Pianos?

Kenny_D · 30-10-2005 9:10pm #1

Am considering buying a Piano. Anyone have any tips as I'm not sure what to look for. What are the digital pianos like? Much difference in sound to an upright? I'm thinking digital for the convenience of it always being in tune. But I dont want to compromise sound either. Budget would be up to 2 grand but preferably closer to a thousand if I could get somethin decent for that.

Been looking on thomann at something like this

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_artikel-182211.html

Also whats it like buying second hand? Anything to watch out for? What are good makes for my budget?

Any comments at all would be great

fish-head · 30-10-2005 9:21pm

Anything by Yamaha is excellent. Digital pianos are good but they're nothing to the real thing. I have a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-560, the pianist in my group uses it and it's great, but it's nothing to my Dad's Steinway, but what can you expect.

If you buy second hand, be very careful of action.
What you have there on Thomann looks like a fantastic piece of work.
I'd buy it.

Kenny_D · 30-10-2005 9:24pm

You have access to a Steinway :eek:

I'm so jealous. lol

bounty_hunter · 30-10-2005 9:24pm

You can get an excellent sound out of a decent digital piano, but no matter what anyone says I still think they just never sound quite like a proper upright. Maybe this isn't an issue for you, but personally I can really notice the difference and I much prefer the traditional piano sound.

Kenny_D · 30-10-2005 9:26pm

Yes I could probably hear the difference. Of course I'd like a normal upright but do the advantages (sound) outweigh the disadvantages (cost, maintenance, tuning etc) compared to a digital

bounty_hunter · 30-10-2005 9:30pm

GStormcrow wrote:

Yes I could probably hear the difference. Of course I'd like a normal upright but do the advantages (sound) outweigh the disadvantages (cost, maintenance, tuning etc) compared to a digital

If you can learn to live with the sound difference then yes, a digital piano definitely has huge advantages over an upright. Unless of course you just happen to have the time/money/patience to keep an upright in perfect playing condition.

Kenny_D · 30-10-2005 9:34pm

Time is something I'm short on and any free time is spent playing some instrument. Also I'd like to keep maintenance costs minimal because I'm a student and will be getting a loan for this. If its still a very nice sound from a digital then I'd give it a try. It's just I've only ever played a normal piano so cant really compare that way

bounty_hunter · 30-10-2005 9:42pm

Ah, well it would really make a lot more sense to get a digital then.
I have both an upright and a stage keyboard myself so I know from personal experience that an upright is a complete pain to look after if you don't have the required funds, etc. Mine has been horrendously out of tune for about 6 months because I don't have the cash to get someone to come out and tune it, so that completely defeats the purpose of having an upright just for the sound anyway.

In your situation, I'd say definitely go for a digital. Although you might find that an upright was a nice investment 10 years down the line or something.

Kenny_D · 30-10-2005 9:58pm

Well sure I might get a digital and then when I'm working and have some money I'll definitely consider the upright. So any suggestions or bargains on good digital pianos under 2k?

Kenny_D · 31-10-2005 3:49pm

Ok so I am deffinitely considering going ahead with a Yamaha CLP-240 within the next few weeks. Just wondering if anyone knows now where is the cheapest place to get one from. I've emailed Thomann to get a quote including shipping. I saw on an earlier thread that someone was also getting a yamaha clavinova from a website called PieDog (anyone use these before?).

fish-head · 31-10-2005 4:35pm

Why dont you try the Yamaha shop in Dublin? It's on Georges Street somewhere.

Kenny_D · 31-10-2005 4:41pm

I'll check it and there's a piano place near me (just off the red cow roundabout) which I'll check as well. Just to get prices. Just got a reply from thomann. Only 20euro shipping on the piano. That's fantastic I was expecting it to be a lot more. So it seems a great price from thomann. If its only about 100/200 more in town I'll get it here just for piece of mind but something tells me it will be a LOT more expensive to buy it here. Might order it tomorrow. Cant wait

bounty_hunter · 31-10-2005 4:42pm

No no no no no no no, Dublin is (generally speaking) a disastrous place to try and buy instruments. Ridiculously expensive.

Edit: in reply to fish-head

Kenny_D · 31-10-2005 7:52pm

Well I'm liking the price I got from thomann. For the CLP-240 Set its €1899 + €20 delivery. Awaiting a reply from piedog. They have it at €1750 before delivery so depending on delivery costs I will probably get it from one of those two.

On PianosPlus' website they have it listed at €2075 but not sure if that's including a stool.

Would I be better off spending 175 - 275 euro and get it in Pianos Plus (around the corner from me) or should I just save the money and get it from Thomann?

Edit: Anyone know why this is so expensive: http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_artikel-128846.html

bounty_hunter · 31-10-2005 7:59pm

There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting it from Thomann (besides the waiting for it to be delivered). Save yourself the cash, you'll be glad for it later.

It might be a help to go to Piano Plus and have a play of it before you buy it online, but after that it really makes no difference. This whole "piece of mind" thing is a bit silly imo, as long as you know you'll actually like what you're buying. Saving money is saving money.

Kenny_D · 31-10-2005 8:03pm

Yeah I suppose you're right. Do you reckon they'd match the price on Thomann? I doubt it but might be worth a shot if they want the business. Thomann said if there was anything wrong with it when it arrived they would collect it for return so you cant get much fairer than that

I'll let you know when I order it. Think I might hold off for about 3 weeks before xmas so I can get sort out my loan for it. Should have it just in time for xmas then. So that would be about 5 weeks I think. Cheers for all your advice Bounty

Rustar · 01-11-2005 12:01am

GStormcrow wrote:

Edit: Anyone know why this is so expensive: http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_artikel-128846.html

No, unless it has the Buttulizer Magic Fingers Arse Massager in it.

Quattroste · 01-11-2005 12:45pm

GS, if PianoPlus have it for €2075 then I am sure you could ask them for their best price. Tell them you can import one for €1900 and unless they drop the price by at least 100 then you will go elsewhere. All musical instruments are set at a higher price so we can haggle.

Kenny_D · 01-11-2005 12:57pm

Ah yeah sure I'll say it to them. If they say no I'll just get it from Thomann. Would just be handy getting it from Pianos Plus

fish-head · 01-11-2005 3:01pm

If I were you I'd go with Pianos Plus, they made my Clav gigworthy for my band, they took care of my Dad's Steinway and their customer service is absolutely impeccable. They are a seriously good company.

Eoin Madsen · 01-11-2005 5:18pm

It's definitely worth a try. Even if you can get within 50 quid of the thomann price you'd probably be better off. Shipping something back to Thomann for repair or replacement in the event of a problem costs money and time.

Kenny_D · 02-11-2005 2:29pm

There's a Roland HP-7e in the buy and sell for €1000. How would that compare to the Yamaha Clavinova CLP240? It's half the price but I dont want to compromise sound if the Yamaha is better. Any ideas?

BME · 02-11-2005 3:03pm

I can't stand Yamahas, Roland all the way

good luck with it anyway!

Eoin Madsen · 02-11-2005 4:44pm

Yamahas seem to be the generally best regarded electric pianos from what I hear, but I haven't had enough experience with the alternatives to offer an opinion myself.

Kenny_D · 02-11-2005 5:52pm

You say Roland all the way...... I thought personally that what eoin said was true that yamaha are a higher regarded make of digital piano

Have you played a yamaha CLP-240 or above model and its similar roland equivalent to justify your comment or is it just a thing you have for Roland?

fish-head · 02-11-2005 6:28pm

Yamaha is probably the better bet.

BME · 02-11-2005 7:35pm

GStormcrow wrote:

Have you played a yamaha CLP-240 or above model and its similar roland equivalent to justify your comment or is it just a thing you have for Roland?

Both, I've played decent Yamahas and found them to be very "plastic" or something, the Yamaha Piano sound is nothing special whereas Roland generally has much more authentic grand piano sounds (probably cos they sample the sounds, but I'd guess a lot of manufacturers are at this)

So yes I do have a thing for Roland, over Yamaha and probably even Korg but each to their own...:rolleyes:

Kenny_D · 02-11-2005 7:38pm

Yamaha uses sample sounds also. Have you played the newer line such as the higher end Clavinovas that I'm looking at?

ferdi · 02-11-2005 7:51pm

http://www.buyandsell.ie/browse.php?quicksearch=piano

BME · 02-11-2005 7:51pm

Nope I haven't in all honesty and I suppose it all depends on what you want from your digipiano

I used to own a Yamaha about 5yrs ago, had a problem with the screen and got screwed around by that Yamaha shop on George's Street, they have to order parts from Japan! :eek:

Once I changed Roland I've been happy enough...

A friend of mine also plays Roland, she has home Digital Piano which is excellent and she also has a Roland HP Stage Piano which she thinks is not as good but still great quality considering its portability etc.

Like I said, to each his own!

Dave! · 23-12-2005 3:03pm

Hey OP, I'm a student too, and I've been teaching myself piano (quite badly) for a year or two. I don't own a piano and never have, but I had a little crap keyboard that I used to get started, and I've gotten a bit better from sneaking into Waltons on the way home from college and playing for a while.

Basically I'm crap! But I wanna get better and I think that if I actually had a piano, that I'd get alot better quite quickly.

If I were to get one, it'd be a digital (for the same reasons as you) -- but they cost at least €1000!

I have a part-time job which gets me about €90 a week (sweeet, lol), so that'd take me a long time to save up with.

You mentioned that you're getting a loan for the piano -- how do you go about doing that? I mean, is it difficult? Do you have to be earning a certain amount?(how much are you on if you don't mind me asking?) How long can you pay it back over? And is there alot of interest?

I don't know much about banking or any of that lark

Thanks for any help

Kenny_D · 23-12-2005 5:05pm

Credit Union. Basically I have a just over a grand saved. So on my first loan I borrowed 800. Cant borrow more than your savings on your first loan. Payed that loan back every week. €10 off the loan and €5 into my savings. You have to pay pack loan and top up savings at same time. Took just over a year to pay back and interest was something like a euro or less a week. Very little anyway. When I had some extra cash I just put it off the loan

This time round I borrowed €1000 and chose to pay it back monthly at €50 per month. Workin one night a week gettin about €50 per night/week so its grand. With the bit of extra money I'll get at xmas and my birthday I shouldnt have any problems paying off the loan and interest isnt much

So basically if you arent in the credit union yet. Open an account and start saving. They are fantastic for loans

Oh yeah when I started learning piano I had a crappy little keyboard to play on too. It hinders your development like you wouldnt believe. Couldnt afford a piano back then so ended up stopping the lessons because I couldnt get used to switching from smally keyboard to full size piano when I went to lessons. Hands were a lot smaller so though I could play my pieces well enough on the keyboard, when I went to the piano I couldnt make some of the stretches. Prob wouldnt be a problem now but the feel and action of a good piano is important when learning if you want to get anyway good

I have my piano set up now in the sitting room and it looks fantastic. Cant wait to play it on xmas morning

Pianos?

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