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Hi everyone. I just wanted to let people know how we've got on with our Jeffrey Shackell U3 now that we've had it for a year. In a word: fantastic! We're absolutely delighted with the piano - it still makes us smile everytime we play it. Jeffrey gives it a first-class tuning, though it must be said ...

Celebration! :D We've bought the U3S from Jeff Shackell. He very kindly moved it to his home so we could play it in an environment more like our own. We still really enjoyed playing it. Hopefully it will be with us shortly! Thank you everyone, particularly Guy and Barrie, for your help in our search...

They might......... .....but are you prepared to take the risk? ! PG I don't think so! Though I think Coach House Pianos operate a buy-back and trade-up scheme in the 10 years following purchase - you'd have to remember to sell it back just before the timelimit or get badly stung! I think you and B...

Ha ha! :) That's certainly one of the most politically and sociologically rich polemics regarding a piano I've seen - though I take your point! You don't think they may become the Skodas of the piano industry then? (Not that I for one would be likely to be an 'early adopter' of the new pretender :wi...

Thanks PianoGuy, Yes, we're going down to play it again shortly and I expect we'll buy it. We may have time to visit Coach House Pianos first. The guy there is very keen that we try a new Eisenberg (sp?) that he has in stock that he's willing to sell us for U3 money. I can't find out a great deal ab...

After a work-enforced break we've returned to the search. We had an excellent morning with Jeffrey Shackell - an absolute gentleman with some truly beautiful grand pianos. We didn't get on with the New York Model K he had in stock, but he had a new U3S he'd prepared for us which we found rather beau...

Right. We certainly would not buy before having a played the piano - or for that matter buy a piano in order to have it restored. There's just no way of knowing what it's going to sound and feel like. We're widening our search now and hope to meet up with Jeffrey Shackell quite shortly. We keep scou...

Thanks folks. Yes, we're also coming to the conclusion that the sound we're looking for and our budget aren't in synch...

Not sure what we'll be able to do about that!

We are certainly looking to buy for life rather than Christmas! Barrie wrote: I would agree that the tyed action of the old Bechstein are a pain but the costa spring when it is set up correct works well However, the soundboards of these pianos are getting too old. You both seem pretty doubtful of th...

The hunt continues! We've had an interesting day touring some dealers in Oxford. The Steinway Model Z was already sold, so we missed the opportunity to look at it for ourselves sadly. We tried more Yamahas and still didn't really get on with them. We then discovered some Bechstein Model 10s which ha...

Thanks Guy, We spent the afternoon at a dealers and played a number of U3s, new and used (1970s), a new U5 and a Steinway Model V (1969). To us the sound of the Model V was way ahead of the Yamahas, it really sang. I know what you mean about the Lexus stripes on the U5! The U3s, particularly the new...

Apologies for the spelling mistake in title of the post...

We're looking for a good upright piano and seem to be settling towards a Yamaha U3/5/X or a Steinway Model Z from around the 1980s. We were wondering if you thought we're on the right lines or are there others we should be searching for too? Any ideas of which would be the better model and how much ...