Sounds like you will see quite a few places and test quite a few pianos.

Oh good...6 ft is still possible.

I asked KK if she would pop in here if she has a
Seiler...I think she does. I liked them.

I went all around here ... NE.
went to NYC, several places, and stayed with Fellow member; went to DC area for a couple.

Flying was good for me. Several great experiences.

Ended up with MH grand when I started out lookin for upright!

New German pianos made in Germany are extremely sound and reliable. Any used piano of any make it is going to depend on how it was cared for.

quote:

Do you think the Petrof grands are pretty reliable? Do they hold their tuning? Are they any more or less susceptible to humidity than other makes?

The 2 that I really like are a 6'(ish) in a home and a 7'(ish) in a church. The home one has a Dampp-Chaser installed and is very stable. The church one drifts in overall pitch, but holds up much better than the Yamaha G series that seem to go crazy at the breaks with the shifts in humidity we see around Chicago.

The early imports had pedal issues, but I haven't seen any problems in those two. I've had to stay on top of voicing, they seem to want to brighten up - similar to most pianos in that respect...

quote:

Originally posted by LL:
Flying was good for me. Several great experiences.

I keep hoping you’ll fly out here. I have a number of gardens I’d love to show you, along with trips to the desert and trips to the shore.

Ron, thanks for those comments.

quote:

Any used piano of any make it is going to depend on how it was cared for.

piqué, I am pretty sure I'll be buying a used instrument, so yes, I have this on my radar (which is code word for "I am totally paranoid" about used pianos )

The Feurich seems to have been really well-cared for and hardly played, the hammers look practically new! I had him take the music desk off and I poked my head inside and it just looked like it was in really good shape. (I forgot to crawl under the piano and look up, though I did that with the Yamaha C3 that I liked.) And the Feurich played so well, which is a good sign of course.

Oh, did I say this above? On the plate it said "made in Langlau W. Germany"

Having said that, I'm necessarily considering buying that particular piano, just that it's a good example, I think, of a used piano in good condition.

LL, your piano shopping sounds like it was a lot of fun! I really won't be doing that kind of traveling though. Besides the fact that I hate flying, it would eat too much of my piano budget!

Never fear. Especially if you are buying used, line up a tech in advance while will do a pre-purchase in inspection.

In fact, if you are really smart, you will shop right now for your piano technician and *then* shop for your piano. There are so many in important reasons to do it this way. I could write a book about it!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by LL:
Flying was good for me. Several great experiences.

I keep hoping you’ll fly out here. I have a number of gardens I’d love to show you, along with trips to the desert and trips to the shore.

Sounds great!

But busy busy busy working on estates march - early nov.

When can I retire!

quote:

shop right now for your piano technician

So what I'm finding is that this is difficult. My piano tuner lives in a town about a half hour from me, but in the opposite direction from most of the piano dealers. He has said he can come and evaluate pianos from private sellers in and around here, but I get the impression he's not keen to take a 2 hour drive to evaluate pianos further away.

There's another guy I've talked to about evaluating pianos for me, he was recommended to me, but I have only spoken to him on the phone so far. I can't quite figure him out, something about him makes me worry that he's of the "Steinway or nothing" school.

What I need, I think, is one person in each of the main cities (so Charlotte, Asheville etc) but then it's really hard to find them, figure out their fees, and ensure that they're not connected to a particular dealer.

So, that piece of it (finding a tech) is not going as well as I'd like.

One thing I'm wondering about is the degree to which I want or need an independent tech with a really well-reputed store, esp if they offer a warranty with the piano.

Do you think I need a tech in those instances?

quote:

Do you think I need a tech in those instances?

Absolutely. No question. Even a new piano may have issues the dealer is unaware of.

quote:

Absolutely. No question. Even a new piano may have issues the dealer is unaware of.

Ok, I'm going to have to get a few more technicians on my roster, my regular guy I don't think is going to be willing to drive all over the place for me....

That's what I did. I had techs lined up from NYC to SLC to Seattle. PianoWorld members were a great source for finding trustworthy technicians. Make sure you are paying them. Ask them outright if they would be getting a sales commission from the dealer.

But beyond that you want your local tech in place because that is the person who will be working on the piano. I would ask piano faculty for their recommendations

I really like the guy who takes care of my upright, I found him through the PTG website. The other guy (who I've spoken on the phone to, who, btw, lives in the same town as the dealer with the Seiler) was recommended to me by a piano professor here on campus, and the shop with the Feurich was recommend to me by the retired director of my university's performance ctr (she's also a great pianist herself, and recommended the technician at that shop very highly). So I should be ok for these shops. I need to find someone in Asheville NC, Charlotte NC, and probably Columbia SC. Those are all reasonably sized cities so it should be do-able.

Oh! I called the place with the Petrof grand. He said it was built in 1994 and it's 5'8". They're selling it for $5995. Does that seem kind of ridiculously cheap to you? I didn't come right out and say "why is it that price, what's wrong with it" but that's what I was thinking. Maybe it's just that cheap because it's not a Yamaha, Steinway, Kawai, or Baldwin, which one dealer told me are the only models that sell around here.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get over to that store soon, it's one of the farther ones though.

Ask on PW about Petrofs of that vintage. If memory serves, they aren't really the same build quality as more recent models.