If in doubt wait!
Moderators: Feg, Gill the Piano, Melodytune
If in doubt wait!
Some of you may have noticed I've been looking for a grand for some 3 years now. I've been up and down the country trying literally hundreds of pianos but none has actually had the sound to INSPIRE me at a price I can afford. Last week I was on the verge of putting a deposit on a perfectly good, mint-condition 1995 6ft 10in Schimmel 208 as the best compromise between price, size, usage and sound. But I wasn't actually inspired by the sound. It was 'good' but not 'magical'. And then I had an unexpected tip-off about a 7ft 4in grand which hadn't actually been advertised. It was a 150 mile drive on a wet and cold Saturday and I almost couldn't be bothered to go. But within a few seconds playing I knew this was the piano to inspire me as a composer and performer. It's a unique-sounding 1920s piano extensively-customised by an extraordinary piano engineer who has developed his own ideas for restoring pianos over many years. The problem? I now have to rip-out my music room to give it the floor-to-ceiling make-over this piano justifies! The moral? If in doubt wait!
In my experience most "customisers" either louse up perfectly decent pianos or fail to improve rubbish ones. Be careful that you're not buying into someone's ego. What was fundamentally wrong with the 1920s piano that it needed a remodel? If it was a poor piano in the first place it wouldn't warrant it, and if it was a good one, it'll unlikely be improved. Either way, modified pianos often lose their value.
I can think of only a handful of technicians in the UK who could improve a good 1920s piano, but hundreds who would bugger up the job and believe they were working miracles. It's the ones that convince others as well as themselves who are the dangerous ones.
Get an independent technician, preferably your own tuner who I'm sure you must know and trust, to check it over in case it's a pig in a poke.
I can think of only a handful of technicians in the UK who could improve a good 1920s piano, but hundreds who would bugger up the job and believe they were working miracles. It's the ones that convince others as well as themselves who are the dangerous ones.
Get an independent technician, preferably your own tuner who I'm sure you must know and trust, to check it over in case it's a pig in a poke.
"I can think of only a handful of technicians in the UK who could improve a good 1920s piano, but hundreds who would bugger up the job and believe they were working miracles. It's the ones that convince others as well as themselves who are the dangerous ones"
EXACTLY PianoGuy, great stuff! I can rely on you! Three words:
ears
limbs
eyes
That's how I reached my decision. And exceptionally quickly. The piano wasn't even for sale and 'P' didn't open his mouth and knew he didn't need to! So there was no question of 'buying into someone's ego'. Oh and 3 years of the sort of disappointments your remarks allude to makes me even more cautious than your good self
As for losing its value.....it's value for me is to inspire me to compose/record.....and that I know it will do! By the way, after I bought it I learned it had been the featured piano at an international music festival for the past three years. It will be interesting to find out what the star performers thought of it
EXACTLY PianoGuy, great stuff! I can rely on you! Three words:
ears
limbs
eyes
That's how I reached my decision. And exceptionally quickly. The piano wasn't even for sale and 'P' didn't open his mouth and knew he didn't need to! So there was no question of 'buying into someone's ego'. Oh and 3 years of the sort of disappointments your remarks allude to makes me even more cautious than your good self
As for losing its value.....it's value for me is to inspire me to compose/record.....and that I know it will do! By the way, after I bought it I learned it had been the featured piano at an international music festival for the past three years. It will be interesting to find out what the star performers thought of it
Er... I am not understanding this at all!sirprize wrote: That's how I reached my decision. And exceptionally quickly. The piano wasn't even for sale and 'P' didn't open his mouth and knew he didn't need to! So there was no question of 'buying into someone's ego'.
Anyway. I hope you have chosen well and are happy with your new companion. Which music festival was it used in?