Advice on a new Stultz & Bauer Upright

[mrkoneill]

I am looking on advice on a new upright piano please, mainly as a long tern investment as my 7 yr old daughter has begun to learn the piano. She will be doing her grade 1 early in 2013. I visited a piano showroom last week with the intention of buying a Yamaha (based on reputation and the fact my sister has had one for about 10 years). When I played it, I got the expected crisp tone but it did sound a little tinny in my opinion. I noticed a Stultz and Baeur (112cm high I think) and the sound that came from that was much fuller (again, in my opinion).
what I would like to know is - am I best to stick with a B1 or is this Stultz & Baeur a better investment? The dealer said it is more akin to the B3 than the B1 and there is a marked difference in price between the Stultz and the B3!
Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Colin Nicholson]

Welcome to the forum....

Yamaha would be my first choice - and you can have the hammers re-toned to play softer, (not every piano is the same) but a piano technician is needed for this task. I cant really comment on 'investment' because you have mentioned no prices, just names. I suspect the Stultz piano is from the USA? ...... should be fine, but never tried one.

It would be a good idea to bring your music teacher along to try out ALL the instruments. Also try out Kawai pianos (start with K15) - very good, and dont limit yourself to one shop.... have a good look around. Also ask about warranty, if a stool is included, delivery etc....

hope that helps

[mrkoneill]

Thanks for the reply. More information. The best my dealer can do is £2600 for the b1 although I hear there is another dealer that sells for £2395. Both include delivery. The first dealer includes a stool/bench.
The Stultz & Bauer is made by Steinhoven and is similar to their 121 model. The retail on it was £2495 with a deal of £2150 including delivery and stool. He says this is more comparable in sound to the B3.
He can maybe do a reconditioned U1 for £2700 though.
£2870 for a U3.

[NewAge]

From the two, Yamaha would be my first choice too.
Admittedly I've never played a Stultz & Bauer, indeed I've never even heard of it. As I'm sure you've already realised, there is very little information available on new pianos which bear that name. I believe there is an American connection somewhere, possibly associated with the Kohler & Campbell name - who are now part of the Samick corporation. So at a guess the new Stultz & Bauer upright pianos could well be made in Korea or Indonesia - perhaps one of the UK dealers could confirm this. I don't doubt though that these pianos could well be good value for the money. But there's more to it than that. I may be wrong but the dealer may have a better profit margin on the cheaper pianos.
If the piano is a 112cm then it is just a little bigger than the Yamaha B1 (110 cms?)- which may not have been prepared as well as it could be.
Regarding the comment from the dealer that the Stultz & Bauer (112cm?) was akin to the Yamaha B3, imho you should take that with a pinch of salt. Unless I'm mistaken the B3 is 122cm, the longer strings and greater soundboard area make for a very pleasant instrument - if your budget will run to that - and tuner/technicians in general enjoy working on Yamahas. And rather than use the word 'investment', it's true that Yamaha's are in general easier to resell owing to brand recognition.
Again, good preparation prior to delivery is so important - a piano can be given a more mellow (or brighter) tone if you so desire.
As Colin mentions, with your daughter's teacher try as many other pianos as possible - especially the Kawai range.

[Colin Nicholson]

Good advice there from NewAge....

Dont forget, just like looking at a car, fancy showroom spot lights, smells of fresh coffee.... and free lollies for the kids! .... when you try a piano, its the same - acoustics are usually perfect for the instrument, nice set-up, mellow tone etc etc.... THEN, when you get the piano home, its straight onto laminated flooring!! .... "oh heck, this piano is FAR TOO LOUD" ! .... the Yamaha range can be quite loud in the family home.... but afterall, (no disrespect ), your daughter has a few ladders to climb before she really understands the 'timbre' and acoustics of a piano. "Morning Has Broken" will sound exactly the same on a Yamaha or Stultz, depending on your furnishings.

Good luck with your piano....

[mrkoneill]

Thanks all for the advice. I've found a little more out. It's made by Steinhoven under the Stultz & Bauer brand name (an American company from the late 1800's) and is exactly the same model as the Steinhoven 121 so it's 121cm high as far as I can make out. Hence the marked difference in sound between the B1 and it. I hadn't set a budget but then again, I didn't have an unlimited budget and with a 7 year old only beginning her role I wanted to compromise between spending not too much and getting a decent piano. Obvioulsy a U1 or U3, even a B3 would be the best option but I was conscious of having to spend 4-6k!
I have nearly decided on this Stultz now with the thoughts that I could move to something like a U1 in 5-10 years if she continues to enjoy and progress and maybe get a few quid back on this as a trade in :) But again, thanks for all your advice as I did find that googling for new paino information was quite 'hit and miss'!!