I'm thinking of buying a steinway upright as an less expensive alternative to their grands, but I'm concerned if the price of the upright is worth it (e.g. if the tone, touch, etc. is comparable to that of their grands). I've asked around and it's generally said that if I wanted to buy a steinway upright, I'd be better off spending a bit more to get their grands, since their uprights aren't exactly cheap.

So, anyone has any reviews / personal experiences on steinway uprights? thanks!

My piano teacher has a steinway upright. I haven't had a lesson on it for a while now but from what I remember it was pretty good, but the only thing I had to compare it with was our normal (Welmar) upright, so that's not really saying much I don't think.

Things that stick out in my memory about it are that it had a metal soundboard (which is apparently desirable for some reason or other), its pedals seemed further away than normal and its keys were fractionally smaller than most pianos. (I could reach a 9th comfortably rather than with a bit of a stretch)

I'm not really an expert on pianos but, from what I understand, an upright's action will never be as good to play as a grand's (unless you have a rubbish grand!) as an upright has to work against gravity while a grand works with it, making it quicker.

A teacher I know has one (and is very proud of it). However, I don't like playing it as the sound is rather muffled, but more than that, the touch is so light. Some of my pupils have done their exams on it and said it runs away with their fingers when doing sonata-style playing, and they can't get a good ff sound from it. Her's is a modern one, so not that old. It definitely doesn't feel like a grand. Of course, this could just be hers! A tuner friend of mine told me that whilst their grand's are brilliant, there are better upright out there for less money.

It's a tough decision buying a new piano isn't it. My last one took me 6 months to decide!

oh... I'm thinking of buying it as a replacement for my Schiedmayer (german) baby grand piano which I bought for SGD$30,000 17 or so years ago. I'm used to relatively heavy action for the keys, but was hoping steinways could have a lighter touch, but not as light as some uprights which are light to the point of being unable to do dynamic gradations.

I'd also add that I had to replace my Grand with an Upright due to the house move and my teaching room being smaller. Whilst I love my Upright, I still miss the Grand. If space isn't your problem, I'd try and stay with a Grand - whether it be a Steinway or another good alternative.

all righty, thanks! just wanted a new piano for novelty's sake. I aso thought it'd be a good thing if any of my pianist friends came over to my place, with which we could play things for two pianos (Rach 2 for 2 pianos, Mozart Sonata in D for 2 pianos K448, etc.). Space isn't an issue, since I live in a 3-storey semi-detached house.

I took my piano diploma last year in a studio connected to a piano showroom with Shigeru Kawais (any opinion on these? I tried my friend's new one, it was brilliant), Steinways, & Yamahas among other brands. I think they're one of the main dealers in Steinways here in Singapore, as they had a whole separate room for their Steinways. I saw uprights among their grands, & ever since, I've been thinking of getting one (not only is it a 'wow!' thing among my friends, but I've played on old & seasoned Steinways as well as new ones, & I like the tone of both, even though they're quite different!)

You can get a very good grand piano for the price of a Steinway upright. The action of a grand piano is very different from that of an upright. I can't imagine why you would want to own an upright if you are used to practising on a grand piano.

I dislike Kawai and Petrof pianos because of their action, which is heavy and somewhat sluggish. Kawai's tone is better than Petrof, however.

I like the responsive action of Yamaha pianos; however, the keys are often too light and the tone too bright. But I have come across Yamaha pianos with lovely tone and very heavy action--usually on the larger models.

You could consider Boston pianos, which are built by Steinway.

There are two Steinways that I play from time to time, one in a church and one at a friend's house. They both feel very similar, and have the aforementioned "muffled" sound. I still rather like them, but I'm not sure I'd want one myself.











How much does a Stein weigh?

I used to love playing the Steinway upright we had at school. Very nice, imo.

I have a Kawai bs-20 I think, and I absolutely love, the action isn't heavy, and produces a wonderful tone.

From what I've heard, it's better to get an upright for a certain price than a grand for the same pirce. In other words, it's better to have a decent upright than a not so good grand.

String length is important so (other things being equal) a tall upright is better than a small grand for sound.

A modern grand has a different and faster action to an upright -- for most people this is not going to matter but it is impossible to play, for instance, the Liszt Transcendental Studies on an upright as it doesn't repeat fast enough. Also the soft pedal on a grand doesn't affect the action - on an upright it moves the hammers closer to the strings, leaving play or 'lost motion' ( a rattly feel) in the touch.

The weight of the action can be adjusted and varies from piano to piano. If you can get to a large showroom there should be a choice of weights within each model.

Personally I think Steinways are overpriced. If you still want an upright have a look at Schimmels which are my personal favourites. They have a great sound and are really well built.

The upright steinways are pretty good, I've tried a few myself...Absolutely wonderful. I think steinways are famous for their key action and touch. Very delicate and still powerful when needed. They are still expensive more expensive than a average Kawaii or Yamaha grand actually Haha if i have the money i'll love to get one.....one day...

I've got a Yamaha upright at home but have just been visiting some friends who have a Steinway upright which I played. I found it comparable to the Yamaha but the Steinway had a much lighter touch, and I would repeat what others have said about the sound being 'muffled'; I found it quite hard to get the range of dynamics that I really wanted to get from a Mozart sonata, which is usually quite easy on my Yamaha.

(Having said this, the piano hadn't been played properly for years and had had keys re-done, also tuned a year ago (held tune quite well really though)...I think that it would still be representative of the Steinway family though, at least to a degree)

P

hmmm... from the responses, I can pretty much gather that I wouldn't really want to switch from a grand to a upright, since I've been playing & practising on a grand for so long (all 19 years of my life, in fact). and could anyone elaborate on the "muffled" sound? is it like the una corda on a grand? something similar, to a lesser degree, or just unclear?

I'm not too bent on getting a steinway, or a new piano, for that matter. I'm just interested to know of the quality of the steinway uprights compared to their grands, which I find a little too bright for my liking. Very good touch and action, in any case.

I'm trying to see what brands are good, if I'm treated to a new piano should I obtain good results for my A levels.

Any opinions on Shigeru Kawais? I heard they're quite a good notch above their normal Kawai counterparts.

I'm not an expert on the mechanics or different makes of pianos, although I have experience of playing on a few! However, I wondered if I could mention an interesting website where it is suggested that a piano is only as good as the standard to which the action is adjusted; ie. a cheaper piano could be much more pleasurable to play than a more expensive one for this reason. (I played on one Steinway grand once which had a great tone but was really difficult to control, and later played on a different one which was beautiful to play)
The website which has interesting articles on the subject is :- Pinkham Pianos, Cornwall.
A good technician could probably adjust your action to suit your preference and also 'tone' the hammer felts down so that it doesn't sound too bright.... not sure what this would cost though!