Schimmel vs Yamaha
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Schimmel vs Yamaha
Hi, does anyone have any opinion on the Schimmel K169T grand piano? I tried it and i like it, I actually want to get a Yamaha Grand but i feel Japanese pianos are very bright and i want to get a more mellow sounding piano. Are Schimmel pianos generally good? I would like this to me 'the piano' to last me forever hopefully, and i can't afford a Bosendorfer or Steinway though i wish i could.. does anyone have any other recommendations? I like a piano with a Bosendorfer kind of sound and touch. Thanks everyone
In my opinion there is no comparison between a Schimmel and a Yamaha. Schimmel pianos are fantastic, they sound great, have a great action - and even though it is not an important factor, they look awesome (the finishing on the inside of the case is fantastic!)
I generally always prefer the sound of the German pianos, much warmer and richer - I agree with you that Yamaha and Japanese pianos are brighter in tone, and this is obviously a personal choice.
I am only stating my opinion here! Of course at the end of the day, the piano is going to be sitting in your room and you are going to be the one playing it - so the best advice would be to go with your instincts.
You can normally tell very quickly whether you like a piano, and whether it sounds better than one you have previously played.... good luck with it!
It is very easy to be lured into buying a Yamaha (Before there are any horrible comments, I am not saying that buying a Yamaha is wrong or that Yamaha pianos are rubbish) because of the discounting on them. You can quite easily buy a 7'0" Yamaha for the same price as another manufacturers 5'11" piano. Now this is not to say that this is not a good offer, but when spending the amount of money you are considering (RRP Schimmel K169T is around £20,995), you almost need to forget the cost and just concentrate on the 2 most important factors - touch and tone!
Sorry, rant over!
I generally always prefer the sound of the German pianos, much warmer and richer - I agree with you that Yamaha and Japanese pianos are brighter in tone, and this is obviously a personal choice.
I am only stating my opinion here! Of course at the end of the day, the piano is going to be sitting in your room and you are going to be the one playing it - so the best advice would be to go with your instincts.
You can normally tell very quickly whether you like a piano, and whether it sounds better than one you have previously played.... good luck with it!
It is very easy to be lured into buying a Yamaha (Before there are any horrible comments, I am not saying that buying a Yamaha is wrong or that Yamaha pianos are rubbish) because of the discounting on them. You can quite easily buy a 7'0" Yamaha for the same price as another manufacturers 5'11" piano. Now this is not to say that this is not a good offer, but when spending the amount of money you are considering (RRP Schimmel K169T is around £20,995), you almost need to forget the cost and just concentrate on the 2 most important factors - touch and tone!
Sorry, rant over!
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Barrie Heaton
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I would look at Vogel by Schimmel made in the same factory lot less money. Also Haessler Model 186 by Bluthner and the 168 VIRTUOSO by Ed Seiler
I have only one gripe with Schimmels they take a lot of tunings to settle in but nice when they do. Having said that for me with £25K to spend
Ed Seiler
Schimmel
Haessler
Yamaha S
£35K+
Bluthner
Barrie
I have only one gripe with Schimmels they take a lot of tunings to settle in but nice when they do. Having said that for me with £25K to spend
Ed Seiler
Schimmel
Haessler
Yamaha S
£35K+
Bluthner
Barrie
Barrie Heaton
Web Master UK Piano Page
Web Master UK Piano Page
Re: Schimmel vs Yamaha
If you think Japanese pianos are 'very bright' then go to another dealer. There's absolutely no reason at all why a properly set-up and voiced Yamaha won't sound every bit as good as the Schimmel. They're terribly overpriced, and depreciation is vertical. The Vogel range is good value and uses the best bits from Schimmel at a lower price (but I think they're made in Poland Barrie, and possibly the only decent piano ever to emerge from that country).sybre wrote:Hi, does anyone have any opinion on the Schimmel K169T grand piano? I tried it and i like it, I actually want to get a Yamaha Grand but i feel Japanese pianos are very bright and i want to get a more mellow sounding piano. Are Schimmel pianos generally good?
What size piano do you need? If you're in Schimmel territory I'd go for a Yam S6 (the only sensible alternative to a Steinway B) and be done with it. If you're looking on a more modest budget, a C3 is excellent value. Just don't buy it from a 'pile it high, sell it cheap' merchant, and try the piano you intend buying, not merely a similar one.
As for tuning stability, I agree 100% with Barrie. Schimmels take an age to settle down. Once they're there, they're fine.
I have a Schimmel upright and a Yamaha grand. I love them both. I've always thought that the Schimmel grands are a little overpriced and I honestly think that my Yamaha C7 (which was my choice, over an S6, as an alternative to the Steinway B which I can't afford) sounds fantastic.
I agree with PianoGuy.
I agree with PianoGuy.
The thing from a technician's point of view is that there are certain models of Yamaha which just do the job with no fuss and no quirks. They just work. The uprights, U1 and U3, the grands C3, C5 C7 and S6. They all do the job perfectly without fuss. Now I'm not talking about ultimate tonal quality or 'soul' here, other pianos such as the Schimmel, Grotbag, Bozo may all be able to impart qualities to the sound and experience of playing that a Yamaha cannot, but it is at the expense of consistency, reliability and adds capriciousness, all of which means that I am more likely to recommend a Yam for most circumstances. Previous generations of Kawai are too quirky for my liking too, but the current crop are getting very close to Yamaha standards.
Of course I have many many clients who have quality German pianos and in many cases I can see the appeal of the various instruments, but all of them require more of my time and my clients' money than they would if they had selected from the list above. I don't mind of course!
If a European piano* really captures your heart, gets your mojo working and creative juices flowing, then it's obviously the piano for you, but in 99% of cases, it will mean more attention from a good technician and more regular tuning to keep it that way than if you had gone for the Yamaha.
There are however, many models of Yamaha which are just as capricious as their European counterparts!! The S4 is the most notable; it sounds absolutely gorgeous when just tuned, but I've yet to find one where the tuning lasts more than a month. The very limited edition S400 was even better sounding when in tune, but a few days or even hours later and it starts to howl.
PG
*Except of course those from Poland and the Czech Republic. They're still shite.
Of course I have many many clients who have quality German pianos and in many cases I can see the appeal of the various instruments, but all of them require more of my time and my clients' money than they would if they had selected from the list above. I don't mind of course!
If a European piano* really captures your heart, gets your mojo working and creative juices flowing, then it's obviously the piano for you, but in 99% of cases, it will mean more attention from a good technician and more regular tuning to keep it that way than if you had gone for the Yamaha.
There are however, many models of Yamaha which are just as capricious as their European counterparts!! The S4 is the most notable; it sounds absolutely gorgeous when just tuned, but I've yet to find one where the tuning lasts more than a month. The very limited edition S400 was even better sounding when in tune, but a few days or even hours later and it starts to howl.
PG
*Except of course those from Poland and the Czech Republic. They're still shite.
The biggest thing I've learned on this forum is that getting your piano voiced carefully is everything. Until coming here I'd assumed that Yamahas were bright because that's the way God intended them to be. Well it ain't necessarily so!
Like PG said, if a Yamaha's properly voiced there's no reason why it shouldn't sound as mellow as a weekend in an Amsterdam brown cafe.
The hard bit, in my experience, is finding a dealer who will take the trouble to do it.
Like PG said, if a Yamaha's properly voiced there's no reason why it shouldn't sound as mellow as a weekend in an Amsterdam brown cafe.
The hard bit, in my experience, is finding a dealer who will take the trouble to do it.
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Silverwolf0618
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- Joined: 29 Dec 2017, 19:15
Re: Schimmel vs Yamaha
Now I didn't have a Yamaha tried for me but my former teacher who is also a piano salesmen played a continuous C really for me on a the top Boston(I forgot which one it is), a Schimmel upright, and an Essex and the Boston and Schimmel's achtions are great, not as good as a Steinway, but both really good. The Essex... Meh, after a few notes it stopped making sound. I'm just using this as an example. I think a Yamaha can do fast notes too, but I'm not sure because my mind drifted off when my old piano teacher was explaining it (whoops). Also, the Schimmel I tried was an upright, and I had a hard time deciding between the Boston two hundred something (I think) and my choices are a Boston 178 or 198 grand or the Schimmel so of course I chose the Schimmel. My personal opinion is that Yamaha is just too bright(once I was trying to play p on a Yamaha grand and got a mf)and it's tone is kinda... bland I guess. The Schimmel on the other hand has a good rich tone. The last part is just my.opinion.