I have another piano shopping update. I made a big mistake. I played a brand new Steinway M.

But let me first say I have never cared two shakes (or three) about Steinway as a name, or a mystique, which seems more accurate. I've played some Steinways I like, and some that were decidedly blah. But in general, I have been ignoring the ones I've seen online, they're all over priced from where I sit. And I did play one in a dealer a while back. It sounded like it was under a blanket. Yuck.

Not this one. OMG I fell in love with it immediately. I have never played a piano and responded to it like that in my whole life. I don't know what it was ... I'm a pretty mediocre pianist as y'all know, but that instrument made everything I played sound so good, every note was exquisite -- even the wrong ones! I was just swooning the whole time! And also my heart was breaking, that thing probably costs about 1/2 of what we paid for our house!

That's the last time I'm going to play such an expensive piano. Jeez Louise.

In other news, I really like every Boston I've played so far.... OTOH, although I've been expecting that I'll end up wanting a Yamaha, I can't seem to find a Yamaha C2 or C3 that's a little newer and actually in tune, so the verdict is still out on that one.

So the hunt continues...

I have had the similar experience ....blah for the most part. Then I played a concert prepped B. Utter magic in tone and touch. Made me much better than I am. Might have preferred it to my ideal, Bechsteins.

quote:

a concert prepped B

Oh nice! One other Steinway that I loved was a piano I used to take lessons on. It was from 18?? 1880? I don't remember, but it only had 85 keys. It had been completely redone with all new innards by some swanky Steinway guy (apparently) but it just had the most amazing sound. I loved having that as my lesson piano!

I would imagine the brand new M I played was prepped very well.

I need to figure out how to erase that part of my memory now....

Steinway dreams

Hope someday I achieve your degree of what you call mediocracy

Cant wait to retire next month. I plan to devote at least an hour a day to my piano.

quote:

Cant wait to retire next month.

Oh! Early-congratulations!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Cant wait to retire next month. I plan to devote at least an hour a day to my piano.

Very jealous. Hope you enjoy retirement as much as I think I will.

I'm sure that was a nice experience, SK. Steinways can be SO variable, which explains your varied reactions to them. When they are good, they are very, very good...as they say.

Quite the experience.

I had it once. At Cathy Harl's. A piano that gave me that 'melting' experience. I didn't want to stop playing.

Even more while playing a private concert grand for 5 hrs. The Steingraeber that Eric Himy uses in concerts.

My MH is nice and makes me feel good, and I put my retirement savings into it. After a special upgrade regulation, it was heavenly.

But boy, those special 'once in a lifetime experiences' shall always be remembered and cherished!

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Cant wait to retire next month. I plan to devote at least an hour a day to my piano.

Mik that’s awesome.

That brand new piano - is it local?

It's not always the case, but often behind a special piano, you can find a special technician that spent a half, whole or couple of days prepping a new piano once it arrives at a store.

It would be worth finding out who the tech is and have a chat to see if the piano got just a little prep or a lot. Often "lesser" pianos can be made much more responsive under the care of a very skilled technician...

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Cant wait to retire next month. I plan to devote at least an hour a day to my piano.

Congratulations! You're gonna love it. But this announcement deserves a thread of its own.

quote:

Hope someday I achieve your degree of what you call mediocracy

CHAS you're kind, thank you!

quote:

That brand new piano - is it local?

Ron, I actually did ask who prepped it, I wanted to ask about what kind of prep was done, but it didn't occur to me to enlist the tech to work on a piano of my own! That's a great idea! Anyway, apparently the tech who did that piano is based out of a city that's about two hours from where we live (the dealer is about an hour drive from us). So I don't know how willing that person is to make a drive like that, but it's something to keep in mind as I'm test-playing pianos that are actually closer to my budget!

You know, I've played pianos I loved in the past, but the ones that have really made a huge impression on me have been more like 7 or 9 foot grands. With pianos that big, there's no way I could fit one in my house, so I don't think it affected me the same way. This piano would fit perfectly in our living room and I think that's part of why it sort of was so heartbreaking.... I know that doesn't make sense though.

Anyway, on the one hand, I keep thinking about that piano, on the other hand, it's just ridiculous to even think about.

Also, I am remembering a throw-away comment made by a dealer a while back. He was telling me about one of his used pianos, something about how it was a single-owner and the owner could hardly play, and he said something like "this piano was wasted on them."

I remember at the time thinking that was a horrible thing to say. But now it occurs to me that the piano I played yesterday would probably be wasted on me.

Which is also a horrible thing to say.

My tech may think my piano is wasted on me, too.

You know what? If it's giving a player pleasure, it's not wasted. The pianos that I think are wasted are the ones that nobody every plays. I'm pretty sure that the previous owners didn't play my piano, so I like to think I rescued it.

I have thought that mine might have gotten some special voicing before I got it, because the dealer had recently rented it to a venue where Burt Bacharach was giving a concert. When I bought the piano, the dealer gave me a newspaper clipping of Bacharach playing it. I guess it's possible that it was voiced to his taste for that concert.