Upright pianos: which brands should I consider?

[OhioMomof3]

We definitely need to replace our old piano.  Which upright piano brands should we consider, and which ones should we avoid?

 

 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I've heard excellent things about Ritmuller pianos. I have several very close friends who are pianists, piano tuners, and/or piano technicians and they highly recommend them. From what I understand, they are high quality pianos with an extremely reasonable price tag.

[Guest]

Ritmullers are nice. It really depends on what tone you want - ultimately, you need to go and test out a bunch and see which one grabs you and feels 'right'.

[KrissiK]

We bought a pre-owned Baldwin from a piano store and really like it. It is nice looking and has excellent sound quality.

[lllll]

..

[Tammi K]

Our Yamaha is a purchase I have never regretted.

[catz]

We have an antique full upright that was fully rebuilt at one point.  It has a fuller sound than most baby grands IMO.  Older pianos can be good if they have been maintained well and possibly had components replaced.  If you're looking at used pianos, I'd buy from a dealer than fixes them up and warranties them.  Or at a minimum, have it inspected by a technician because MANY are total junk. 

 

 

I know what the PP poster means by overly bright sound.  That kind of drives me nuts too
 

[myfunnybunch]

I agree with WollySocks, going through a dealer/refurbisher is a good idea. We bought our upright from a local man who deals in used pianos. We called him and he asked several questions about what we wanted, the kind of space we had, the sound we expected, and more. It was pretty detailed. It took him about 6-8 weeks to find a couple pianos he thought would be a good match, and he let ds come out to his shop to try them both. We ended up with a Yamaha. It's a good solid nice-sounding piano, much better than we could've gotten for the same amount of money at the local piano shops. Bonus: He delivered and tuned it as a part of the purchase, and continues to do the maintenance and tuning for us.

 

He also does a trade-in discount, so if we ever do decide to upgrade to a grand (not likely--unless it can double as a dining table! No space!) we can trade in our old piano for what we paid for it. 

 

Cat

[Guest]

I bought from a refurbisher in Niwot Colorado, a Yamaha, and it was a wonderful piano.   For stupid reasons, I sold it.  

Now I have a Bechstein, and I love it. 

 

But it was a tight race between the Bechstein and the Yamaha.  I could not decide, and was so torn...and then I saw my dh writing a check in the seller's office, and I knew the choice had been made.  :0)  

 

Happy.

 

[Arcadia]

We have a Niemeyer upright bought used in 2006 that sounds good but the brand doesn't get good reviews. We went to four piano stores which sells both used and new and I tried out many pianos until I like the sound of it.

[Hkpiano]

Charles Walter, Yamaha, or Kawai are all great pianos. Yamahas have the brightest sound, so it kind of depends on what you like.

[OhioMomof3]

Thanks, everyone!

[Veritaserum]

I love my Baldwin Hamilton. Dh is making noise about getting a baby grand because he likes how they look, but I am not interested because baby grands don't usually sound as nice as a good upright. My parents have a Steinway D grand (gorgeous sound) and my dad worked with pianos professionally, so I trust his taste. He recommended Baldwins when I said I wanted to get an upright. I bought my Baldwin new 15 years ago. It had its annual tune-up last week and it's in great shape.

[HSmomof2]

Baldwin, Kawai, Yamaha. I have a Kohler& Campbell upright that has a beautiful, full, warm sound. It also stays in tune very well. The tuner always comments how little tuning it needs when he comes (every 1-3 years).