Pleyel (upright) Pianos - opinions

[Moonlight]

Hi

Does anyone on here have a Pleyel Piano or have any of you ‘Action men’ and ladies (piano techs and tuners) serviced one?

Basically I want to know a bit more about them, are they a good make? what is the starting price for a new upright? Are they reliable as far as tuning stability and maintenance go? What do they sound like, are they as bright as a Yamaha? I’m hoping they would be more soft and mellow though - thats what I would like. And what is their touch like, heavy, medium or light?

I think I read on here that they have a Renner action and I read somewhere else thats like one of the best to have as its a good make, not that I would know though.

I just want people’s opinions on them. By the way as I’m no piano expert only beginner pianist, try not to get too technical .

[joe]

To my knowledge they are quite expensive,and not made in France as the name suggests,heards reports few years ago that there where problems with the tuning stability,a Renner actions is not the most important part of piano its the frame,bridges,strings etc and is a combination of all these components.Having played some and do like like the sound but there are other alternatives and dependant on frame size.colour,budget etc,you would have to expand on your requirements.

[chrisvenables]

Definitely spend you money on something else.

[PianoGuy]

I've not seen a brand new Pleyel, but I have seen a recent one which appeared to me to be a Schimmel with "Schimmel" crossed out and "Pleyel" written on in crayon. Well, not quite but it was simply a rebadged Schimmel (made in Brunswick/Braunschweig, Germany, not Paris, France!) presented in a flouncy cabinet. If this is still the case, and looking at their website I'd guess it may well be, I would think that they are actually fairly good instruments but pricy for what they are. I would suggest that there would actually be no tuning stability problems at all and a well fitted Renner action. If you find a dealer stocking them, get an independent tuner to check out the construction. Any tuner of experience would detect a Schimmel frame. You may well like the casework and presentation, in which case it's your money if you want to spend it, but I think you can do better!

For a Schimmel on a budget, try a Vogel, which are Schimmel pianos down to the Renner action and last nut and bolt, but in plainer more classic casework designs and assembled in Poland. These are very decent indeed for the money, and are the only good piano to date to come out of Poland.

[joe]

Piano guy is spot on Pleyel and Rameu where made in Schimmel factory but i know a dealer you had them and sent them back due to tuning problems and and shearing of wrestpins when being tuned and also had two wrestpins snap when being tuned by a top concert technician,you are paying for the fancy casework,better pianos around if you respond to thread with more info.

[PianoGuy]

Ah yes! Rameau were a kind of Budget Pleyel with cheapo casework. All Renner equipped, but as Joe points out, the rest of the piano needs to be good betore a Renner action will make any difference!

[Kemble King]

I look after a Pleyel that is about 8 years old. Its a pig to tune and stays in tune for about a week before its needing done again.

Was the Pleyel factory not bought over by the French Government as a YTS factory for unemployed people in Paris?

Regards

The King

[sussexpianos]

I used to stock Pleyel pianos. My opinion is that they were very good pianos, well built and had a great tone. There was no difficulty in tuning etc. I stopped selling them as it was a difficult brand to sell due to most people not knowing them or associating France as a piano building country. They were expensive but cheap compared to other brands of the same class. This was 5 years ago, there might have been production problems with certain batches, I don't know. What I do know is that they were built in France, in the south and do produce high quality instruments. The association with Schimmel is that Pleyel had pianos made under contract for their own brands of Gaveau and Erard. This finished some years ago. The factory I believe has moved back near Paris.

[Moonlight]

Thank you very much for your replys everyone.

I see there are some mixed opinions on this, obliviously it would be good for me to go and have a look at and play on some of these pianos and see for myself, at least to see how they sound etc.

I noticed a lot of you said they are expensive, how expensive are they ( or were they last time you saw them ) I'm looking to spend about £5,000 on my first acoustic piano when I can finaly afford to buy one. I want to get a good make, not to bright, and NOT muffled and not one of the starter or cheaper makes. I want to be really happy with it and won't need to think 'I wish I bought a better one' . What makes are a good midrange brand that are reliable and easy for the tuner to maintain and last long and most importantly for me sound good, ( not too bright or muffled and doesn’t shout too much )

Thanks

[joe]

Kawai.

[sussexpianos]

Kawai K3, Irmler 122 or 131. Perzina 122 or 129. Kemble 121.

[joe]

Kawai

[PianoGuy]

Kawai K3, Irmler 122 or 131. Perzina 122 or 129. Kemble 121.

Irmler "Europe" I would caution against because they're indifferently built in Poland, but standard Irmler are cooking Pearl River fare, so really not bad.

Kawai are fine if you like a totally charmless piano. I can find nothing to engage my enthusiasm with them, but you'll find their dealers very dedicated to them and their aftersales from the importers top notch. I assume joe is a Kawai agent. The K3 is certainly the best value in their range, but don't be tempted to buy an earlier-generation Kawai. Too much plastic in areas which should be semi-structural cause case creaks and rattles.

Perzina or Kemble in my book.