quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Could I horn in on this conversation? I should my Steinway M as a casualty on the flood, and am now looking for a good upright. I'm always hoping to run across a used Pleyel, but there are also a few interesting options at my preferred store now.
The first is 2006 Yamaha YUS5, and the second is a 2015 Seiler 132. I haven't played either yet, but I'm curious if anyone has any opinions on these in general. I've played as sorts of Yamahas, but only a Seiler grand that was lovely.

Any thoughts?

Ugh, Nina, I’m so sorry this has happened to you. I didn’t realize that your piano was also a casualty.

Re the Seiler, when I was piano shopping, I only played one Seiler, and it was a grand. But I really, really liked it. I actually wanted to play it more but it was at a dealer’s shop and the dealer was very “off.” In fact Mr. ask and I had to practically run from the store to get away from him, and I vowed never to go back.

Anyway, just based on that piano, if I were piano shooing now and came across a Seiler, I would give serious consideration and spend the time to evaluate it.

Separate from that, give serious consideration to the Yamaha YUS, that series is very well-regarded, and the 5 is a taller upright. I owned a Yamaha U1 (my first acoustic piano, that I had to sell when we returned to the U.S.), the U1 is shorter, but it was such a good instrument.

back to your YUS5, assuming it’s in good condition (and at 18 y/o, it’s not very old) it will likely have excellent action, which makes a huge diferent in the overall playing experience.

Here’s what the Piano Buyer has to say about the YUS5

quote:

The U3 joins the YUS5 (see below) in having a “floating” soundboard — the soundboard is not completely attached to the back at the top, allowing it to vibrate a little more freely to enhance the tonal performance. A new Super U series of uprights (YUS1, YUS3, and YUS5) have different hammers and get additional tuning and voicing at the factory, including voicing by machine to create a more consistent, more mellow tone. The YUS5 has German Röslau music wire instead of Yamaha wire, also for a mellower tone. This top-of-the-line 52″ upright also has agraffes, duplex scaling, and a sostenuto pedal (all other Yamaha verticals have a practice/mute pedal). The U- and YU-series uprights are all made in Japan and come with soft-close fallboards

And

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Yamaha verticals are very well made for mass-produced pianos. The taller uprights in particular are considered a “dream” to service by technicians, and are very much enjoyed by musicians. Sometimes the pianos can sound quite bright, though much less so now than in previous years. The current version of the model P22 school studio is said to have been redesigned to sound less bright and to have a broader spectrum of tonal color. Double-striking of the hammer in the low tenor on a soft or incomplete keystroke is a problem occasionally mentioned in regard to Yamaha verticals by those who play with an especially soft touch. This tendency is a characteristic of the action design, the trade-off being better-than-normal repetition for a vertical piano. If necessary, it’s possible that a technician can lessen this problem with careful adjustment, but at the risk of sacrificing some speed of repetition.

Lastly, I found with my U1 that it was very responsive to my piano tech’s care. I had it tuned by the same gentleman for 9 years, and it sounded better and better as the years went on.

In fact (and I’ve written about this at PW before), when it was time for me to sell it, I asked my tuner for advice about how to sell it and he immediately said “I’ll buy it, it’s such a nice piano, I will be easy to sell.” His wife ran a piano studio in a bigger city than where I lived, and he planned to sell it through her connections.

So I sold it to him and then a few months after we‘d returned to the US, I emailed him to check in and see if he’d managed to sell it.

He emailed me back right away and told me that he decided not to sell it. When he bought it, he took the piano home and put it in his own studio. At fruit, he said he didn’t want to play it because it felt like “my piano” and he knew how sad I was to have to leave it behind. Then he started playing it. He said he normally doesn’t play piano at home, but he started playing my piano and he just loved it so much, he didn’t want to sell it. So he decided to keep it, and he said he’d been playing that piano regularly ever since, more than he’d played in years.

Sorry for the thread drift! (I should really send him an email and see how he’s doing after all the years…

Anyway, Nina, you know the drill about getting these used instruments inspected by your own tech, but definitely consider that YUS5. And let us know how it goes!

I've never played one, but I've read a bunch about the altered upright action - http://fandrich.com/ that has a repetition component - supposed to play like a grand.

Anyone have a chance to try one?

Okay, I've been doing some research and talking to some people. I am dithering toward donating through Piano Finders and taking the tax deduction and at least taking a stab at selling it myself through PianoMart.

The tax deduction route would likely yield a bit more than I'd get by selling it to a dealer and I'd bypass the "pleasure" of basically giving it to somebody who would turn around and make a profit. There are some IRS wrinkles that make it impossible to know exactly what the tax benefits will be, though. If I donate it to an organization that then uses it, I just need an independent appraisal for the tax deduction. But if that organization turns around and sells it, then I'll owe taxes on the difference between what the value I claimed and what they get for it. I have no control over that and can't anticipate it. So there's some risk of me basically giving it away, but at least it'll go (probably) to a good cause.

Right now, I'm leaning toward a middle path--giving myself x months to sell it on PianoMart and then donating if that doesn't work. It looks like people have successfully sold C7s for a reasonable amount, so it may be worth a shot.

I've heard good things from some of you about the people at Piano Finders, but if anybody else knows anything, good or bad, I'd love to hear it. And do any of you have any experience buying or selling through PianoMart?

quote:

Right now, I'm leaning toward a middle path--giving myself x months to sell it on PianoMart and then donating if that doesn't work. It looks like people have successfully sold C7s for a reasonable amount, so it may be worth a shot.

Personally I would start with this option. You can always move on to the others if this doesn’t work out.

I don’t have any experience with Piano Mart other than looking at the site and hearing people at PW say they bought through there without problems. I’ve never read anything bad about Piano Mart, which is a good sign but also limited.

When was the last time you talked to a dealer about your piano? Once your piano gets to NY and you’re closer to dealers there, maybe they would offer you more money than what you’ve been told in the past? Have you ever contacted Rich G. of Cunningham Piano? If not, I would recommend it, if for no other reason than the fact that he’s based on the East Coast and it will give you more info.

quote:

I've never played one, but I've read a bunch about the altered upright action - http://fandrich.com/ that has a repetition component - supposed to play like a grand.

Anyone have a chance to try one?

i thought i'd posted further up that i have played quite a few of them. in fact i stayed with the fandrichs for a while and spent time with darryl in his rebuilding workshop.

the action does have the aftertouch of a grand piano. i didn't get one because the tone wasn't what i was looking for, and that was the main thing i was seeking in a piano.

Liked the YUS5 it tried in Denver. Bought the YUS1.
My place is too live for a big sound.

Tried a new Schimmel upright.
I am too much of a Mississippi Delta born guy to have a piano that would not sound good for the blues. I also like jazz and Yamahas are just right for that.

1. The YUS1 should not have the huge sound of the larger YUS5, but has most of the the same components.
2. The YUS1 I bought has the Silent system. I can play it when I am up in the madrugada or whenever Bob is watching television. I prefer that to adding a digital piano upstairs.

The YUS5 has a sostenuto pedal and ivorite coated keys the YUS1 lacks.

The YUS uprights get a lot of positive mentions on Piano World.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
I am too much of a Mississippi Delta born guy to have a piano that would not sound good for the blues. I also like jazz and Yamahas are just right for that.

That's an interesting observation. I'm not Delta-born, but I'm Mississippi-born and I've spent time in the Delta, because my first husband was born there. I mostly play classical music, but when I play non-classical stuff, it's generally to accompany myself singing. Most everything I sing leans a bit toward blues.

My Steinway had minor damage, but between repairing it, the cost of storing it during the rebuild, and a general sense that we should downsize, I sold it back to the dealer I purchased it from, and now have a credit there to use for a new piano (hence my "preferred" store, although I would've gone to them regardless). That's why I'm in the market for a higher-end upright now.

I am hoping to get over there tomorrow to at least see if they still have the Yamaha and Seiler. If so, I'll give a report!

Nina, ahh, so the piano is still playable, that's good to hear. But yes, as you said above, at the same time, it's a casualty.

Well I'm glad you have a credit to use towards a different piano!

BTW do you have an idea of how long the rebuild is expected to take? Where are you staying in the interim?

My option for a piano would be to download something from the Play Store.

I think not.

I'll have to live vicariously through MA, et. al.

Do any of you know the best way to reach Rich Galassini? I thought I'd bother him with some of these questions.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
Do any of you know the best way to reach Rich Galassini? I thought I'd bother him with some of these questions.

I'll DM you his address. Rich has a great deal of integrity and knowledge. He can help.

I tried repeatedly to get through to Rich about doing a trade or partial trade of my piano for one of Cunningham's, and he hasn't replied. It's weird because he specifically advised calling him in a thread I started on Piano World.

quote:

I tried repeatedly to get through to Rich about doing a trade or partial trade of my piano for one of Cunningham's

RP, are you sure you're contacting him in the right place?

Maybe Kluurs can share that address with you.

Or, if it were me, I would just call the main store phone (i'm old school I guess)

There are three, but I'd start with the King of Prussia location:

(215) 991-0850

I had used one of two different numbers but at least one of them worked because we did have one phone conversation. I left messages.