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#UprightPiano #BuyersGuide #2021
Greetings and welcome to another piano video at the Merriam Pianos KZfaq channel. In today’s video, we’re going to help guide you through the process of searching for and selecting an upright piano.
Rather than just toss around some general considerations, we’re putting our suggestions in a very specific order of importance that if followed, will ensure you end up with an instrument that you’ll be thrilled with.
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Consideration #1: Piano Size
We’re not starting with budget or country of origin, but rather, size. The size of an upright piano directly determines its volume and clarity of the bass register.
If an upright isn’t loud enough for your needs or lacks the bass response you’re after, nothing else will really matter.
Uprights generally start around 42” in height and go up to approx 53” in height, and while that doesn’t sound like a huge difference, the proportional difference in string length is quite significant.
Things like room size and room acoustics as well as whether or not you’ll be doing any recording are factors that will influence your size needs.
Consideration #2. Piano Tone
After you’ve determined what size you want to work with, the next thing you’ll want to focus on is finding an upright with a tone that excites and inspires you.
Tone preference is so personal and varied, so it’s important you figure out what really resonates with you.
Several things go into why a piano sounds the way it does. Country of origin can be a big one as certain countries tend to be known for certain material selection and production processes, and thus have a specific sound associated with them.
For example, pianos from Germany tend to be very clear.
Consideration #3. Piano Touch
Some folks will argue that touch should actually be number 1, but we’ve put it in third place because as important as a great touch is, it will never make up for a tone you don’t like or lack of bass.
People often refer to piano actions as either feeling light or heavy, when in reality this actually has more to do with a piano’s dynamic response.
Even high end pianos can often feel very different from one another, so make sure you spend some time focusing on this when trying pianos.
Weighting, response, repetition speed and the actual feel of the keys are all important factors here.
Consideration #4: Budget
If you follow the first 3 suggestions in order, you’ll come to a selection of instruments that still has a wide range of prices, so it’s at this point that you can break things down by price.
Of course things will be more refined the higher you go in price, but generally speaking, you will likely still be able to find an upright that checks all the boxes at every price point.
Consideration #5. Piano Resale
This is less important when shopping for a grand piano, but has a huge potential impact when shopping for an upright.
Upright pianos have a much higher rate of resale in the piano industry, and because upright pianos are not purchased solely as furniture as often as grand pianos, brand recognition and model acclaim is crucial for getting as much money as possible for an upright on the resale market.
If you think there’s a decent chance you’ll be selling or upgrading your upright in the next 5 to 10 years, you should definitely consider potential resale.
Piano Recommendations:
Here are some of our favourite upright pianos currently available:
Pearl River 118 and 121
Ritmuller UH Models
Kawai ND21, K300, K500
Yamaha U1, U3
W. Hoffmann T122
Wilhelm Schimmel W118
C. Bechstein A124
C. Bechstein Concert 8
Bosendorfer 130
Schimmel Concert Series
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Opening Playing Sample
1:45 - Video Overview
2:04 - Piano Size
6:46 - Piano Tone
9:43 - Playing Samples
11:55 - Piano Touch
16:06 - Piano Budget
17:53 - Resale
20:26 - Piano Recommendations
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