Buying a New and Used Grand and Baby Grand Piano
Buying a new grand piano is arguably the best type of piano purchase you can make.
As well as being the only owner, buying a new grand piano over a second-hand grand piano gives you a longer guarantee and reduces the chance of requiring restoration work to be done within one’s lifetime. Pianos, particularly new grand pianos, hold their value extremely well and continually prove to be an excellent investment.
That being said, when buying one of our fully restored pianos, you’re buying a piano that is already within its second or third generation. Having been given a new lease of life, our fully restored pianos can be played to the standards of contemporary piano building.
Another benefit you get from both new and second-hand grand pianos over an upright piano, is the extension of the strings. This results in a bigger more satisfying sound, with the grand piano action also making it easier to play softly and more expressively.
Grand pianos actions also use what’s called the ‘double escapement’, a unique part of the mechanism which allows for faster and more accurate repetition of the same note. Whilst this technique can still be achieved on an upright, the hammer resets quicker on a grand piano because of this and is therefore more forgiving and less effort. For players who end up studying the piano, playing professionally or dedicate much of their time to the instrument as a primary hobby will inevitably end up with a grand piano to achieve as high of a technical proficiency as possible!
Grand pianos, whether played in the home or on stage offer a different experience to an upright for both the player and others around it. This is primarily from the sound and it’s projection, grand pianos project their sound outwards and fill the room making it very pleasing to listeners at home and crucial when used on a stage. For the player, some would argue they feel more comfortable as you are not confined to a corner in the room against a wall, but can instead look outwards and play more in the open due to the positioning within a room.
Grand pianos, whilst not to be shallow, also look stunning visually and can be a real centrepiece for the home!
Psychologically, this can also help draw people to want to play the instrument even more and can increase the levels of practice and productivity!
In today’s world, new technologies can now be introduced to grand pianos extending their versatility, depending on the surrounding’s and needs of the individual. The main one is a silent system, which can either be retrofit, or equipped in the factory for most new grand pianos. This allows the grand piano to be played via headphones when needed as to not disturb others around them in the same room or when others are asleep.
These systems also have the same benefits as a digital piano, offering many other sounds to play with and are midi compatible, allowing the piano to be plugged into a laptop or PC and used as, quite simply, the ultimate production keyboard! The beauty of this is you are not sacrificing the touch of your grand piano by using an imitation action on a digital piano or keyboard.
Another technology is self play. These systems can also be retrofit or factory equipped with certain brands, like Yamaha ‘Disklavier’ or Steinway ‘Spirio’. Self play systems are wirelessly controlled via a tablet or smart phone via bluetooth or wifi, allowing the piano to play itself from the comfort of your sofa with a huge repertoire of music for personal pleasure or entertaining guests. On the other side of this, self play also features record and playback, which can be an invaluable tool for producers and composers to speed up their workflow, record the performance first and worry about recording and capturing the performance with microphones later!
We stock an excellent range of new grand pianos and baby grand pianos in our showrooms including Bosendorfer, Yamaha, Bechstein, Weber, W Hoffmann, Petrof, Kemble, Ritter and Zimmermann, which we welcome you to view.
If you are looking for a specific model or type of piano that is not listed here, let us know and we will do what we can to help you.
Tel: 01344 873645 | sales@handelpianos.co.uk
