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Oh, I quite realize that you're absolutely serious, Johnkie. I just thought I'd be light-hearted about clutter, another problem that I'm sure piano tuners have to deal with. We're reasonably well-trained, and provide our tuner with a sitting room in which the loudest noise is the gurgle of the aquar...

Hmmm. We can manage almost all of your requirements (perhaps not ABSOLUTE quiet -- isn't that the whole point of John Cage's silent piano piece?) ... the coffee's reasonable though I can't make good tea ... but you haven't mentioned "the Standard Middle-Class Piano". Our new piano is still...

... what are the new Bechstein pianos like? Hi Mike, New Bechstein grands are lovely. Of course. And they cost more than £15,000. Of course. The Pussycat preferred the Steinway tone, so we didn't search for secondhand Bechsteins. Your mileage WILL vary, and, some way into your search for a piano, y...

Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum. The short answer to your question is: Yamaha C2 or Kawai RX2. These are just over 170 cm in length: the length at which grands have a tone as good as an upright 130 cm high ... and a far better touch. The 170 cm grand the Pussycat and I liked best was the Steinway ...

It should be fine. We used to have a Kawai KG2D, albeit bigger than the GM10, it was certainly powerful for its size. It had a very focused sound. But Dan, the KG2D is MUCH bigger than the GM10. It's 178cm long, rather than 150cm. I do not doubt for a moment that a KG2 can have a good tone: but I h...

May I present a different point of view? First, I should admit that I have never played a Kawai GM 10. But it's only 150cm long. And every grand piano I've heard that is less than 170cm has had a weak bass, and a change in tone where the scale changes between the two bridges on the soundboard. Would...

rgreig wrote:How did the action on the Steinway M compare with the Yamahas?

Not much in it. The Yamaha action seems rather good ... perhaps particularly when it has been Shackelled. The Steinway tone was rounder/fuller---we liked it more.

The price of a new Steinway must in part cover the marketing budget. Also while their model D grand is a fine instrument, how do I know their uprights are as good relatively? Maybe our recent experience of piano buying will help answer this question ... and possibly drive you back to your sitting r...

Hi Lucia, Three showroms/workshops you might visit within an hour's drive of your home: Chris Venables, Ringwood, Hampshire http://www.chrisvenables.co.uk/ Primarily new Yamaha and Brodmann. Claire Dash, Faringdon, Oxfordshire http://www.thepianogallery.co.uk/ Usually has a range of second-hand gran...

I have the main melody of the songs but it is too high to play for a trumpet. Well I just want to lower the notes, so I can play them in trumpet. Hi sunan, What is the highest note of the melody? What is the lowest note? And what is the key signature? Dr Owl ---------------------------- John Owlett...

So that’s two votes for grand pianos over 6ft in length. Which, in our case, would realistically mean second-hand. Fair enough. Thank you. Roller action? I thought, presumably naively, that the roller action was sufficiently good that all grand pianos now used it. Which pianos do we need to watch ou...

At what stage in a pianist’s development does she need a grand piano? The reason I ask is that the Pussycat will retire fully in a few months’ time; and she intends to get back to regular piano lessons for the first time since the 1960s. If she does this, given that she’s starting from about grade 6...