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I know some purist are going to hate me but I have considered an acoustic piano and I prefer an electric piano. No need to tune, not so heavy, easy transport, many more options and endless possibilities with midi connected to Ableton, headphones, XLR outlets for sound, millions of sounds from Kontakt, etc... I love the Roland GP-9.
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Andreu No worries, Andreu, I had my Steingraeber outfitted with Adsilent, adding to a superb acoustic piano all of the functionalities of an electric piano.
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Adena Which Steingraeber do you have? Tell me why you love it.
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Jenny Harrison I read that you lucked out on an upright Steingraeber. What a phenomenal gift! I found the A-170 in a music shop and, after doing my research, found the money to buy it. It’s due to the sound, especially in the lower range. They’ve created one of the world’s smallest grand, NOT baby grand, because they designed it to be unusually wide, which allows room for the use of very long bass strings. The upper range is neither thin nor metallic, but issues a delightful singing tone.
My friend has a Steinway and when I compared the sound and touch of each, it was a no-brainer. I tried the concert Yamaha as well. Again, no contest.
All that and for more technical reasons, is why I own it. It also fits into my house. (It’s as long as I am tall, haha.)
Steingraeber only crafts 100 pianos a year and are, as you say rare in North America.
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Adena Sound great.. I need to learn more about adsilent... never heard of that.
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Andreu Adsilent was created specifically for the Steingraeber, however, it’s fiendishly complicated to install. It’s better to find a Steingraeber with a factory-fitted silent system. My technician thought it would take 2 days to install - it took twice that and he used every tool he carted into the house as well as being on the phone with the creator of the system in Germany.
And now, because the Adsilent system is so exact in its fitting, my technician is the only person in my area who can do the maintenance because removing and re-inserting the action must be done “just so.” It’s a matter of millimeters.
He’s training others to be able to the maintenance as it’s simply not a good idea to be dependent on one person.
Had I known all this before…
Nevertheless, I use the system daily and adore my Steingraeber.
My next trip is to accept an invitation from the German manufacturer to visit their site. Martha Argerich has played the Steingraeber there at their annual Wagner festival.
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Adena thanks a lot for the info
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Adena Such a great info Jenny. I am very happy with my two Roland Pianos .. At this moment I do not need such devices, beacause I am not planing to buy an accoustic piano, but is good info to know for the future.. Let me know if you ever come close to Barcelona, Spain.
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I love my Fazioli 212
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Bosendorfer for sure is my favorite. The version that would fit my home and creative aspirations would be the 225 with 92 keys. Other choices would be a Hamburg Steinway, Bechstein, Shimmel and Fazoli. Each of the latter would need close to a 7 foot soundboard. I have not been impressed with how Yamaha has not maintained its quality over the decades. I purchased one for my church several years ago and was glad that I didn't get it for myself after performing on it several years later.
Now I know this may sound weird, but I have have so many sampled SK pianos and Kawaii digital pianos that I have been put off by the SK sounds. Maybe if I play one in a store I would change my opinion. But the 5 mentioned above have much richer sounds, and is that richness that I search for to bring out my playing and my compositions.-
cheryl jack Was the Yamaha hand built? There is a big difference in quality between the factory built and hand built.
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Jenny Harrison my first Yamaha was over 60 years ago and yes, the quality was phenomenal and appeared to be hand built. But most Yamaha's now are not. SK's are hand built but I found the sound more than a bit thin in higher ranges and lacked fullness in lower ranges.
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I own a limited edition Shigeru Kawai SK-3 in polished ebony/pyramid mahogany that is just sublime so it seems I’m partial to Shigerus. However, I must say that Mason & Hamlin steals a bigger piece of my heart. The tone is quite unique, and the touch of their WNG action is so smooth and breezy. Such a wonderful instrument, especially their new VX line. Hope to own one day.
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As an intermediate with a Roland E-Piano I cannot say so much, just share some unsophisticated experiences from trying out some pianos at a fair and a piano camp.
My teacher has a Yamaha grand (looks like any Yamaha grand, I assume it is the standard one everyone has). At the piano camp they had one, too. Both felt and sounded quite the same. To me they are like "you can't do anything wrong". It feels like an "honest" sound to me. Not very charming, not very harsh, when my technique is bad I get an ugly sound, when I do well it sounds nice, and I can play lound easily and over time I learned to play soft as well.
At the fair I tried a 100.000 mini grand Fazioli. OMG. I felt like playing soft in any shades of pianissimo piano pianissississimo was possible even for my 5year into-piano-playing intermediate hands. The sound felt very rich to me, like a lot more overtones than the Yamaha? I instantly fell in love with it, probably because I love romantic music very much. But I guess some Bach would also sound a little too cosy maybe, not as clear? However, I am dreaming of a castle with a Fazioli now ;)
I also played a Steingräber, I liked the sound, but didn't like the way their keys feel, they are a bit sticky .they say its that way so that you don't slip, but gah...
The Schimmel grand at the piano camp looked awesome and sounded so boring. It was really hard to get some explosive sounds out of it, it was very soft all the time, dynamics felt like they had very little range.
Some cheaper Yamaha uprights at the piano camp were so horrible I would prefer any Roland e-piano! I wouldn't have wanted them as a gift. Harsh sounds, wobbly keys. They also had a nice Kawai Upright.
The camp teacher also had a Feurich mini grand. I really loved that!
And I think it were the Bösendorfers at the fair which sounded very hard, crisp, clear, the keys were fast and sharp. I didn't like it, but I think they might be great for Mozart, Bach... But I am not 100% sure if it was the Bösendorfers or another brand. But I think Bösendorfer.
Then they had a Yamaha B-something hybrid transducer piano. I would INSTANTLY buy it if they offered it with narrower keys. But Yamaha told me they don't think about small handed people at all. So 1) they lost sympathy points for their ignorant answer, and 2) finding someone to turn it into a 5.5 without having palyed once on a 5.5 and not knowing if it is a bad choice is not an option for me. It's at least an extra cost of 5000€, and what would I do with the left over keyboard then? Plus extra cost for transport... :(
So my favourite so far was Fazioli. But also unaffordable, and I don't have space for a grand. Second fav the Yamaha Transducer, and the Feurich. Maybe Feurich does uprights, too? Humm...
But I will wait a little more, and hope that one day I can try a 5.5 and experience if I want this or a 6.0. And then maybe Steingräber has a piano I love for me, because although I don't like the way their keys feel, I absolutely love their philosphy and love for pianos. They are innovative, open minded, a family business, very kind people. They sell other brands, too. So maybe in 2 or 3 years I can get a custom piano from them.
Until then I am happy with Poldi, my Roland HP601. It has flaws (half pedal almost impossible, dynamic range limited), but it's been such a good friend for the past 5 years, and I LOVE the way the keys feel. They are wood, not plastic. <3
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The piano that fits my playing and feels best under my hands is my rebuilt 1923 Mason & Hamlin BB. There is a satisfying warmth and clarity but I can also push it when needed and get both growl and bite.
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Bösendorfer!!!
I fell in love with the Bösendorfer sound when I was a little girl. I still remember how I was allowed to try out all the different pianos in this piano store, and I was completely hooked when I played on a Bösendorfer for the first time in my life. And I never forget the moment when I could afford to buy my own Bösendorfer. I just love it 
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Hello
From France… So please forgive my english.
Each piano is very unique, even same model from a given manufacturer, and the way it is tuned is crucial.
I have played wonderful Fazioli, Yamaha, Steinway, Bechtein, Bosendorfer, Erard and Pleyel pianos.
But I also met some pianos from same manufacturers that were « so so »…
I currently own a B211 Steinway.
If I had a large enough room, I would also have a parallel strings Erard.
Crossed strings may not have been a so good idea, maybe more market driven than music driven.
kind regards
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I have to say [ though I have never owned one] it would be Bechstein....the reason I say this is I played 7 different ones in a separate room at a dealer [ years ago] and if I closed my eyes I could not hear or feel much difference amongst them.
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Classic Baldwin Artist Grand, hands down.
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Amy Lamborn I should say I own a 1952 Baldwin L, recently rebuilt (2022). It is an amazing instrument!
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Steinway. I love its unique warm and rich sound.
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What I really love about this chain is the number of replies. Sometimes Dominic asks questions that only get a handful of responses. Not this one! Hoo-wee.
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My favourite piano is my Steinway&Sons!!!
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I'm a Baldwin artist. :-) I've had my Baldwin L for 20+ years now and it has never let me down. I bought it because at the time it was all I could afford, but I genuinely love the way it sounds. I think part of playing a piano is learning how to get the best sound from the piano you have. I once heard Jerome Lowenthal play a Chopin nocturne (Op 55, No 2) on an absurdly beat-up little Baldwin Hamilton (a school upright) in a rehab center where a mutual friend of ours was recovering from a stroke. It had been painted (probably by kids) sky-blue, with rainbow, clouds and bird motifs. Not a Bösendorfer, to say the least! I remember thinking, "OMG, Jerome Lowenthal is going to play on THAT?!" He sat down without a care in the world and from the first note, it sounded simply amazing! He found a way to make that little piano sing. People were actually crying. It was the best piano lesson I've ever had. Did I tell this story already? It's been a while since I visited Tonebase.
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Charlie I have a 1952 Baldwin L, recently rebuilt. Has the original whippens, still in great shape, but all the other action parts are new (Abel natural felt hammers, which sound great). Plays and sounds like a dream.
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