Baby Grand investment?

[Ipayne117]

We have had a look at some piano's today and have taken a shine to a baby grand made by Lippmann. It has a nice sound and is 185x155x102 cms is this a good size to invest in at a price of £4500 (new)

[Gill the Piano]

For that money you'll get a really good upright with good tone. A short fat piano gives a short fat sound, whichever way up it is.

[PianoGuy]

We have had a look at some piano's today and have taken a shine to a baby grand made by Lippmann.

Not an axe?

[NewAge]

We have had a look at some piano's today and have taken a shine to a baby grand made by Lippmann. It has a nice sound and is 185x155x102 cms is this a good size to invest in at a price of £4500 (new)

If you have to have a grand as a showpiece, woo deaf neighbours or non-piano playing visitors, this will do fine. But as a serious musical instrument, it's really a non-starter. If you want a decent, award winning piano with good touch and tone that is really pleasing, then look around for an upright in the same price range.

[D.J.Smith]

A 185cm long grand is hardly a baby. It should be better than an upright at that price.

Whether a Lippman/any 185 grand at £4500 new, is worth considering is another matter. Anyone have direct experience of today's Lippman? Presumably it's a chinese stencil?

[Pianomate]

A 185 grand is more boudoir grand size.

I am told the Lippman build quality isn't great.

[Model V]

I recently bought a Kemble Classic T for my school. We're all blown away by the quality of this instrument in both touch and tone. I used to be "sniffy" about the brand but am truly impressed with this piano.

I'm not sure what the future holds for Kemble but this instrument is superb and would certainly kill an entry level grand.

MV.

[ATG]

Looks like the Classic T is very similar to our Conservatoire, and I agree, the sound is wonderful. When we first got it I used to play just random notes with the sustain pedal down, and the general wash of harmonics was just wonderful, and for so long as well.

Shame they're closing - is this still happening?

ATG

[Barrie Heaton]

Kemble and Co launches new Indonesian made Kemble piano at British Piano Fair

Following the announcement in March this year that production of Kemble pianos would be transferred from October to Yamaha’s large scale world class piano factories in Indonesia and Japan, the prototype K121CL from Indonesia was unveiled on September 20th at the British Piano Fair.

In his keynote address Brian Kemble talked of his visit to the Indonesian factory where he had been requested to give his full critique of the 2 prototype pianos:

“We are famous for our British styled cabinets and for our warm and mellow sound. I first checked the cabinets- the colour and quality of the wood finishes was clearly up to our standard- there had been no compromise on the quality of the components, and no change in the design.

I then played the K121 and I was blown away - it did not just sound good , it sounded really good. It was completely faithful to our Kemble sound character- our beautiful mellow sound. Our Kemble design and production qualities that we had cultivated over many years, were being achieved. Now, I needed to understand exactly how this had been done. Firstly I confirmed that one of the key factors in our sound creation- a Strunz European spruce soundboard, back and bars – was exactly the same specification as we are currently using. The real bonus, however, was that, in addition, Yamaha has upgraded the hammers- this really has helped to create and maintain our traditional warm Kemble sound. I also discovered that Yamaha's top and most experienced Technician had made the voicing standard for the Kemble Pianos and had trained the Indonesian technicians in how to reproduce it.

Nobody can ever automate voicing- it is extremely labour intensive, and, generally, the longer that you spend on voicing, the better the result. Owing to the lower labour costs ,Indonesia can afford to spend a great deal longer voicing the pianos than we were able to in UK .This combination of high quality hammers and top voicing had definitely resulted in a Piano where the Kemble sound very much lives on !


Closing the British factory is a very sad time for me- I have worked with many of my staff for over 30 years- but to secure the future of the Kemble brand, we have had to move our production base. I am excited by the fact that our brand and our specific beautiful mellow sound will live on and continue to provide an elegant, British designed choice for our customers. The Kemble brand was established in 1911 and we look forward to celebrating our centenary in 2 year’s time.

In the next 18 months there will be a mixture of Kemble pianos on the market ,as not all models could be released at the same time- so we have built up a stock to allow a smooth transition. The country of origin will be clearly identified.”



And they are nice

Barrie,

[Model V]

Excellent news. I might buy another.

MV.

[Ipayne117]

So where would I go to have a look at a Kemble ? What sort of price will we be looking at?

[Pianomate]

Phone Kemble to find your nearest delaerships.

http://www.kemble-pianos.co.uk/kemble-p ... ianos.html