New British Cavendish Piano

[Barrie Heaton]

There is a new Kid on the Block below is some press releases and photos below

Barrie

New British piano
http://www.cavendishpianos.com/

• Cavendish Classic (112cm)
  Cavendish Traditional-124cm
  Cavendish Contemporary 124
  Cavendish 'Baby Grand' 152
  Cavendish 'Boudoir' Grand

"I'm sorry, there's no such thing a ... kshirepost
wharfedaleobserver


wharfedaleobserver

[NewAge]

Very interesting and exciting information. Thank you Barrie.

It's particularly interesting to see in their Traditional 124 upright model the traditional pentagraph-like music rest with page holders. That's a welcome return!
http://www.cavendishpianos.com/traditional.html
There was one description of a feature that I couldn't quite understand and that was, 'Traditional panelled front allows sound to be directed to player.' How so? The panels appear to be solid; if the 'panels' were a fabric-covered wooden frame I could understand the comment of sound being directed to the player.

I sincerely hope these new pianos will be a success. If someone could eventually post a recording of how they sound that would certainly increase the interest.

[vernon]

I notice a rather deprecatory observation about " plastic parts" not being satisfactory. "Plastics" is a portmanteau word covering a spectrum of widely differing materials. but some are excellent for pianos and must surpass wood for many uses as wood is a most unstable medium.
The adventures in relatively recent times into nylon key bushings ( Barratt and Robinson) turned a bit sour. Plastic action parts with no bushings ( Lindner) seem very satisfactory despite the rest of the piano falling apart..The Kawai carbon fibre action is superb.
Why wooden keys?.Wooden actions are surely an expensive anachronism.
Felt seems at present to be irreplaceable.Hickory hammer shanks too.
Felt bushings are surely an expensive thing of the past with nothing to commend them.
Again,can Cavendish look at the tremendous Lindner key levelling sytem. and metal action construction--simple but effective.Even the welded frame.
Banging wrest pins into a bit of wood just like Christofori did nearly 300 years ago must need looking at.
The Knight continuous bridge with no break. etc
I hope they can build on the past and we certainly wish them all the best

[Model V]

What wonderful news! I do hope some of our mambers in the sales trade will get in touch!

[Barrie Heaton]

I sincerely hope these new pianos will be a success. If someone could eventually post a recording of how they sound that would certainly increase the interest.

Not the best of recordings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEYHGFng ... edded#t=0s
a better one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... rKzgjTYcNI

[Gromit]

Just been listening to Radio 3 where in the last few mins there's been a short article about these new pianos. Would certainly like to wish the company well.

[RWAS]

This is a very audacious enterprise in a very competitive piano market and I congratulate Cavendish Pianos on the launch of their pianos with my best wishes for the future.

I was brought up playing British pianos and I loved the sweet, warm sound of Broadwood, Collard and Collard, Welmar and Marshall & Rose instruments.

I hope that Cavendish Pianos can build on that fine tradition of British pianos. I hope that they will find a profitable niche market for those who appreciate the the more refined sound of a piano which has been produced with additional "hand crafting".

Good luck Cavendish Pianos!

Robert

[joseph]

So, has anybody played the pianos yet? I'm intrigued to hear them. They certainly look good.

[A440]

High quality sound files of Cavendish are now available. Have a listen!
http://www.cavendishpianos.com/about.html

[joseph]

It's a decent sounding piano. From the sound clips I couldn't really tell, and will have to spend some time with one. My criticism is that it's perhaps a bit uneven sounding, and lacking in the ability to produce a real singing tone. That said, most brand new pianos don't sing well, and the sound was coming over speakers.

Things will get better as the company make more pianos I'm sure of it.

Are the frames and cases made in the UK as well?

[Redwings]

I was intrigued when I heard about Cavendish pianos. Enough for me to pay a visit to Skipton where Yorkshire Pianos are based and where their Cavendish range are built. We had the entire showroom for our exclusive use and Adam Cox the MD could not have been more helpful. He showed us the workshop next door where the pianos are built and it is fair to say that they could not me more hand built. The sound is incredibly mellow, perhaps even too mellow for some but I loved it. Personally, I thought it sounded better than the Bechstein, Bluthner, Sauter, Yamaha and Kemble and a far cry from the Chinese pianos they had in their showroom. It took me back to the piano in my primary school and the Welmar I learned on years ago. It is a sound that the established piano brands just don't make anymore. I was ready to place an order there and then but my wife acting as my conscience suggested that we think about it. Over the next few days I started looking at some other brands namely Yamaha, Kemble, Petrof, and the Bechstein owned Czech brands W. Hoffmann and Bohemia (essentially the same piano). Yamaha were understandably a bit more expensive but what surprised me was how much more expensive similar sized pianos from the Czech brands are ( circa £2k). To be honest, I cannot tell you if a Hoffmann is a better piano than a Cavendish but all I can say is that I prefer the sound of the Cavendish. Also, a handcrafted Cavendish is only a little more expensive than an equivalent Kemble which is built in a generic Yamaha factory in Indonesia churning out thousands of units a year on a production line. Again, an equivalent hand built Yamaha starts at circa £15k. The Cavendish pianos have been extensively played by Emanuelle Vass, an up and coming concert pianist who has been Yamaha's unsigned artist this year and I asked him what he thought of them. You can see him playing them on YouTube and he is unequivocal in his praise and cannot recommend them more highly. All this made it a no brainier for me and a 10 percent discount offer across the range made it all the sweeter. If you can afford it, go for the 124 traditional in solid walnut which is stunning or the same model in ebony with panelled front and old style book rest. I opted for the 124 contemporary in ebony as it was the lowest price out of the 124cm pianos. I will be waiting around 3 weeks for it to be built. If you want something smaller, there is a 112cm model in ebony. This also sounds excellent. Overall, lovely sound, superb quality, handbuilt in low numbers, 10 year warranty and you get back what you paid if you trade your Cavendish piano in for another within 10 years. Oh I nearly forgot to mention that you get a Union Jack covered piano stool. What more could you want?

[vernon]

prices?

[Colin Nicholson]

Redwings.... are you on commission?? !

[Redwings]

Redwings.... are you on commission?? ! :)

Nice one. I like it. No I'm not. Just very enthusiastic about my purchase

[Colin Nicholson]

Nice 1.... hope it plays well. I popped into the shop earlier this year and met Adam - very brief! .... and had a good selection of pianos, but regrettably I dont think the Cavendish was ready in time. I'm sort of due in that area again around November - . so I'll try and pay a visit again nearer Xmas. Good luck with that.

Colin

[joseph]

Get one that's been prepped up to the hilt, and then let's see what they're capable of. I'm sure they'll be excellent pianos. I'm keen to try the uprights - the UK had a reputation for making some of the best mid-priced uprights on the market. It's good that we're back in business. Between them and the new Broadwoods it's becoming a good time for piano making here again

[Redwings]

Prices for the Cavendish range based on recent pricelist are as follows: -

Classic 112 - £4,999
Contemporary 124 - £6,995
Traditional 124 - £7,999
Traditional 124 in walnut - £9,995
Baby Grand 152 - £12,900
Boudoir Grand 168 - £14,950

These prices exclude a 10 percent discount currently being offered. This was an important factor in my purchase to be honest but I'm not sure how long Yorkshire Pianos who make them are offering it. A dealer in the south, Hannah pianos in Wimbledon has recently been appointed.

[joseph]

The uprights are priced a little above Yamaha, but the grands are priced well below.

[RWAS]

I have been looking for some independent reviews of Cavendish pianos, but all I can find are promotions by the company. Despite my earlier congratulatory post on the launch of this piano, I have been concerned by one or two extravagant and suspect claims on some piano forums, that the Cavendish vertical is better than the C Bechstein Concert 8 and the Sauter verticals. Admittedly, I have heard the Cavendish pianos only on youtube clips and short sound samples, but my impression is that they are certainly not better than the C Bechstein Concert 8 or the Sauter verticals which are perhaps the best upright pianos in the world.
Another issue is the promotional marketing which denigrates both Yamaha and Kawai instruments for their "plastic" parts and "bright" tonal qualities. It is disappointing that this fledgling company should resort to these tactics to promote their own piano.
I wish this enterprise well, but I would be interested in seeing some independent reviews on these instruments.

Kind regards,

Robert.

[joseph]

Having never played one, I couldn't say. I wouldn't think they are better than Bechsteins, Sauters, Yamahas or Kawais though. I would say that they present a home-built alternative that fits within a certain price

[RWAS]

Thank you, Joseph and although you have not played one, I believe you have made a sensible assumption given the pricing of these pianos.
Kind regards,

Robert.