Piano: how much?

olafgarten

In terms of new Pianos the Yamaha B1 sounds good at around 3 grand. 

Sporky

sweepy said:

Erm, when it comes to digital piano's the only brand is Yamaha

Provably untrue - even ignoring the hyperbole.

The Roland stuff gets very good reviews.

Danny1969

octatonic said:

Danny1969 said:

Check out the Roland RD-800 .... it's a stage piano, quite a light one as stage pianos go. Sounds awesome, hammer weighted keys and not too expensive at £1800 ish

Am I right in thinking that the RD800 doesn't have in built speakers?
Most home piano folks usually want some built in speakers without having to buy an amp.

Yes your right but I'm thinking buy something you can use on stage and just use a cheap pair of active monitors indoors. That's what I do. 

Gassage

The bigs ones are always a grand.

octatonic

Danny1969 said:

octatonic said:

Danny1969 said:

Check out the Roland RD-800 .... it's a stage piano, quite a light one as stage pianos go. Sounds awesome, hammer weighted keys and not too expensive at £1800 ish

Am I right in thinking that the RD800 doesn't have in built speakers?
Most home piano folks usually want some built in speakers without having to buy an amp.

Yes your right but I'm thinking buy something you can use on stage and just use a cheap pair of active monitors indoors. That's what I do. 

Yeah I would too- I've always got an eye out for one cheap one on eBay.
I need something I can use as a studio master controller that also has some sounds in it- nothing fancy- I just need the usual assortment of acoustic and electric keys sounds and it needs to be able to be split.

bob21

As far as uprights go, you really can't go wrong with a Yamaha U3..
They are the one piano that stopped my (well respected for music) university from becoming an all steinway school.. To be frank, for the same money, they're better than the equivalent steinway-family upright.

Seriously decent sounding uprights, about the best you can get for not-silly-money (at which point you might as well buy a G3 baby grand or similar)

Go/talk to Mark Goodwin Pianos - they are the guys for recon yamaha pianos in the UK.. They hold a good stock and do good deals! They will also recommend/choose for you if you don't know/don't care/can't travel..

Didn't see a budget, but a recon U3 is IRO £3-4k. If you need a little less, a U1 can be had for around £2.5-3, though they are not quite as good (especially the bottom end)

And I'm afraid the piano teacher is right.. For proper classical technique, a digital does just not feel right! (with the exception of the Yamaha AvantGrand, which does actually have a true mechanical acoustic action in... check out the price though!)

Winny_Pooh

^ wiz. Was just about to say U3. If had to own an upright it would be that or a Steinway.

mart

bob21 said:

...
Didn't see a budget, but a recon U3 is IRO £3-4k. If you need a little less, a U1 can be had for around £2.5-3, though they are not quite as good (especially the bottom end)

And I'm afraid the piano teacher is right.. For proper classical technique, a digital does just not feel right! ...

Yeah, the problem was trying to establish the budget. The usual rule of "what you can afford" just doesn't really help here, since we need to buy something that is good enough to be a step up from his current digital.

And yes, it's thoroughly classical piano at the moment, with no likelihood of going on stage, as far as I can see. He's happy playing bass on stage, less so with guitar, and shows no interest with piano. Loves playing it, just not for others.

bob21

Well, if it helps, the UK's biggest university music department has plenty, and the head of faculty there (serious and well known concert pianist) says they're 'Bloody good pianos really'..

I'm very fond of them - and as I say, I don't think you can really get much better in an upright, especially when you consider the consistency across manufacture, the price, and the easy availability of good quality recon instruments!

Sporky

bob21 said:

And I'm afraid the piano teacher is right.. For proper classical technique, a digital does just not feel right! (with the exception of the Yamaha AvantGrand, which does actually have a true mechanical acoustic action in... check out the price though!)

And the Roland LXs.

I'm not knocking the Yamahas, but they are not the only good option.