BUYER'S GUIDE

AFFORDABLEBABYGRANDS

Christopher White offers aguideto choosing a baby grand piano

and assesses current models with

a price tag of under £ 12,000

,T he piano market is notlike the automobile mar­ket. With cars there is afairly common perception

of the pros and cons of

each model, which a potential buyer would

most likely be aware of before making the

purchase. When it comes to choosing pianos,

however, the market is a minefield, especially

for those new to instrument purchasing or tomusic in general'

This is a summary of an important pOint

made at Forsyth music shop in Manchester bySimon Loat, for whom piano expertise runs in

the family For the concert pianist accustomed

to turning up at a venue and playing whatever

is on offer - sometimes great, often mediocre,

occasionally wretched - a certain amount ofinside knowledge is par for the course. For theaverage customer preparing to buy their first

instrument, however, it might be worth reading

on because making sure all angles.are covered

is essential to making an informed purchase.

Loal's words are echoed by Simon Marksonof London's Markson Pianos: 'Nothing kills

the fragile enthusiasm of a child for the piano

like Sitting him or her in front of a creaky oldgrand or a shoddy electronic keyboard. A bet­ter option for a total beginner might be to start

with a small modern upright and work up to agrand. A bigger decision may come when the

child is attaining the middle grades and theparents start to think about the longer term.'

Indeed, if you are looking for a piano withstrength and tone that can fit into a Hmitedspace and are considering buying a 19abygrand, making the right purchase becomes

even more imperative. Markson pOints out

some of the advantages of a grand piano overan upright: 'Nothing quite compares to thefeel of the grand piano keys under the fingers,

where the natural gravitational pull of the

hammer coming away from the strings comes

into play.' The complicated upright action is,

to a certain extent, about overcoming gravity,and the feeling is indeed entirely different.

The difference in touch and weighting can beimmense - the muscle groups involved are

surprisingly different. Anyone wishing to take

piano playing remotely seriously would be

well advised to have at least occasional contact

with a grand piano.

There is in reality almost no suchthing as a 'budget grand piano'; a grand

piano is an investment not worth cutting

corners on, and these days it isscarcely necessary to do so.'The piano industry is arather traditional one: the

product is a result of slow evolution.

Although manufacturers are constantly

looking for improvements to make aroundthe edges, the basic product remains more orless the same,' says Markson. 'I believe thateach piano has a soul, even in the low-priceranges. It is surprising how much hand-pro­duction goes into every instrument, even those

that come out of the factories.' This is what

makes a piano worth paying for - the fact that

it cannot be produced by computer design andmanufacture alone.

Yet with manufacture becoming ever more

sophisticated, even at the lowest prices thereare good instruments to be found. Asked how •

MARCH/APRIL 2009 INTERNATIONAL PIANO 33

·.M@.· MWN!!ihMuM

• they felt about reconditioned or second-hand

grand pianos in the £6-12k price range, theJj-

response from both Markson and Loat was

ambivalent. 'We almost never get nearly new

grands back into the shop after a coupleof years' use,' explains Loat, 'so more often

than not we are reconditioning much older

pianos.' I did see a 1936 Bhithner in Forsyth'sfor around £12,000, but this is an individual

piano and there is no telling how long it will

last. In Marksons view, 'restoring pianos is

an upmarket art' - meaning it is only worth

reconditioning an instrument from one ofthe great houses. 'We have seen many pianos

which, had they come in 20 years ago, could

have had a good restorationJob done on them,but it is too late for them now.' However, older

pianos do make nicer pieces of furniture. Loat

observes that at the cheaper end of the grand

piano market, black is virtually the only choice,

with pared down, simple design values. Older

pianos are far more likely to come in mahogany

or walnut, or have decorative music desks and'designed'legs.

But if durability and playability are what

you are looking for, there's no need to trawl

the shops and dealers in search of a 70-year­

old European piano. There is plenty of

technology in the newer models, no matter

where they are made. At London's Jaques

Samuel dealership, managing director Terry

34 INTERNATIONAL PIANO MARCH/APRIL2009

Lewis showed me a mock-up of the Kawai

action, which uses ABS Carbon material rather

than the traditional wood deSign. This mate­

rial will not soak up moisture in the room,

so the action lasts far longer, but nor does it

become hardened or brittle as regular plastiCwould. Another deSign benefit of a surprising

number of baby grand pianos isa playback

system. A CD is inserted into a CD deck under

the keyboard and the piano plays itself using

a system whereby the hammers are pushed

up at the back of the action rather than rising

when the pianist depresses a key. This is a

wonderful 'insurance policy' against childrengiving up the instrument after a few months,

and it does not increase the price as much as

one might think.

THE INSTRUMENTSTo the pianos themselves then, all costing

under £12,000 and measuring from around4' 6" to 5' 3" in length. I played all of them - J

if I could not find a particular instrument onmy travels, I have not written about it. A couple

of words of warning before we begin: always

look for sale prices, which often differ from

retail prices. Also, the larger dealerships are

able to offer buy-back or 'upgrade' options,

as well as the option to sell privately, so you

needn't be stuck with an inadequate piano for

life. Talk to the dealer for details, and always

try before you buy. Finally, value for money is

a subjective concept when it comes to pianos,

but whatever you're looking for, don't be

tempted to go for the straight bargain.

By far the least expenSive new instrument

is one that I have mentioned in a previousBuyer's Guide - the S. Ritter baby grand

sold byJaques Samuel, which has an entiresection on its website dedicated to 'starter

pianos'. This piano retails at £3,999 and can

be purchased through the buy-back scheme

after starting on a Ritter upright. I am not hel

to comment on the business aspects of such;

plan, but suffice to say that as a pianist I wasnot expecting much for this money. Yet it is 3

perfectly acceptable starter instrument, or or

playable at the middle-grade level of attain­

ment by a child who has made good progres:

through the early stages. As with all pianos

this size, limited string length began to tell il

the lower registers, and the overall 'budget'

feel is unmistakable in key touch, but the

design is really rather elegant. The match ofprice and quality is highly impressive.

Halle & Voight, another instrument to

come out of the piano-producing behemoth

at Pearl River, China, was also a surprise. ThE

model I played in Markson's was elegantly

styled, currently retails at £4,500, and was

attached to a playback mechanism. Again, thsound deteriorated towards the bass, and Mr

USEFUL LINKS

STOCKISTSForsyth, Manchesterwww.forsyths.co.uk

(Hamlyn Klein, Kawai, May Berlin - selected

by Schimmel, Reid Sohn, Yamaha)

Jaques Samuel Pianos, Londonwww.jspianos.com

(Kawai, S. Ritter)

Markson Pianos, Londonwww.marksonpianos.com

(Halle & Voight, Yamaha)

MAKERSKawaiwww.kawaLco.uk

S'chimmelwww.schimmel-piano.de

Yamahawww.yamaha.com

For infomation about other brands mentioned,contact the above stockists

Markson assured me that the rather muffled

tone of that particular piano was not necessarily

typical of the range: further incentive to always

try before you buy

The Korean-based Reid Sohn also gar­

nered a favourable review. It is available at

Forsyth for £9,999 with a playback system

attached, and the tone achieved by the

electronic system working with the piano

mechanism was impressive.

Also at Forsyth, a brand new Hamlyn Kleinwas available for under £10,000. It was so

new that the action had only just been untied,

and was completely unregulated and unpre­

pared. Therefore I cannot comment on it as

an instrument - except to say that it came in

a rare walnut casing - but I can repeat that

going to a large dealership has its advantages:

the instrument would be worked on and pre­

pared before sale, and the price would still

be low. (Forsyth also stocks the May Berlin ­

selected by Schimmel range of baby grands.)

So to the market leaders, and it is a straight

contest between the Yamaha GB/GC range

Uust below the popular C range in terms of

quality and price) and the Kawai GM/GE

range (the budget version of the RX grands).

I must say how disappointed I was by the

Yamaha GBl. Retailing at £9,699, it is not the

cheapest of the bunch, but it felt every inch

the budget piano. One does not expect this

from Yamaha. The piano desk doesn't move

in and out, the styling is minimalist and the

keys feel tacky under the fingers. The sound

fails to compensate: a glassy top and a weak

bass. The GO fared slightly better, although

at 04,569 this is stretching our 'budget' remit

slightly This is much more a piano one can

do things with, in terms of sound, and which

gives something back to the fingers in terms of

touch and action.

None of the instruments I tested, however,

compared to my experiences of the Kawai

entry-level models, which I played both in

London and in Manchester. I was beginning

to think that a poor bass was a necessary

drawback of a baby grand, but it isn't. The

bass notes actually grew after playing, in the

manner of a much larger grand piano. There

was genuine key depth, again as one would

expect, and quality of sound across the board.

The keys felt good to play, too. The GMIO

made the first favourable impression - and it

retails at £8,499. The £10,999 GE30 was a

living instrument, probably the only one

about which I could use this description.

Perhaps there can be no higher praise.

In my view there is a clear winner here, but

it is vital that you do not take my word for it.

Ifyou are considering a first grand piano

purchase, the best thing to do is to go and try

some out. Happy hunting! \YI

PRICES

The models listed here represent someof the baby grand pianos currently avail­able. However, this is a fast-changingmarket and new models are continuallybeing released. Prices were correct at thetime of going to press.

HALLE & VOIGHT155 RRP £4,500

HAMLYN KLEIN(walnut) RRP £7,999

KAWAIGM I0 RRP £8,499GE30 RRP £ I0,999

MAY BERLIN - SELECTED BYSCHIMMEL163 RRP £7,990187 RRP ~9,990

REIDSOHN(with playback system) RRP £9,999

S.RITTERGrand RRP £3,999

YAMAHAGB I RRP (polished ebony) RRP £9,699

GC I (polished ebony) RRP £ 14,569

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