grenache

I was thinking about this one the other day and suddenly realised I've seen a similar effect on another keyboard, but I can't remember which one. I think it's designed to be like this. Real pianos have sustain pedals, and the digital piano sustain pedal works like a real piano's. Real organs don't, ...

Grenache

How much variation should you expect on day-to-day and during-the-day basis?

My room varies from 46% to 51% over the course of one day. I have a dehumidifier which switches on when the humidity is roughly 48% or higher, but even then with it running the humidity rises a bit.

Grenache

I had a photo frame on the old piano which buzzed sympathetically with a couple of notes, but it didn't get my sympathy so I removed it to another part of the room.

Grenache

There are some avaliable via the Piano Accessories pages on this site, though I haven't tried any.

Grenache

You might find the touch a bit heavier. I played a Yamaha with and without the factory-fitted silent system and there wasn't much difference, but the Kawai factory-fitted one was substantially heavier - so much so that I felt that the Kawai one was unplayable for me.

Grenache

A lot will depend on the other accoustic features of the room.

When I moved my piano from one wall to another it sounded slightly different, from having curtains adjacent to having them behind me.

Mine is about 15cm from the wall

Grenache

Wow, that brings back memories! It was the first tune I learned and I felt so proud as it needed both hands (but not at the same time).

Grenache

Hi Congratulations on buying the U1. I found that it took a couple of months for the piano to settle in, and during that time two or three notes seemed to sound differently from the rest. The piano shop's tech voiced these ones and the sound is now even throughout . I also noted that the piano was p...

Grenache

In my case, the piano stood in a cold wet room for about 4 - 5 days, and although there was no direct water contact the wall behind the piano got so wet the wallpaper was coming off. When the building repairer brought in their dehmidifiers, they drew about a litre of water every 2 hours, for about t...

UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Search found 98 matches

Re: Ask piano technician – Do you prefer Kawai K3 or Yamaha

Radio programme about the history of Jazz Piano

Re: Earphones for digital piano - recommendations please

Re: Earphones for digital piano - recommendations please

Re: Yamaha U1/U3 Silent system retro-fit?

Re: Upright Silent | Non-Silent

Re: My First Piano

Radio programme about digital copy of harpsichord

Re: deciding between yamahas