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I'm glad I found this forum--what a wealth of knowledge.

My piano playing is mostly done in restaurants and at wedding receptions and I play pop pieces. It's a great hobby for me, but I have no pretenses of being a serious musician or a musical purist. I know in my heart that a very fine piano would be lost on me.

I have read the many posts on the Suzuki grand pianos from Costco/Sams Club and I can understand the issues people have with ordering a piano from such a place. And I've heard all the issues with voicing, tuning, etc. I'm willing to have these things done if I order one.

However, I'm looking to hear from anyone who has actually done this and is willing to share his/her experience. I've not met anyone who can tell me a thing about the experience of the piano itself.

Thanks so much!

Welcome to the forum, infactscott!

There's a thread active right now by someone who did exactly what you are considering:

2 year experience with Suzuki

And you may also find Vince in Vegas's story relevant; he did not purchase from Costco but describes in great detail his experience with Suzuki:
Vince in Vegas\'s thread on Suzuki

Thanks Monica--Immediately after I posted, I saw the 2 year thread. Geez, I didn't see it yesterday.

I played a Suzuki once some years ago at a Costco under less than ideal circumstances (a few minutes in a noisy environment), so I would hesitate to generalize from my experience. I would recommend that you search the archives (try using "Suzuki" as the subject of the thread to narrow it down). [edit: never mind; I just re-read your first post where you said you've done that.] jmho, but if it were me, I'd buy a higher tier used piano rather than the Suzuki.

Does the word "irony" mean anything to you?

infactscott, "I'm your huckleberry"! 6'2" Suzuki. Ask away either in front of the crowd or by pm.

I guess the right question is: Who has touched a Susuki grand? I don't think they can be play.

M&B,

Thank you for that extremely illuminating post. It is exactly that kind of sarcasm that poisons reasonable exchanges here.

There are a number of posters here who have played the Suzuki, or who have worked on them. Some, like Vince, are perfectly happy with it. Others have come away with quite a different view. These are the people who can speak with first hand experience. The rest of us cannot.

I have played on several Suzuki's and serviced them. I have experience with the threee models in grand and vertical. This is not a piano I recommend to my clients. Aside from the problems associated with buying sight unseen and unheard, I am not happy with the designs or build quality of these pianos.

Infactscott,

Welcome to the Piano Wolrd Forum. I not only sell pianos, but have been playing piano since I was 5 years old. I started out on a Wurlitzer spinet that my mother bought me back when they were sold new for $500.00. I played that piano until my teens in which I then started playing a Yamaha C3. In my judgement I would say that the new Suzuki pianos are entry level pianos, and the Wurlitzer spinet that I started on was one as well. I only wished my starter piano played as nice as the ones being made today by Suzuki and others. The fact is the factory that makes the Suzuki piano also makes others under "famous" brand names that are sold through a dealer network. Suzuki is judged more harshly here because of how it is sold, rather than how it plays and sounds.

As I stated earlier we sell the Suzuki piano. When we sell any piano we offer a satisfaction guarantee or we take the piano back. If the Suzuki piano was as bad as it is portrayed here we would be taking a lot of them back. We also have a delivery company that makes deliveries for the orders made on Costco.com. They have a very liberal return policy. If their members were not happy we would be picking a lot up. The fact is we are not.

I notice you are in TN. You are more than welcome to come by anytime if you would like. We have every make model and size that they offer online, as well as what we offer. I would be more than happy to have one of my tech's break one out of a box and show you.

I hope this first hand experience helps you in your search.

Sincerely,

In the first place, you have made it clear on another thread, in the last 24 hours, that you do not recommend *any* pianos except those with the factory name on the fallboard -- thereby excluding many brands that are widely regarded as good pianos (Essex, Boston, Nordiska, Baldwin, Cable-Nelson and dozens of others). The universe of pianos that you are willing to "recommend" would appear to be quite small.

In light of that, a question for you: Do you take the trouble to point out, with respect to each and every one of these pianos, that you do not recommend them, whenever they are mentioned on PW?

Also, could you please enlighten us as to the specific "design" and "build quality" items with Suzuki's that you are "not happy" with? And how those design and build quality items are specific to Suzuki's.

Thank you.

J. Mark my thoughts exactly...just more literate and pointed. Thanks

J. Mark and Vince,

Ok, fellas. Take it easy. I get a little crazy about Suzuki. Clearly I have over stated my feelings. Actually the universe of pianos that bear the manufacturer's brand name on the piano is respectibly large and contains brands most recommend and used by teachers and professional musicians, institutions, and studios. I am on record in this forum recommending Wm. Knabe and Cable Nelson. I do tend to recommend pianos with the manufacturer's name on the front. This is some pretty common and sound advice.

J. Mark,
You brought up these brands, so I will respond.
I am not a fan of Essex, Boston in the often deceptive way they are marketed. I believe shoppers may be better off paying less for the Pearl River, Young Chang, or Kawai model that matches up. Who knows what manufacturer will be given the contract to build them next year. I have never criticized the quality or performance of these labels.
I am not a fan of Nordiska from a technical side, though most of my impressions were drawn early on and have not worked on many recent ones.
Don't know why you included Baldwin, but I am a fan of their Artist grands and on record to this. I also have recommended their Hamilton studio this week. I am not crazy about their lower lines (perhaps from China, Donbei?).

I have detailed my technical complaints regarding Suzuki in this forum in the past.
1. Inconsistent stringing
2. Inconsistent flange pinning
3. Poor fits and finishes
4. Inconsistent and uneven voicing
5. Poor color and veneer matching on the wood cabinets
6. Nearly non-existant technical support
7. Nearly non-existant parts support stateside
Yes, other manufacturers have problems with one or more of these areas; sometimes indemically and other times on a piece by piece basis. Rarely have I encountered brands that have all of these problem areas and more.

J. Mark,
Please go back to the top and re-read Infactscott's last paragraph. I was responding specifically to his request.
Your comment:
"In light of that, a question for you: Do you take the trouble to point out, with respect to each and every one of these pianos, that you do not recommend them, whenever they are mentioned on PW?"
Might be considered by some to be inflamatory and somewhat insulting. I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound that way.

Thank you for the response, Craigen.

However, you said you had problems with the "design" of the Suzuki. All of the items you mention are basically quality control items. To my thinking, the things you mention are all rather vague generalizations, personal "impressions" that are difficult to verify against any objective standard. Intentional? Where are the "design" problems, and where do those differ from other Chinese stencils?

As to your last point -- yes, precisely. My question was, since you have said you do not recommend pianos except those with the manufacturer's name on the board (a statement you now appear to be backpeddling on), my question was, do you bother to make negative comments every time someone asks about one of those pianos? Or is your negativity reserved solely for Suzuki?

I think those are fair questions, and I think you have danced around them without answering. Nothing personal.

Says the guy who doesn't even have a piano to the guy who works around them every day.

I see that J. Mark continues to critiize the posts of others while having nothing of value to offer himself. I suppose he would not want to subject his opinions and knowledge, or lack thereof, to scrutiny.

All I did was ask questions, Michael. As you have made clear before, you don't like my questions. Big deal.

Yeah, J. They're just questions. Torquemada just asked questions too.

J. Mark,

How is your piano search coming? What pianos have you played recently?

from Craigen
from J Mark
J Mark,

Let it go. There is nothing vague about Craigen's answers, and his personal impressions are the sum of his personal experience as a tech.
You don't like his answers. That's obvious. And you are making yourself look silly. That's equally obvious.