quote:

never do I miss my Brooklyn place so much as during a piano party

Jon, I am trying to remember if I've seen a photo of that space... I'm thinking I have.

How many people were at your most recent party? Was it more than 10?

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Bernard, thanks, I wonder what the R stands for. The piano I mentioned above is a G1, which I thought was 5' but maybe it's actually 5'3" and maybe it's a similar model to yours, if I manage to go play it, I'll take my tape measure and let you know!

For what it's worth, I believe it's the designation that notes the fact that my piano has duplex scaling (which is not all that common in small grands--to my understanding--but I never researched it much). My piano has rear duplex scaling so maybe that's why the "R"? Duplex scaling is a tone enhancing technology.

quote:

duplex scaling

I don't even know that that is!

If I had any advice for you, I would just say to be open to surprises. We looked at a LOT of pianos when I was shopping. I had an idea in my head of the size and make and age that I wanted but they were scarce so I looked at a lot of things that weren't what I wanted too. And don't let preconceived notions define what you think of the piano. When I went to a piano store, I made it a habit to play everything that was remotely in my budget (and some things that weren't!). I played some tiny no-name grands that played and sounded like they were twice the size (and price!). And I played some high end expensive pianos that were unbelievably unimpressive (or even awful) given their price tags. I came away convinced that every piano has its own personality -- I could sit and play 3 identical brand new pianos and they all felt and sounded different to me. So be open and take the time to see and play pianos that you aren't necessarily expecting to be "the one." You might be pleasantly surprised and even if not, every piano you play teaches you something about what you do or don't want in your dream piano.

Also, I know everyone here is cautioning you to avoid going too small. I would also caution you to avoid going too big. Just because a piano fits in the room doesn't mean it's not too much piano for the room or the house. I ended up with a piano I did not expect to end up with (a 6'5" 1926 rebuilt Chickering) and while I love it to death, it is a LOT of piano for my house. We have an open floor plan and hardwood floors everywhere and when someone is playing the sound of that piano just dominates every room in the house. We are all used to it now, but in an ideal world I probably should have gotten something smaller. But again - like I said, be open to surprises because you never know what you'll fall in love with!

SK, I agree with Lisa’s advice above!

One more thing to think about: Your living room is very different acoustically from the showroom, if you’re looking in a piano store. My piano wasn’t that loud in the store, but it’s a LOT of piano for my small, low-ceilinged living room. It’s a Weinbach 170 (5’7”).

I played a Shigeru Kawai in a shop on a lark. It seemed pretty quiet compared to the other pianos. It would probably be perfect in my house. But I already had a piano!

quote:

Originally posted by Bernard:
SK, as someone who has owned a 5'3" baby grand for almost 3 decades, I'm going to disagree with the posts above. What it boils down to is your needs. Do you need something for performances? Don't get a baby grand. Do you need something well built and consistent to learn on? A baby grand will suit you better than any upright. The action of a baby grand is the same as a full grand and I have never yet played an upright which action could compare to that of the gravity driven grand action. If you're primarily concerned with tone, a good upright will be better than a small grand (sometimes).

Because I have always had my piano as a learning instrument I have never had a strong desire to trade in for something bigger (and let me tell you... bigger is not synonymous with better. I've played absolutely dreadful large grands). I love my Yamaha, it's a real work horse at 5'3".

Bernard's piano is the ONLY exception to this rule I have ever encountered, and I have easily played hundreds of pianos of all sizes. Bernard, your piano is a freak of nature. Highly unlikely for SK to find a 5' piano with the stellar qualities of yours.

quote:

What is DC btw?

A typo. New phone that is always reinventing what I write.

Re your criteria: I advise playing absolutely everything at first. Be blind to price, age, name on the fallboard. Let your ear and hands be your sole criteria and you will better be able to hone in on what works for you. Allow yourself to be surprised.

quote:

Originally posted by Bernard:

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Bernard, thanks, I wonder what the R stands for. The piano I mentioned above is a G1, which I thought was 5' but maybe it's actually 5'3" and maybe it's a similar model to yours, if I manage to go play it, I'll take my tape measure and let you know!

For what it's worth, I believe it's the designation that notes the fact that my piano has duplex scaling (which is not all that common in small grands--to my understanding--but I never researched it much). My piano has rear duplex scaling so maybe that's why the "R"? Duplex scaling is a tone enhancing technology.

That explains a lot.

Lisa and AdagioM, thanks for all the comments and advice!

I definitely don't want to go to big. I talked with one piano tech a while back and he was clearly trying to steer me toward thinking about larger instruments, which on the one hand I get. But he continued by saying that if the sound was overwhelming, he could add panels to the underside of piano, add panels to the room and so on, and I just thought it sounded (har) like a pretty bad idea.

quote:

Re your criteria: I advise playing absolutely everything at first. Be blind to price, age, name on the fallboard. Let your ear and hands be your sole criteria and you will better be able to hone in on what works for you. Allow yourself to be surprised.

Yes to all of that, piqué. Re being open to surpises, which Lisa also mentioned, I think that's key. My current piano was a surprise actually. It's a Petrof and I didn't even want to consider it because I didn't like the way it looked (it's what I call legless, no front legs coming down from the keyboard, so the keyboard is sort of floating.) I was pretty settled on getting a Baldwin, but ended up liking the way this piano sounded, and felt, much more than the Baldwin.

Another thing that's interesting is that I didn't notice drawbacks to the Baldwin until I had the Petrof to compare it to. For example, I preferred the touch of the Petrof immediately and when I went to play the Baldwin again, I realized that the keybed bottomed out (for lack of a better way to put it) and I was sort of banging on it to try to get it to react the way I wanted it to.

So I do plan to try to play as many pianos as I possibly can this summer (when I'm more able to go out and about to locations farther away).

BTW in googling around about duplex scaling, I read some more about small pianos. Based on what I've read, I definitely won't consider anything less than 5'. I also have the impression that older small grands are not likely to be as good as more recent models in the same size, because of various improvements, like the duplex scaling and so on. Still, I'm hoping that I can make the room work with something in the middle of the "baby" grand size (i.e., something like a 5'7" or 5'8" instrument).

I really need to get one of those stencils or whatever they're called. I can't seem to find anywhere to buy one though!

Concerning the other topic posted awhile ago: What did you find out about how much weight that a floor can support?

I've never heard of an upper floor collapsing down on a lower floor from a piano’s weight. I think it only happens in Bugs Bunny cartoons. A house fire in which the floor around the piano burns up or an earthquake could do it though. The bigger the piano, the heavier they are. You’ll need to find information about the house to discover the maximum weight that a floor can support.

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Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

I really need to get one of those stencils or whatever they're called. I can't seem to find anywhere to buy one though!

A few options. Steinway must make these available to their dealers.

https://www.steinway.com/misc/floor-template

https://www.schmittmusic.com/k...rand-floor-template/

https://steinwaydetroit.com/ge...piano-floor-pattern/

I didn't see patterns for any other makers; maybe Steinway just popped to the top of the searche results.

Kind of a DIY version (at least it gives you some dimensions).

https://shackellpianos.co.uk/steinway-models.php

Generic grand piano; not sure if they charge for it:

https://carusopianos.com/grand...loor-template-detail

Also this:

https://www.bluebookofpianos.com/sizes.html

And later you can crochet one of these (came up in one of my early searches for "grand piano pattern":




https://www.allfreecrochet.com...iano-Wrap-Lion-Brand

No wonder I couldn’t find any, I wasn’t googling “floor pattern” or “template.”
As always, thanks WTG!! I’m on my phone so I’ll look at those again when I’m on a laptop.

In the meantime, the keyboard scarf reminded me of this silly thing that I really, really want.

https://www.amazon.com/Crossbo...281&s=gateway&sr=8-5

I had one of those floor templates a long time ago. I was going to send it to you, but I don’t see it here in my house any more...

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Originally posted by AdagioM:
I had one of those floor templates a long time ago. I was going to send it to you, but I don’t see it here in my house any more...

Perhaps it no longer sparked joy.