[Sweep]

Dear All,

I am having a massive dilema at the moment and would appreciate some help. I am looking to buy an upright and thought my budget would be around &4000. However, when I was in a piano shop today I noticed a new Petrof 131 (fitted with German Renner action) in black for &5000 reduced from &8500+ at which point Wendy, my partner, said "it looks nice you can have it." Great I thought. The bass was awesome, much better to my ear than a 15 year old Bluthner sited next to it, the treble was crisp without harshness I dislike about Yamahas. Now, I ran this past another piano dealer and his comments threw a spanner in the works:
1)Petrof are not much good
2)Stay well Clear
3)You have got a great opportunity to get an excellent piano (e.g. Irmsher, Yamaha U1/U3)or make a big mistake
4)Petrof's are deliberatley overpriced to allow massive discounting
5)Resale value is very low.
6)The mellow tone is manufactured by deliberatley manipulating the hammers and this would not last.

Now the punch line for me is that I have been playing for only 18months, I have past my grade 1 and have just sat my grade 2, my ability to accuratley assess a good piano (touch, sound, feel, etc) from a mediocre piano are seriously limited and I need good, honest advise. The only thing I do know is that I find Yamahas too harsh for my taste. The Petof is held for me until Monday.

Many thanks ...Sweep

[Barrie Heaton]