Digital Piano Bible – 7 Things You Must Know

Dear Graham,

I down loaded this guide today. Thank you for such a wonderful guide for me. I did not know anything about Piano, and was just wondering around in order to buy a Piano for my Granddaughters. Now I know what you meant by “will be better than a sales parson”! It is indeed a wonderful document for people like me who knows nothing at all. I am still reading and following your suggestions. I am sure I will be able to grasp many things I either did not know before or could not know.

Thank you once again.

M A J

—

Hi Graham,

Your piano guide was most helpful. I used Excel to list and compare the various makes of piano.

I would recommend your piano guide to anyone – particularly those with little or no knowledge of the instrument.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Peter

—

Hi Graham,

I received both your Score and your Book and I found them both very useful, particularly all the explanations and the info on the different aspects of a DP to be aware of. Thanks a lot!!

Arne

—

Dear Graham Howard,

Due to financial constraints, I’ve gotten myself a second hand piano – Yamaha U1H…I got it tuned by a qualified technician.
I found ur website and book especially, the most helpful guide in choosing my piano. Thank u soo very much. I appreciated every
page of your book. Every time I had question running in my mind, your book gave me the answer immediately. Thanks again.

Regards
Farah Arabi

—

I needed a good point of reference for bringing my knowledge up to date and your book was absolutely fantastic at providing comprehensive independent advice on everything related to digital pianos

Dahel

—

Dear Graham !

Thanks for your help.

Other hand let I take the opportunity to mention few words about your guide as well.

To be honest for me your guide was a totally new set of aspects, knowledge, which clarifies a lot of things. Now it looks for me much
easier to decide, consider what could be the best digital piano for me. The main sections and the detailed points also represents a
great collected information for advanced and basic users.

So thank you very much for your support this way.

BR Peter.

—

Your Digital Piano Buyer’s Guide was just what I needed. It focused on the only things I wanted to know about: touch and sound and I now have a Korg SP170 which I think is a perfect first digital piano. The list of the top pianos in each price range was brilliant together with the breakdown of how they scored in the all important touch and sound categories. I also bought the piano from Umbrella music’s online store which again was recommended in the guide and had no problems with them. I will definitely consult the guide again when I’m ready to upgrade my piano in a couple of years. Thanks again Graham.

Christopher

—

“A practical guide I would definitely recommend to all who are looking to buy a digial piano”

Hi Graham

I found your guide extremely useful. It was very comprehensive yet easy to understand. A practical guide I would definitely recommend to all who are looking to buy a digial piano. I would give it a score of 9.5 out of 10.

Mirae

—

Great Help In Planning A Purchase

I enjoy music as an avocation, having spent 40 years as a teacher of English and department chairman in MA and NH public high schools.
We now split time between MA and FL, where I continue to play piano occasionally with small groups.

In MA, I have a 1913 Knabe grand piano, but needed something here in FL for use in our home, and to take out on gigs.
While I can tune, regulate and repair acoustic pianos, I knew nothing about digital pianos until I came across Graham Howard and ukpianos.co.UK.

There I found Digital Piano Buyer’s Guide, a lengthy report detailing 7 things you need to know before making a purchase.

I downloaded the report, and learned all kinds of important details: tests to perform in a store; difference between a stage and digital piano;
weighted keys; where to place a digital piano in a home; and even a rating list of options, covering touch, sound, design, build quality, resale value,
popularity, and value for money. I ultimately made a purchase in the US utilizing my new-found fund of information.

Still grateful I ran into this site at ukpianos.co.UK.

David Nims, Florida, United States (14/11/2012)

—

Hi Graham:
I ended up getting my Yamaha CLP 611 (16 years old) repaired. All that was wrong was the damper pedal. So I did not buy a new digital piano after all.
That being said, your guide was excellent and I planned all my store visits and manufacturers research around the products you recommended.

An excellent guide that was thoroughly researched and very well organized.

Regards,
Brian Glasspoole

—

Hi Graham

I hope that you are well the information that you supplied to me on my request was very help full to me
and your knowledge and inspiration and commitment for your craft has to be admired all though I play
a Roland JD 800 synthesizer more than piano I was very pleased with any information and tips I received from you
thank you once again take care all the best to you

Donnie Martin

—

I was planning to buy a piano for my daughter but with no idea where to start. Mr. Graham Howard kindly sent me a copy of electronic guidance
with full details of expert’s opinions. Even though I know little about piano, I can see his advice is professional and with top level expertise.
My daughter and I are both delighted with the purchase and once again taking this opportunity to show our appreciation.

All the best

Ying

—

Dear Graham,

I have had recourse to your detailed and authoritative reviews of digital pianos which were useful in three situations :

1.When I feared I needed to replace my Technics P60 (though in the event it was revived by a local firm, Starland). I was looking for something which weighed no more than the P60 (I’m 76) and which, importantly, had a good enough sound for public performance.

2.When my student grand-daughter (grade 5 piano) was thinking of a piano which would be easy to store safely, could be played without disturbing flat-mates, and which would be easy to transport when she moved accommodation.

3.When a competent pianist friend with a good acoustic piano needed an instrument on which she could practice without waking her new baby- the action and price were both significant for her.

Your clearly-expressed analysis of makes and models was directly helpful in each of those circumstances – both in narrowing down to a choice based on positives, and in ruling out some instruments which, in different ways, seemed less likely to suit us. The latter is something which magazine reviews seem to deal with “between the lines”.

Now the bad news : I didn’t need to buy another digital piano, our grand-daughter is stalling at the moment (maybe it is pressure of work – she is a medic – or maybe it is cash-flow),
and our friend bought a second-hand Korg which an aquaintance was too ill to play and which she was able to try-out at length.

That last point is really important, I think. Hands-on experience of a piano is necessary when someone is about to spend a significant sum, but for those of us who live miles from anywhere your advice is a major help.

John Devon

—

Dear Graham

“When our daughter started lessons we shopped around for a piano. With little knowledge or expertise we were very soon overwhelmed by the range of options available –
including acoustic and digital pianos. I requested and received a copy of the guide: “7 things you need to know before buying a digital piano” and found this to be
an invaluable source of information. We eventually purchased a mid range Kawai digital piano from a shortlist of models based on the very helpful advice that
Graham Howard provided. If you are thinking of buying a digital piano do yourself a favour and read this first”.

Mark Morrin

—

Hi Graham,

Thank you for your newsletter “7 Things To Know Before You Buy A Digital Piano” which I found very helpful and informative.

It enabled me to sort through the requirements of the digital pianos on my wish list.

As I (try to) play an eclectic list of music I want to retain the facilities of my existing instrument that has many voices but also produces a good piano sound.

I also found your newsletter on Get Your Piano Valued… most interesting, as it was a very useful tool to establish piano prices and what
is available on the used piano market.

Your “free” service has been much appreciated, so thank you for your help.

Best wishes,
Harry

—

“I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that anyone considering purchasing a digital piano read this report before making any choice”

I recently obtained a copy of Graham’s “7 Things You MUST Know Before You Buy a Digital Piano” and found it to be extremely useful. I was in the market for a digital piano as space and budget constraints prevent me from considering an acoustic grand piano but I did want to have the touch and feel of an acoustic grand as well as the sound. I had not researched digital pianos for many years and was interested to research the advancements that had been made since I first considered them over 10 years ago. As suggested in Graham’s article “Digital Pianos – Which Brand Should You Buy?” there is a great deal of conflicting information out there and I felt I needed some advice from someone with expert knowledge. Graham’s Digital Piano guide was an invaluable resource in helping me understand the aspects of digital pianos that are important and those that are more optional or personal choice. He enlightened me to a number of features that I had not considered and his scoring system helped me immensely in narrowing my research to manufacturers with instruments that seemed to meet my areas of interest. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that anyone considering purchasing a digital piano read this report before making any choice.

Tom Mitchell from Canada

—

Hi Graham,

Thank so much for the concise and very helpful resource you’ve so graciously made available free of charge!

Mark

—

Hey Graham,

Thanks for Piano Buyer’s guide, after a couple days of searching finally I feel relieved I really didn’t know anything about digital pianos
but now I feel safe going to a store and choose mine.

Adam

—

Hi Graham

The digital piano bible was very useful.
From my inital scan of the document I learnt some significant points:
Kawai brings greater revenue for music stores but not regarded as the best.
Yamaha is the best followed by Rolland and Kawai.
The disadvantage of buying second-hand is lack of warranty cover.

Regards
Annette

—

Hi Graham,

You have a great site with a wealth of info for someone like me who has never played and knows nothing about them, thank you for all the time and effort you have put in as I would have been flying blind if not for you!

Wayne

—

Hi Graham,

While I am on the other side of the pond, I want to thank you for the information.

Cheers,

Barry

—

Hi Graham

Thank you very much for the score, that is brilliant!! It helps me a lot!

Thank you again, your guide and forum are the best i could find in the website as well as in the shop
Kind regards

Antonella

—

Hi Graham, thank you for all your help! I found the information that you so generously put your time into was very helpful in that it cleared up a lot of confusion that I ran into with my research on buying a digital piano.
I think what was most helpful was that you included in your explanations which features were the most important to pay attention to and which ones really didn’t matter.

Thanks, again. I appreciate your help in making my decision. Ann

—

Hi Graham

Your e-book was very useful and assisted in a very informed decision for a purchase. I have a musical background anyway but my technical knowledge is in guitars. My past knowledge and my new knowledge (from you) ended up with a very good outcome at the register. After my initial line of questioning (based on the information from your book) the salesperson was very aware that I was not a standard sales target. Many thanks for your free information. If I was based in the UK I would come and thank you personally.

Dom from Australia

—

“The Piano Bible brings out points that shop assistants and managers do not want to reveal”

Dear Graham,

Since I am not a Facebook fan, following you email below I woud like to confirm, that your digital piano buying guide is very helpful. I played piano as a child and I have considered buying digital one for some time. Always wondering what is to be considered, and how the piano quality and adequacy to my need should be assessed. Your book definitely brings very useful hints and methods in order not to be disappointed after the purchase.

The Digital Piano Bible brings the points that many of the specialised shop assistants and managers do not know or do not want to reveal.

Thank you for this really great, and free, piece of information.

Sincere regards,

Olaf

—

7things feedback

Five stars
Very helpful
The guide to the digital piano really helped me in my choice through the jungle of
web informations and forum, being myself completely ignorant about digital pianos.
I found the score system brilliant especially when updated with the piano prices.
Well done!
If I lived in the UK I would have definitely bought my piano at UK piano shop.
Antonella

—

Thanks for the advice through your website on piano’s it was very informative especially for someone with limited/ no knowledge of this subject
Regards
Richard

—

Thank You Graham. Your are as cool re-freshing water in a desert. You have been a great help in guiding me.

LindaBaskin

—

“My searches and doubts about which digital piano I should buy have come to an end, all thanks to you.”

Dear Graham

Thank very much for sending another link, I have managed to access the book.
I am very grateful and look forward to reading it.
My searches and doubts about which digital piano I should buy have come to an end,
all thanks to you.

Kind regards

Beata

—

Dear Graham,

Just to say I found your piano guide extremely useful. I tried out a Yamaha 650X in a local shop, and it was well, OK-ish, but after reading your guide I decided upon a Roland FP50, which I’ve now owned for about six months. – superb. couldn’t have done better, and I’m so glad that before I bought it I had a better idea of what I wanted. Much of that was due to my reading your very useful guide.
Thanks
Andrew

—

EXCELLENT WEBSITE IN HELPING ME UNDERSTAND ALL THE PIANO JARGON ON MOST WEBSITES
I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT DIGITAL PIANOS TO BUY FOR MY DAUGHTER,THIS WEBSITE HELPED ME UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE LANGUAGE AND DIFFERENT TYPES THERE WERE.HAVE NOT YET BOUGHT ONE AS STILL DECIDING.

Catherine

—

Hi Graham

I’m in Australia which makes purchasing from you a little impractical! Following your advice I bought a Yamaha YDP162 on the weekend for my little girl who is about to start piano lessons at school.

I really appreciate your generosity with your (obviously considerable) expertise. If it were not for your guide I would have purchased an 8 year old clavinova from ebay for way above what I spent on the YDP162.

Kind regards

Mary Simpson

—

Hi Graham,

Your website and all your emails are very helpful. You helped me to make decision on which piano to buy, also introduced good online materials for leaning piano. I definitely will continue to read ukpiano.
Many thanks,
Yingji

—

I would like to say thank you for your very valuable information, it has saved me a lot of time comparing models at different shops.

many thanks
William

—

Your Bible is fantastic – full of fact and, most useful of all, opinion. When you’re thinking about a digital for the first time, impartial advice from an expert is what you need.
Many many thanks
Annie

—

Hi Graham,

The digital piano bible was brilliant, so much so that I realised the digital piano we have is better than I thought, I am a non musician with children who are learning to play and now realise they can get a lot more out of our Yamaha piano than they have been doing so far, it will last them for another few grades yet!

Many thanks,
Mairi.

—

Dear Mr. Graham Howard,

Your guide to buying a Piano is indeed a splendid document and an easy to read and understand guide even for non-music knowledgeable persons like me. Well, we are based in India, as such, we could not avail the services of your store.

I downloaded your guide and read through each of 70 odd pages to understand what is good, as I wanted to buy a piano for my 11 year old daughter who is learning music

—

Hello Graham,

Thank you very much for the time you took to create the digital piano guide! It was really helpful for somebody with no idea about pianos!

—

Hi Howard,

Thanks a lot for the amazing insight you have provided in your book that makes it very simple for lay-men like me to understand and decode the different terminologies used by various manufacturers and also assist in the decision making of what to buy.

Shailesh