I'm desperate to get a new piano, and am considering a Wendl & Lung upright (122cm). According to what I've read they seem to be 'good value' and my local music shop will give a £500 discount, making it 2K. To get a similar'spec' Yamaha, which is what I really want, would cost approx 3K (with the biggest discount I could find) which is a bit out of my price range at the moment. I've read on another piano forum that W & L are excellent instruments, though one person cast a bit of doubt on the build quality. Just wondered if anybody on here had any experience of them?
Thanks!

Allegra

Hello there.

Check out this website.They are lovely here and offer great advice.

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-forums/index.php

Good Luck and happy playing.

I have a Yamaha U3.Cannot fault it.

Edit.Have you already posted on that website as there is a reference to that make?

I would go for a Yamaha.

Semele

Thanks for your reply! That's the forum I meant. I just thought I'd try to gather as much info as poss. from different sources!
Must admit, the W & L is a bit of an unknown quantity, and could prove to be a 'false economy' I suppose.
I'm in a bit of a 'catch 22' at the moment, as I want to advertise for private woodwind pupils to supplement my part-time peri income, but couldn't teach wwind without a piano ....... but until I manage to build up a private practice money is a bit tight ........... and so on

Is rent-to-buy an option? It would be more expensive long term, but might give you a little more short term choice?

In your situation the rent to buy is not an option then. I purchased my U3 ( funnily enough my old piano - 18th birthday pressie- was a Kaps, but it lasted me many years teaching before wearing out ) via interest free instalments. OK,we know interest free isn't really,but it was the only way I could finance it.

I think you have two options...the first being the way I did it and haggling or getting a reasonable piano for,say,£500,privately and asking your local piano tuner to check it out before purchase and ,once you are more established then upgrade. It is not worth nearly bankrupting yourself when you are just setting up and I wouldn't like to be bogged down with instalments for a couple of years.

I would never buy new,always second hand..unless I win the lottery and then *drooling* I would buy,after the haggle... an Bosendorfer Imperial Grand ( 97 keys) after buying a big house to fit it in!

Stick it out and go for the Yamaha eventually.It will also hold its value more,I think.

Wow what timing! My best mate sold his piano on wednesday and is having his new Wendl and Lung delivered this tuesday! After playing it in the shop he is absolutely besotted with it. From what I have heard this is one of the sturdiest makes around and our local piano dealer was willing to extend the 5 year manufacturer's warranty to 10 years. He is convinced that the only difference between them and a Yamaha is the name (and 3-4 thousand pounds! ). I would definitely say to go for it, I havn't played one in about 6 months but I will be in a position to give you a firsthand opinion this time next week if you can wait that long.

Thanks, Semele - food for thought there!

Boo - I look forward to your opinion on the W & L !

Hi Allegra, I must apologise - I completely forgot about this thread until scanning through viva piano!

The Wendl and Lung was a very nice piano. The power was fantastic and the touch was good but not feathery. I think you get used to and attached to any piano you have and I could see myself easily becoming attached to it. The practise pedal was very good too. I can't compare this against new pianos in general but try one out and I'm sure you won't have any regrets if you decide to get it.

This thread is a bit old but worth updating.

Has anyone any recent expereince of Wendl & Lung pianos - especially grands? I was seriously impressed with the tone and touch of a couple I played recently? I felt they all out-perfomed the equivalent Yamahas in terms of tone and there was not much to choose between them in terms of touch.

As some people may know, because I am often going on about it, I bought a Wendl and Lung U120 upright in April. I absolutely love him. He is bright and sparkly in the treble with a lovely sonorous base. He is easy to play and makes even me sound like a decent pianist.
When I bought him I was looking for a piano for around 5000 euros. I was considering buying new or maybe a second hand yamaha. In my opinion and for my needs, he outperformed new Yahamas costing up to 8K. I liked a couple of Ronisch pianos that I tried but they were over 10000 euros new and the second hand one I tried I did not like. The Ronisch pianos sounded better than mine but they were 6000 euros more expensive.

I have not had the good fortune to play a Wendl and Lung grand but a friend of mine, whose daughter was performing in a concert at the Vienna Hofburg, said they had a Wendl and Lung grand there and that he was seriously impressed with the sound and he had not heard of the make when I bought mine.
He said it was similar in sound to a B?sendorfer - and he would know, he has one in his house which he lets me play from time to time.

I was torn between a Wendl and Yamaha but decided on Yamaha. Purely because the Yamaha silent system is meant to be of a higher standard.

They were used as the practice pianos for the last International Piano Competition in Leeds. Besbrode Pianos in Leeds has a whole showroom devoted to them.

If you go on the pianoworld forum and do a search for wendl & lung you will be happily occupied for hours reading opinions on this brand.

Skylark and I were looking at some of them not too long ago and the dealer solemnly assured us that w&l were a name for the future, and if they are used as practice pianos for competitions then they must be ok.

To me, the couple I tried did feel a bit like converted skips with a keyboard but I have no technical language to back up my impressions. You really need to try them yourself and make sure there is a rock solid warranty with whatever you choose.

Thanks, I'll have a look on the pianoworld forum