[pianolad23]

Are Waldstein good piano's ? ive played a few and was very impressed with the tone and action, but are they good enough to take me upto grade 8 ?

[Gill the Piano]

One of the larger ones would, but probably not much further. That said it's some while since I tuned one, and they may well have got better. Barrie would know. Barrie? Barrie...?

[Barrie Heaton]

They are made in Pearl River. Wile the quality of pianos out of that part of
of the world has improved quit a bit even to the point that Steinway are moving production of their Essex Models to Pearl River. The quality varies so much from piano to piano they take a lot of prep work but can turn into a reasonable piano try quiet a few pianos of the same model as Gill says the larger one are much better

PianoGuy may have more experience with them


Barrie,
_________________
Barrie Heaton
Web Master UK Piano Page

[Gill the Piano]

See? Told you he knows everything!

[PianoGuy]

How old is the Waldstein?

If it dates from the mid '90s, then it's likely only to be of average quality. At that time the Pearl River factory was in its infancy, build quality was intended for the Chinese domestic market and not particularly good. Some of the early instruments to hit European shores even had some of the letters in the name affixed upside down, such was the unfamiliarity of the workforce with Western words! Look carefully at the "s" in "Waldstein"!

These days, the Guangzhou Pearl River factory is producing some lovely instruments, although I admit that I haven't seen the Waldstein brand for a while. I think they're imported by Richard Webb of Intermusic.

The Pearl-River branded Yamaha design (yes, they're at it in China too!) is a splendid upright of U1-ish proportions; slightly taller at 124cm, and the Ritmüller range is also very impressive. If the Waldstein you're looking at is *brand new* then I would expect it to be up to these standards, and well capable of taking you beyond grade 8, but as Barrie and Gill have said, the earlier ones may *just* do the job.

As an aside, expect the Essex Piano to be up to the best of Pearl River standards, but don't expect Steinway quality. After all, the Boston is built by Kawai, and certainly no better than that maker's standard range. The Essex grands are OK in design if a bit Art-Deco, but the uprights have the foulest of Transatlantic styling except for the puzzling Deco model and the U1-styled traditional model. The rest of the range look as though they're rejects from the 1960s Hammond Organ catalogue. Filthy. I hope they don't expect to sell 'em in Blighty.

PG

[pianolad23]

thank you all for your helpful reply, i am in quite a predicement at the moment, i purchased a new palatino piano just before xmas, loved it in the shop but i think the main reason for that was that it is white, i fell in love with the colour not the piano, it has an aweful action and tone, however i have now sold this piano on and i have no idea what to get, i am on a budget of about £1500, i have seen a brand new Bentley in my local music shop for this amount, its a nice piano, good light action and mellow tone with quite a good bass for a small piano, does anyone know if the newer bentleys are any good compared to the old ones? many thanks