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New here, so thank you for your patience.

I'm helping my wife purchase her first piano and would like to know where the Canadians/Albertans here would look. Looking at the stores in Calgary and on K...I there doesn't appear to be much of a selection.

We're looking for a used baby grand of moderate to good quality. Is there somewhere that we are missing? We don't and won't use FB so that is not an option.

We're in no rush, but would like to be on the right track. Presently using a Casio keyboard.



Albertan

It's not uncommon for people to have to travel in order to have more viable options.
Vancouver, BC seems to have a fairly robust piano market (although it's a bit of a hike from AB).

Are you looking for used or brand new?

Thanks to all so far for responding.

We're looking for used, but a better manufacturer. It seems there's lot's of old, obscure pianos but few used of the more desirable
makes.(Except Yamaha which seem to be everywhere) Size would be in the 5'3 to 5'10 range.

An example of what we'd like to find would be Kawai RX-2, Hailun 161&178, Estonia 168,, even some Ritmullers.

BC has been on my mind, but is a long way away to buy a piano. And it is soon winter. I would't consider traveling there for a piano, but would have to find someone locally to check it out. Not the best solution.

No, not the best solution, but people have been forced by Covid to go outside the normal channels. Definitely have a local inspection if you do.

Some great pianos can come up on the used market for private sale...although it takes patience and vigilance ( and a bit of luck! ). When I was looking for mine I checked Kijiji daily and scrolled through hundreds of junkers. I'm not a fan of FB either, but I know a lot of used piano are advertised there. Maybe there is a friend with an account that can keep an eye on it for you?
Another great way is to make the acquaintance of a reputable tech, and see if he/she will let you know if a good one comes up for sale. The idea being that they will get your loyalty and business after purchase ( also inspection etc ).

Good luck! It took four years of waiting for me, making due with a piano that I had outgrown. I live in NL though so even tougher than Alberta. In the end I had so many people roped into looking for me that when my upright was advertised at the university's music department, my phone was ringing off the hook

( Just to clarify, my piano wasn't from the University, they are often hard-used, the private seller just advertised there )

You might also try PianoMart. They have nice pianos listed there and there’s also PianoWorld’s listings however I think most of the pianos are in the US.

I’ve been told and have seen that the post pandemic world loves pianos so inventory and selection could be limited. You may have to be patient to find your piano.
Best Wishes!

Aren’t all of the pianos in PianoMart from the US?

You’re probably right but it would only take a few minutes for the OP to see if it covers Canada.

Sounds like you know exactly where we stand. We are telling everyone we know about our quest and have let some technicians and instructors know. It's amazing how many people said "we just gave our piano away" Mainly uprights I would assume.
We have a friend watching FB but you get what you pay for. FB also has some wacko's on it.
Too bad there's not a Canadian Pianomart!
What did you end up buying?

Awww, too bad there’s not a Canadian PianoMart.

Eh...?

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

😁

When you search Pianomart and filter using the country Canada there are 26 Pianos

Thank you, I hadn't noticed that filter. I'll hop right to it.

I ended up with a Yamaha WX7. My little house can't fit a grand, as much as I'd love one, and good grands are even scarcer here than uprights. It was in
great condition, and I had it voiced and regulated after purchase.
I'm very happy with it and it was worth the wait, although it irritates me to no end that Yamaha recycled the model number to use for their midi wind controller instrument! Grrrr!

Thank you. Good to know.

In TO. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal: super dry winter, super damp summer. Any piano will be destroyed in one year UNLESS you deal with humidity control. I have DampChaser for my piano, but I ditched it for whole room humidification.

I like the 178 Haliun, but I have a 218. Like any piano, you gotta be very careful. It’s all too easy to find poor 178s and poor anything else, for that matter. I have a soft spot for Petroff, too, but totally different sound. Japanese and German are of course another level (sometimes) but $$$$$.

Whole room humidification (but not too aggressive) AND internal HCS is (IMO) the best of both worlds. The primary issue with bringing whole house humidity to a level that the piano REALLY likes, is migration. Temperature/humidity inside vs temp/humidity outside in higher latitudes CAN gradually create condensation/freezing inside the wall (towards the outside where the temp is at 32 or below). IOW if the differential is too great, one risks mold and/or rot in time. There is a formula that HVAC installers use to determine the "safe" indoor humidity level relative to global positioning.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor