Piano suitable for Grade 8+ pianist

[markymark]

Hi,

I have been reading and searching through the various post regarding Yamaha pianos but I haven't been able to find a response that completely applies to my situation so apologies in advance if I have repeated an earlier posting.

I am returning to complete my Grade 8 and want to complete my recital and performance diplomas. Basically I am looking for something that will be up to the challenge in terms of keyboard response and tone. I am pretty much set on getting a Yamaha piano and am planning to go piano hunting tomorrow.

After reading online reviews and postings on this forum, I have narrowed my selection to the following Yamaha models: U1, P121NT, PX124NT. I understand that pianos with a string length greater that 120cm have a higher quality tone as opposed to those with a string length less that 120cm. This is where reviews for the PX124NT puzzle me slightly.....

In short, which of these would be a good starting point for my needs as a pianist. Any other models or ideas welcome. I really need a starting point for tomorrow...

Mark

[PianoGuy]

After reading online reviews and postings on this forum, I have narrowed my selection to the following Yamaha models: U1, P121NT, PX124NT. I understand that pianos with a string length greater that 120cm have a higher quality tone as opposed to those with a string length less that 120cm. This is where reviews for the PX124NT puzzle me slightly.....

Where have you read these reviews?

Any Yamaha with a "N" ( U1N, P121N, P121NTS etc) as part of the model number suffix is made in the UK at the Kemble factory. If in doubt, check the serial number which will often start with an "E" and be in the region of 300,000 for a new piano. A Japanese serial number will be above 6,300,000!

This being the case, why not extend your search to incluse the latest Kembles; they're sufficiently Yamaha-like not to disappoint because they're all based on Yam designs. Very recent examples herald a welcome return to form for the UK-based Yamaha assemblers, and they're now producing a mellower alternative to Yamaha's accuracy in sound. NB: Old stock Kembles, built only a few months ago, sound harsh and unattractive.

The current star of the range is the 121cm Mozart, a (numbered!) limited edition of 250 examples, some of which will be still on the showroom floors. These are equipped with denser hammers than usual and a higher-quality soundboard. If you can cope with the neo-Regency styling of the mahogany model and the puzzlingly Victorian of the black, you'll be on to a winner, since the list price is lower than the cooking U1. Barrie reckons that the factory spends a bit more time on final finishing, and from what I've seen I tend to agree.

My personal choice would be a used latish (circa 5 Mil serial) UK-model (purely to keep residuals high), Japanese built standard U1 in black, but try tracking one down. 99.9% of used U1s are imports, but I'm sure you know all that.

Have fun trying all those pianos out, and always remember that golden rule:
If you fall in love with a piano, make sure you buy that piano, not "one just like it".

No two pianos are exactly the same!

[markymark]

After reading online reviews and postings on this forum, I have narrowed my selection to the following Yamaha models: U1, P121NT, PX124NT. I understand that pianos with a string length greater that 120cm have a higher quality tone as opposed to those with a string length less that 120cm. This is where reviews for the PX124NT puzzle me slightly.....

I was reading reviews on the Chris Venables website: http://www.chrisvenables.co.uk The precise url is http://www.chrisvenables.co.uk/modelspe ... 0Piano.htm

He was talking about the Yamaha U1 piano at the time so the commentary is with this on the site if you want to check it out for yourself. I remember trying Kawai a while back - I have no idea what model it was exactly but how woul dthey compare with the models both you and I have mentioned?

[fumbler]

Hi,

There's nothing magical about 120 cm. that doesn't apply to 119, or 121, or any piano height between say, 100 and 150. It's just that piano manufacturers seem to have model ranges with around 120 cm as a break point. All things being equal a longer string will sound better than the shorter string, but things aren't equal. Larger pianos tend to have larger soundboards and larger and more soundly(!) built cases, as well as higher quality actions and hammers. The string quality itself varies depending on its source and what sort of deal the manufacturers are forcing on the string makers. I don't know if it still applies but a couple of years ago Kemble used German strings as opposed to Yamaha UK's USA-sourced offerings: I probably wouldn't have noticed the difference.

The 120 cm. nomenclature is somewhat misleading. It's the piano height, not the string length (as the string is diagonal in the case). I believe that the only difference between the Yamaha 121 and 124 cm models is that the 124 is a 121 hoisted up on castors, it's the same piano on wheels. Wider pianos (those with seemingly pointless spacers at the ends of the keyboard) enable the strings to lie more diagonally (this is technical suff, eh) and so increase the length.

In the end pianos are like cars, women/men, dogs and houses. It depends on what fits and what you can afford, and what takes your fancy. There is no significance in the order of that list, by the way. We can give opinions (I second PG's tips) but not chose for you. Play as many as you can and if (and when) you find the one you like then buy it whatever the name.

Incidentally an easy way to increase the string length is to pull the piano away from the wall by four or five inches. I've just done this with my K121ZT, ostensibly to hoover up the bugs behind it, and it's magically doubled in size. It's not going back. Well, would you give up a 16' x 7' soundboard?

Rgds.

[markymark]

I just picked up the last post to my question.

I am about to leave within the next 45 minutes for the music store to check out the pianos. They don't carry the Kembles as mentioned by Piano Guy and Fumbler but they do have the following:

Kawai K18, made in Japan, special offer £2395
Yamaha U1, made in Japan, special offer £3999
P121NT, European made
Yamaha V118, made in Vienna

These will be the pianos I will definitely want to try but would there be one here that I should avoid - even thinking down the line in terms of reliability and value retention, etc., etc.?

[PianoGuy]

Yamaha V118, made in Vienna

The V118 is made in the UK. Check that serial number for an 'E' prefix.

It's also very ugly in a poncey Germanic-styled case. A total duffer compared to the others.

[markymark]

I have tried the Yamaha U1 and the P121 and they both sounded good. I felt the U1 had more to offer but it is 61cm deep! So space I'm afraid has played a big factor in my piano shopping today. The Kawai K18 had a nice responsive keyboard action and the sound was clean and precise but a little light on the touch I wondered.

Piano Guy and Fumbler have gotten me thinking about the Kemble models. Space restrictions are forcing me away from the Professional range of which the Mozart 121 is a member (unfortunately for me) but I came across a smaller version of the Kemble Conservatoire which contains the same soundboard, high quality hammers as that used in the special edition Mozart. It is the Kemble Concerto. Apparently based on the larger Conservatoire model, this one has been designed for people with restricted space in mind.

Has anyone come across this model themselves? I'm going to have to travel further afield to get to try one of these so will this piano be worth the trip?

[PianoGuy]

The Concerto is actually based on the Yamaha P114T (Traditional) piano, which is actually a substantial reduction in size to the 121cm of the Conservatory or Mozart. It's fine for its size, but you're buying into a lower class of instrument.

Of value if you really can't fit a bigger one in, but I'd guess that there are a lot of old stock ones around which may sound harsh. The Yamaha P114 is made in the same factory.