---

Added on April 24, 2008, 2:16 am
You cant judge the quality based on the country its made. They usually produce products in a China because the cost is cheaper, cost like factory rental and the salary of the worker, but that does not mean that it is low quality. (Original Sony Playstation parts are made from China too )

Steinway & Sons is my dream piano too! Many performers I saw in youtube are using Steinway & Sons piano too. I saw somebody selling a second hand S&S grand piano for about RM130k can buy one house already

Many people say that Yamaha is expensive because of its brand name, but not because of its quality. I wonder if its true

[/quote]

Steinways & Sons is the best but it is not the best of the best. read the book about the steinway history and u know why they are popular today. beside steinways there are other big players like Bechstein, Faziolli, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, Grotrian which are in the same league, if not better. to me S&S is just another Euro-Version of the Yamaha popularity, of coz S&S is good just overrated.

---

Added on November 14, 2009, 3:54 pmno worries, dont tune it first. let the piano settle itself in the new place before tuning the piano. if the piano is in good condition, piano doesnt go out becuase of moving. it goes out of tune because the change of climate. HUMIDITY. wood contract or expand thus changing the strings' tension. if piano goes out of tune just becuase of moving (by professional piano mover) than a concert pianist who have strongs finger banging on the piano will not be able to play his pieces smoothly. he would need to stop half-way many times to let the tuner tunes it back to pitch before continuing. most modern pianos are very well built and tough and can hold a substantial force however, humidity causing the wood is just too great. when a wood expand it is really something...

This post has been edited by jhp: Nov 14 2009, 03:54 PM

there is K. Kawai or Kawai or Shigeru Kawai... if is really a KawaII then i suggest that you run away from this shop, hanky panky business.. gosh...

arr.. nailed it.. ask the tuner to check the trapwork. if the note sustain when u hold the key that means the pedal linkage is fault... there are 2 springs (depending to manufacturer) and one of it may have broken. not really a major issue

dont be sad... Lang Lang was once being expelled because lack of talent and today he is top 100 most influence pianist

find the right ppl aka piano mover.... it will be little more $$$ than ordinary mover but if anything might happen to the piano, that little saving will not be able to cover the cost of repair anyways.... so why not go for the right ppl.... i am not saying there's no risk if is handled by piano movers but the risk is many times higher if is done by improper trained or inexperienced movers..... although piano is built tough (over 22 tones of stress coming from the piano strings) it's very fragile and can be very heavy, depending on size. a little mistake and u will be screaming out from ur lungs.....

and, most piano mover will have some sort of insurance, or liablity coverage... check wif them and see... do note, you dont wanna pay the cost of repairs "hundred/thousand" times $$$ just for becoz of trying to save the little bit of $.

This post has been edited by jhp: May 7 2011, 04:28 PM

between yamaha and kawai pianos;-
kawai should feel heavier than yamaha - dif action geometry piano design
kawai should sound more mellow than yamaha - although both are consider to be bright.

the newer version of the yamies 'YUS series' have a different design and materials.
- dif action geometry design with heavier touch as compared to the entry level 'J and/or L series" and popular 'U-series".
- have different hammers and additional tuning, regulation and voicing at the factory before export.
- fitted with German Roslau strings instead of the japanese piano wire produces a more mellower tone, only on the YUS5.

unless you played on the 'YUS series', i am suprise you mentioned the yamaha felt heavier than your kawai. i'll suspect that the yamaha piano maybe out of regulation thus the mechanism i.e. whippens, hammers and dampers, are not working as one and create stiff/heavy touch. or, the springs in the mechanism are over done, which commonly found in many reconditioned pianos, may result to stiff feeling.... or, many many or....

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 11:00 AM

top picture:- cheapo ways of not replacing the old weak spring. inexpensive way of doing to increase the tension on old spring that is by bending it to almost 90%... what a work... and worst, the spring is now not sitting on the felt... bravo... just wait .... soon you will start to hear squeaks.....
bottom picture:- correct spring load angle with new spring. it's body with nicely curved angle for further tension adjustment, if needed...


arr this pulak hammer spring again cheapo way of doing, not replacing weak old spring... again another 90% angle... what a rubbish work.... over tension....

this is what you pay for... dont think recond is gold... oh.... this is just little few things maybe only 10%, balance lagi 90% will start jumping...

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 12:46 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

why do some pianos feel heavy and some feel light? the weight required to make a key go down referred to as touchweight. every piano vary from 40 grams to 70 grams; differences in mass of various parts, friction resistance and leverage. don’t think lighter touch is always better, in fact, most advance musicians like the feel that touch is between 52 to 58 grams. piano that is light in touch, result to less feedback from piano back to player. on the other hand, too heavy touch makes arms and fingers tire easily and at times sensitive control will be gone. adjustment can be made to your piano touchweight, ask your technician; to increase touch weight i.e. changing a new set of hammers with heavier mass weight, adding key-leads, increase spring tension and etc…

end of the day, touch is very subjective and very personal. there is nothing wrong with having light, medium, heavy, mega heavy touch.... what is important is the action must be responsive to your fingers. if the action is not responsive then it needs 'regulations" and if the piano plays loud even at very soft blow then the hammers need to reshape and voiced....

tunings, regulation, hammer reshape, and voicing are the 4 most basic and important services require in an acoustic piano.

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 02:12 PM

yamie makes many models, some really good ones and some poorly designed ones (yep new piano i am refering).... it's hard to conclude that it is or it is not the most advanced upright unless the model is spelled out... to me the most advanced upright in the yamies family is the YU5. the rest of the models are just an improvement designed from their earlier species... your kawai that is 20 years old (if that is actual age, assuming you bought it new and not those recond stocks again from japan) may not be the worst of the kawai. it may just required some adjustment and/or replacement parts. note, piano deteriote overtime, no piano becomes better when it age.... so some $$$$ will be needed if you want to restore a used piano to play nice....

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 03:44 PM

ops.. YU5 am refering to YUS 5 typo error.... my mistake..

i will suggest that you ask your technician to look into the action. check all moving mechanisms (ie. hammers, whippens, dampers, keys) that they are in good order and not loose. (loose mechanical parts contribute to light touch with little or zero response/feedback). then, request for "action regulation" service - to adjust the sensitivity of feel for power and control. after that, play on the piano and see. usually after doing it, you will feel a great improvement, if you have not perform any regulation services since the piano was new. finally, if the touch is still feels light, in your opinion, then go ahead with increasing the touch weight...

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 04:09 PM

yes the keys are the same since they engineered weighted based on an average (except high quality pianos which are individually weighted with appropriate key leads for better feel).

what i have suggested to you earlier will not make the keys become heavy but to bring back the responsiveness of the touch prior to touch-weight modification. if you realised that you have good/better control without modification after the regulation why bother to change it. i put it to you that you bought this piano in the first place because you like how it sound and play...

if u r free, go out and play some upright and maybe grand pianos....every piano makers designed their action geometry differently result to different feedback... just for reference... hv fun

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 04:37 PM

well i know many professionals work very closely with their technicians for further adjustements and tweakings... some customised the touch weight. fly to the factory and pick the piano they like and purchase it. 2 renowned companies like fazioli and petrof owned the MBA action patent aka magnetic balance action. this mechanism allows the pianists / technicians to adjust the touch weight from light to medium to heavy in just 10 minutes. yeap... the use of magnet force to increase/decrease the inertia of the keys and actions ..

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 13 2011, 04:50 PM

Personally, disagree with the above. Enrolling for ABRSM or any examination boards have nothing to do with if you stuck playing just 3 pcs for a whole year. The problem is that many teachers and parents emphasis too much on EXAMS. You need to score.. Better past... Etc.. Etc... "look my son/daughter score 98%, or ... now diploma liau, now this liau, and the bla bla continues...." in the end, you stuck playing those boring pieces and waiting to have a chance to QUIT music.

In my opinion, music is suppose to be fun and teachers should introduce a more varied repertoire including lighter, contemporary music and etc. With lots of repertoire and you will be surprise you will score your the grade standards without realising it. Including, increases your confident level and at anytime ready for exam, competitive play, competition, concert and etc... Also, picking up notes easily as well... that y IMO, Asian and western pianists are diff., you give a piece to a western musician he/she can play without ease. give a piece to an Asian musician he/she will be stuck a while and need to practice

Exam is important attest your weakness to improve/correct from there but music is suppose to be fun and creative....

Yeah no choice le.... Metronome helps and guide u correct playing speed.... Practice more /:) have fun playing

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 23 2011, 07:42 PM

yeah.. true... not everyone coming from western way of learning are great nor coming from asian are bad... just in general... "when there's good guy, there'll always be a bad guy for everyone to blame..."

try talking to your teacher... tell her that you prefer to play more songs than just the 3 boring pieces... etc... etc... imo, teacher suppose to guide and correct your mistake and etc etc... on the piece you play... so you and your family and enjoy the priceless music coming from your fingers

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 24 2011, 09:41 AM

personally, if you 'pro-yamie' luv how they sound and feel U1J is a good choice as compare to LU90 or 'recond junks'.... on the other hand, if you hv not done your true piano shopping and have not finalised, there are many choices.... u1j is 121cm height piano and indonesia-make selling for about 16-17K.... i feel too much for a piano coming from indonesia, anyways that is not the question here... for that money$$$ you invest, you have many many pianos...

end of the day is your choice... but do give urself an opportunity to play as many pianos as possible before you decide... dont worry wif yamie promotion now, they will have the promo very often... i see they getting great impact from recond/junk dealers on their own brand, over the last decades... hv fun...

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 24 2011, 12:01 PM

no you won't cry... present yamaha and older yamaha is NOT a same piano.

yamaha began to making pianos in 1900 learning from great builders from america and europe. when the first piano was made (copied from an old expired patent) they were not wonders. they were having hard time entering the western market particularly america, biggest buyers in the world, and (like the koreans and the chinese when they started making pianos) facing problem such as their wood was not dried enough and created problems. they learned and (japanese being japanese) the quality improved. best of everything the prices of their piano was very much cheaper than those coming from america and europe, opened a new door for the mid-level (bigger pie than niche buyers) income family... (those days before there was any asian manufacturers, only rich ppl can afford to buy a piano at home... it's like a status)...cut grandmother story short...., over the years many improvement been made; better machinery, better kiln drying facilities, better scaling and yes today they are among the most automated anywhere in the world.... due to the high wages and currency fluctuation, their pianos became more and more expensive in their country thus the setup of new factories outside the country will be an ideal solution for the them to stay competitive (yamie piano coming from japan, subject to the type of series, is still a better quality make than those outside of japan).... in addition due to their high volume of production, relative scarcity and higher cost of fine woods, japanese pianos usually contain less expensive wood as other great piano builder from america or europe.. on the other hand, yes... they have top series (but very much less in production and very pricey too) which uses premium materials (maple, beech, hornbeam - wood, roslau piano wires, wet sand cast iron plate, high graded stika spruce, german hammers & bla bla bla lists) and better scaling plus better action designed. for reference they are; CF, S, CFIII, CX .... anyways this is not important, since is not the topic....

30+ years is NOT the same piano as the current designed models, other than having the same name on the fallboard.

conclusion; if you've done your piano shopping and hv played many pianos and still like the touch and tone of the yamie... well.. go for the U1J and stay away from old scale junks from japan.... they have nothing but new paint works, new sets of white keys and best sparkling shinny metal hinges....

recond cars, recond photocopy machines & etc from japan are diff... majority are still the current models if not just few years old and the investment on these items are worth because you paying something less for something that is current....

This post has been edited by jhp: Jun 24 2011, 08:18 PM

congra... it's never too late to learn music, that's for sure.

do take ur time in before making a final decision. i would recommend you to check this link http://www.pianobuyer.com/spring11/11.html
diff between acoustic and digital. u would want to spent every dime with maximum returns. it is a very helpful resources...

hv fun...

raya sayang decades ago

silent piano is basically a normal acoustic piano fitted with a system that makes it possible to play the piano at anytime without disturbing anyone, day and/or night. how it works? a sensors installed underneath the keys and pedals. when at silent mode a lever drop to block the hammer from hitting the strings. movement of the keys are detected by sensors and converted into a MIDI signal, allowing the piano to be used as digital piano and listen using headphones, and best of all, without effective the touch and response. (two types of sensors in the market 1) optical sensor or 2) lever sensor). in addition to just silent u get to enjoy further 127 different instrument sound and etc...

there are factory installed (on brand new pianos) or after market system allowing installing in used piano/preowned/new pianos and usually cause you between RM 4000.00-RM 8000.00, subject to module....

This post has been edited by jhp: Aug 8 2011, 07:20 PM