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Welcome to a special edition of Living Pianos. I’m Robert Estrin, and today, we’re comparing three exceptional German pianos with Steinway. As many of you know, Steinway was founded by German immigrants in New York City and later established a factory in Hamburg. However, most Steinways you encounter in North America are produced in the New York factory, while the Hamburg facility primarily serves Asia and Europe.

A Look at German Excellence

In this video, we’ll explore three top-tier German pianos: Bechstein, Blüthner, and Grotrian-Steinweg. Each of these prestigious brands has a long history, dating back to the 1800s, and is renowned for their superb craftsmanship. I’ll be playing excerpts of Chopin on each of these pianos as well as a Steinway, so you can hear the distinct sounds and qualities of these instruments for yourself.

Bechstein: A Pure Tone

Let’s begin with Bechstein. Listen to the clarity and focus in the beginning of Chopin’s B-flat minor Scherzo. The Bechstein offers a purity of tone that’s truly remarkable.

Blüthner: A Unique Sound

Next, we have the Blüthner. Known for its unique and indescribable sound, the Blüthner will give you a fresh perspective on piano tone. Let’s hear Chopin’s F-sharp Nocturne on this piano and experience the distinct quality of its sound.

Grotrian-Steinweg: A Heritage of Excellence

Grotrian-Steinweg, originally part of the Steinway family, has been crafting exceptional pianos in Germany since the mid-1800s. Listen to a portion of Chopin’s A-flat Ballade on the Grotrian-Steinweg and discover its rich, nuanced sound.

Steinway: The Benchmark

Finally, we’ll compare these German pianos to a Steinway, specifically a model B, which is just under seven feet. Hear Chopin’s Military Polonaise on this Steinway and see how it stands up to the German pianos.

I’d love to hear your impressions of these four instruments. Do you have a favorite? Are there aspects of one piano that you prefer over the others? Do you think some of these pianos are better suited to particular types of music or players? Share your thoughts in the comments!

I am Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store. Thanks for joining me! For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel at www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin. Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com.
Share Your Thoughts!

3 German Pianos VS Steinway

Introduction

We are about to explore alternatives to Steinway and Yamaha pianos. Most people are familiar with these two brands, and perhaps the piano they grew up with. However, there are hundreds of piano companies around the world, and today, I’ll introduce you to some fantastic alternatives. At the end, I’ll reveal the most logical alternatives to Steinway and Yamaha.

Exploring the Great Alternatives

Bosendorfer
Let’s start with Bosendorfer, an Austrian company dating back to 1828. They are renowned for their 9 ½ -foot Imperial Concert Grand, which boasts 97 keys extending to very low notes. These pianos are exquisitely crafted, maintaining traditional elements from the 1800s, including visible seams in the rim instead of the continuous rim found on all other modern pianos, and the use of spruce in the rim, which contributes to their unique, bell-like tone.

Fazioli
Fazioli, a relatively new Italian company founded in 1981, produces beautifully crafted pianos. Many competition winners choose Fazioli pianos for their outstanding quality. They even have a piano over ten feet long, offering a truly remarkable sound.

German Masterpieces
Germany is home to several top-tier piano companies, including Bechstein, Bluthner, and Sauter. These pianos are meticulously crafted in limited numbers, preserving the high standards set in the 1800s. Steingraeber & Söhne is another excellent German manufacturer, offering unique features like the sordino pedal for a muted sound and the Mozart rail for a historical touch experience. They also provide carbon fiber soundboards for enhanced tuning stability and consistent sound quality.

Asian Excellence

Several Asian-owned companies continue to produce high-quality pianos both in Asia and their original factories in Germany. Brands like Grotrian, Schimmel, and Seiler still produce top-tier pianos in Germany while offering more affordable models made in Asia. Petrof, from the Czech Republic, also deserves mention for their exceptional pianos still owned by the original Petrof family since the 1800’s.

Alternatives to Yamaha
There are numerous Asian piano companies, primarily in China, that you might not have heard of. Two standouts are Hailun and Pearl River. Pearl River is the largest piano manufacturer in the world, producing over 100,000 pianos annually. Korean companies like Samick and Young Chang also produce well made pianos in Korea, China and Indonesia. Some familiar names like Baldwin, Kohler & Campbell, and Steinberg are now produced in Asia and offer high quality Asian production pianos.

The Most Obvious Alternatives
Kawai

For those considering Yamaha, Kawai is the natural alternative. They feature innovations such as ABS carbon action parts and exclusive carbon jacks. As one of the largest piano companies globally, Kawai offers a range of digital, hybrid, upright, and grand pianos, as well as a limited number of hand-built pianos (using the Shigeru Kawai name) similar to Yamaha’s lineup. Some people prefer Kawai for its slightly warmer sound, while others choose Yamaha for its brighter tone (although pianos can be voiced brighter or warmer). Both brands produce well-crafted pianos, making it a matter of personal preference.

Mason & Hamlin
When it comes to alternatives to Steinway, Mason & Hamlin stands out as the only other top-tier American piano company still in production since the 1800s. These pianos, handcrafted outside Boston, feature innovations like thicker rims for soundboard support and the their patented Tension Resonator System for exceptional durability and sound quality. Their state-of-the-art Wessel Nickel & Gross actions, using composite materials, offer a responsive and consistent feel.

Conclusion
There are many hand-built pianos available today, especially from Germany and other parts of Europe, as well as great American pianos from Mason & Hamlin. If you’re shopping for a Yamaha, don’t forget to consider Kawai. Both brands have served the same market for over a century, providing excellent instruments. There are also a plethora of well made Asian production pianos from many companies with Asian as well as American and German names. If you have any other piano brand suggestions, leave them in the comments on LivingPianos.com and YouTube.

I am Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store. Thanks for joining me! For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin.

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com.

Steinway & Yamaha Alternatives

Introduction We are about to explore alternatives to Steinway and Yamaha pianos. Most people are familiar with these two brands, and perhaps the piano they grew up with. However, there are hundreds of piano companies around the world, and today, I

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s question is: Why are Steinways so expensive? Did you know that even a baby grand Steinway is over $80,000? Concert grands are over $200,000! What could possibly make pianos so expensive when you can get other baby grands for around $10,000? Is it all marketing? Well, here’s the truth. And everything I’m going to tell you today doesn’t just apply to Steinway. It applies to other American pianos, like Mason and Hamlin, as well as European pianos such as Blüthner, Bechstein, Fazioli in Italy, Bösendorfer in Austria, and even hand-built pianos from Yamaha and Shigeru Kawai in Japan.

Hand-built pianos have many different technologies.

In the case of Steinway, American pianos, and many European pianos, the way the plates are manufactured is a much more time-consuming task. Instead of using a simple vacuum mold process, which is quick and precise, they do it the old-school way of wet sand casting. The benefit is that the metal is denser. It takes a long time to cure the metal, so it’s much more labor-intensive and time-consuming. There’s also the choice of wood. It’s much more expensive to find fine hardwoods. Sourcing the finest soundboard material, which is the heart and soul of your piano, is no easy task. They search the world over for woods that have very fine grain, which is noted for the vibrancy and sustain of the sound. The craftsmanship of these instruments requires a great deal of handwork. All pianos require handwork, but when you’re talking about hand-built pianos, the meticulousness that it takes to craft these instruments is on a higher level. It can take a year to make each piano!

Hand-built pianos are not mass-produced.

You have companies like Pearl River, which is the number one piano producer in the world by volume. They make over 100,000 pianos a year! Contrast that with Steinway, who makes maybe ,2500 pianos a year. You can see how the economy of scale enters into this equation. So is there anything you can do to be able to get a piano of that quality and not have to pay such a fortune? I have another video about this. You can check out how you can get a Steinway for less money if that’s something you’re interested in. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

How Can You Afford A Steinway?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJlzVc0tBU

Why Are Steinways So Expensive?

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. I had somebody ask me recently how long digital pianos last. I have a Steinway here, built in the late 1930s and still going strong. We rebuilt it a few years ago. But you know what? 100 years from now, it could be rebuilt again. Pianos can go on forever if they’re not completely thrashed by the environment. But what about digital pianos?

It’s hard to find good piano technicians, but it’s nearly impossible to find people to work on digital pianos.

There are not many people who work on digital pianos. The parts are not readily available. A lot of issues are related to the circuit boards. You end up paying so much money for those circuit boards. It’s kind of like when your printer breaks. Sadly, most electronic devices are basically disposable. You end up buying another one because you can’t find anybody to repair electronics. And digital pianos are no exception.

What goes wrong with digital pianos?

Generally speaking, unless there’s a spike in the current, like your home is hit with lightning or there’s some kind of surge of current, your piano should probably do fine for many years. The problem that people typically have is with the key contacts themselves—the mechanical components, not the electronic components. Because wherever the keys come down, there has to be metal-to-metal contact. If pianos are in a very humid or dusty environment, eventually you might find certain keys don’t play correctly. Maybe you have to hit it a couple of times, or you’ll play a note and it’ll be at full volume because it’s not getting the right information. Sometimes there are optical sensors there, and if even a tiny amount of dust gets in there, it can be a nightmare. It may be inconsistent in its performance. Can that be fixed? Technically, it could be, if you could find somebody crafty enough to figure out how to take the thing apart!

Just like computers, digital pianos keep getting better and cheaper all the time.

So when your digital piano is no longer operating correctly, buying a new one is generally what people do. But how long is the life of these instruments? Unless the environment is really harsh, you should be able to get ten years out of a digital piano. You might not get as much life from a cheaper one or one that’s taken around on the road a lot or in a house with smokers where there’s a lot of particulate matter in the air. But I have friends who have had digital pianos for decades that are still going strong! So it’s not always the case that you only get ten years out of a digital piano. In the right environment, you might get 20 or more years out of a digital piano.

If you want to prolong the life of your digital piano, get a surge protector.

Better yet, get an uninterruptible power supply. Basically, it’s a battery that you plug into the wall that you plug your electronics into. It’s great for any sensitive electronic equipment. Everything is running off the battery all the time. So if the electricity goes off or there is a surge, it doesn’t matter. It provides a stable current. So that is your foolproof way of avoiding one cause of failure.

Sometimes you can do a reset routine.

If you’ve ever had a problem with any electronic gear, there’s what’s called initialization or reset. There’s both a soft reset and a hard reset. A soft reset usually involves just turning it off and back on again. But a hard reset takes it back to the factory specs. If all else fails, try initialization or a hard reset on your device. If it’s not a mechanical issue like I described, where the keys are collecting dust or corrosion, that could very well help you.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with digital pianos!

Have any of you gotten less than ten years out of your digital piano? If so, what brand was it? And were there any circumstances that you can attribute to the short life of the piano? Have any of you had a record amount of time you’ve gotten from your digital piano? Maybe some of you have digital pianos from the 1980s that are still performing just like they did when they were new. Let us know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

How Long Do Digital Pianos Last?

Hi, I’m Robert Estrin and this is LivingPianos.com. The subject today is about why a piano should be on an inside wall. You’ve probably heard before that you must put a piano on an inside wall. There is some truth there. Why should that be important?

Pianos are incredibly delicate instruments.

Pianos are robust in some respects. But the wood of the piano, particularly the soundboard, is susceptible to very small changes in the atmosphere in regards to temperature and humidity. This is particularly true with an upright. If you have an upright against a wall and the wall has any drafts at all, then the piano will not hold its tuning as well. Worse yet, if there’s a heating vent or something blowing in the back of the piano, it could destroy the soundboard. So in some homes, it’s really important to avoid an outside wall with your piano.

Modern homes are very well insulated.

You can judge for yourself. Is it a place you would be comfortable sitting day in and day out? If so, your piano should be fine. But if it’s a place that’s drafty or cold or the sun is beating on you, this could be a bad place for your piano. So it’s really just common sense. In a well insulated home, an outside wall shouldn’t present a problem, so long as the sun isn’t beating on your piano and you don’t have a hot air vent or a radiator nearby. But for older, drafty homes, it’s really essential to use an inside wall for your piano.

There’s another thing to consider, which is disturbing neighbors.

If you’re in an apartment, you don’t want your piano on an adjacent wall with another apartment. This is particularly true with an upright. It’s going to throw the sound right into your neighbor’s room. So you could have trouble. There’s a lot to be considered here. I hope this is helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Should a Piano Be on an Inside Wall?

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to talk about the best and worst pianos to buy. This is a big subject, so where do we begin? I’ll start with the worst pianos to buy, then I’ll go to the best pianos to buy so we can end on a happy note!

What are the worst pianos to buy?

Upright pianos have all different heights. Go back far enough, and they were really tall. They got shorter and shorter over time. There were a whole breed of pianos referred to as spinet pianos. Spinet pianos are no longer made, but they were popular because they were very small and inexpensive. In the 1970s, you could get a brand new Kimball Whitney spinet for a few hundred dollars! Can you imagine? So they were popular for that reason. This was before digital pianos existed. So if somebody wanted something really inexpensive, a spinet was an option.

What’s so bad about spinets?

Let’s break it down. Why is the sound so anemic on a spinet? The piano is so short, the strings don’t have much length. Everything in the low register is really lacking. There isn’t much richness even in the high register because the soundboard is so small. Worse than that, in order to fit the action into such a small case, it didn’t have a full length key to reach the back of the action. So the keys were very short, and there were connecting rods to the rest of the action. This is called an indirect blow action, or a drop action. If you open a spinet at the top you can see the keys end right at the end of the fallboard. There are rods connecting the keys to the rest of the action. So they’re not as responsive. They’re also easier to play, which may be a benefit to some people who have hand problems. But generally, it’s not going to prepare a serious pianist to play other pianos. The repetition is also really slow. There are some spinets that are better than others. The Baldwin Acrosonic was the best of that breed. So that’s one kind of piano that generally you want to avoid.

Sometimes a big old upright can be an absolutely glorious instrument.

In fact, you can get a bigger sound out of a tall upright than some smaller baby grands. Old uprights have long string length and big sound boards. They’re formidable, wonderful instruments. But the problem is, most of them were made over a hundred years ago! What you don’t want is to buy an old upright piano just because it looks pretty, because it might need $15,000 or $20,000 worth of work. This is no joke. These pianos get worn out. If the strings are old and rusty and the felt, hammers, and other action parts are worn out, you can get into hundreds of hours of work trying to restore one of these instruments. When you’re all done, you’d be lucky to sell it for a few thousand dollars, because they’re not as popular anymore.

Occasionally you’ll find an old upright that has already been restored. And if that’s the case, it can be a wonderful experience to have an instrument like this. But I wouldn’t buy one to restore. You can find free uprights, mostly the big, tall, old uprights, on websites like PianoAdoption.com. If you look at enough of them, maybe you’ll find one that doesn’t need everything. But generally, if you’re looking for a quality instrument and it seems like a good deal, check with your piano technician before you commit to it.

What are the best pianos to buy?

So now let’s get to some of the pianos that are worthwhile, and that would be restored American pianos or late model American pianos. Steinway and Mason and Hamlin are the only American piano brands left today. But if you go back to the 1970s, and even into the 1980’s, there were a number of piano manufacturers still making high quality pianos in the United States. Some of these instruments may still have good life left in them. More than that, the methodology of these instruments like Chickering, Knabe, and Baldwin was very similar to Steinway and Mason and Hamlin, which are priced astronomically high today. People are not aware of these other brands as much. Because of that they could represent phenomenal value. These pianos could be worth putting some money into if they’re structurally sound, because they are hand-built, top tier pianos. So it can be worthwhile checking out some of those instruments.

What about Asian pianos?

Older Asian pianos that need work should be avoided. These pianos are inexpensive to begin with, so you don’t want to put a bunch of money into them. Perhaps a late model Asian piano can offer good value if they have been well maintained.

So that’s the long and short of it. American pianos are of such high quality that looking for those in the used market can be worthwhile. Even if you have to put a little bit of work into them, they can be worthwhile to get an instrument of a really high caliber. I hope this has been helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com