Bright pianos or just voicing?

[janetwilson]

Are some pianos intrinsically brighter than others, or is it just a matter of voicing?
I looked at a Kawai K15E (a fairly basic Kawai) and it didn't seem particularly bright to me, but I'm told they are a bright piano... will it turn very bright faster than some other brand of piano?? And if so, is this going to be very expensive to maintain (i.e. frequent voicing) or just a bit extra on top of tuning charge?

[Barrie Heaton]

The shop may have toned it down for a poetical client if it is a soft tone you like then it is not a big deal for most tuners to tone the piano down – depending on how much you play and how hard it may only need toning once every 5 years or so prices very

Most pianos go bright after a few years playing as the felt packs down However, pianos that have been played a hard can go muffled because the cuts in the hammers acting as a damper

Barrie,

[janetwilson]

Thanks; that makes sense to me...
But... someone has just advised me not to go for this type of piano (i.e. the Indonesian, or was it Korean Kawai)... he said they may sound nice when new but the sound becomes very harsh as the felts compress quickly because of whatever they are impregnated with, and I think he said, they need a lot of voicing...
Is this a really bad buy?
People advise me to buy 2nd hand instead, and I certainly don't need something shiny and immaculate-looking, but I just haven't seen a smaller second hand (and unfortunately it has to be smaller) I like the sound of..

(sorry about all the questions... this is a resource I've only just discovered, so am very excited about it...)

[Barrie Heaton]

Kawai do tend to go a little harsh after a few years but that is no big deal to a tuner who can tone, your problem is finding a tuner who can tone pianos not all will

The advantage of second hand is that all the problems have been ironed out and the piano should be stable New pianos can take quite a few tunings to settle them down


Barrie,