WARNING TO DIGITAL PIANO SHOPPERS! BEWARE!...WHO CAN YOU TRUST WHEN IT COMES TO SPENDING YOUR MONEY AND MAKING THE RIGHT BUYING DECISION??
Let's get one thing straight right away... most music store salespeople and almost all independent on-line so-called review sites have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to 88-key digital pianos! Many of them purposely lie, mislead, misinform, and/or have never actually played the instruments they are talking about based on all my experience with them. How do I know that?...I have read those so-called reviews, been into multiple music stores 100's of times over the years, and the info they have is so wrong at times, it's laughable...but in reality it's sad because you might believe it, and some people do! These "salespeople" only want your money and probably know very little about the products they talk about or represent! Some of these on-line review sites can't even write with good, proper English which makes it more confusing to decipher and understand, and more suspicious too. After nearly 40 years in the music industry, I can tell you one thing for sure...most of these people just don't know what they are talking about and care ONLY about getting your money in any way they can, and not about what is right for you or good for you.
On Sale, Best Price, 80% off, buy here, go here, internet reviews that eventually take you to Amazon.com or other similar sites...there is ALWAYS some sort of sale going on in music stores and web sites. When shopping for a digital piano at on-line or local digital piano & music stores, it's difficult to know who and what to trust. By definition, a music or piano store is normally there to sell you something. Whether it's an acoustic piano, digital piano, keyboard, guitar, band & orchestral instrument, percussion, or other music related product, they sell you something...and that's OK. After all, they have business overhead to worry about such as paying for their store, paying for their inventory, paying for their salespeople, paying for their taxes, their utilities, and other expenses. When it comes to the products and brands a store (local or internet) sells, it's likely that store will not say bad things about their product. In most cases a store will only say positive things about the product they sell, otherwise why would they be a dealer for that product? So by definition, if a store needs to make money (and they all do), then they cannot possibly be unbiased towards the products they carry vs products they do not carry. Even these accessory bundles or packages you see on-line or in stores can be deficient in many cases because they may include the cheapest low quality accessories just to keep the price down and make it look like you are getting something for nothing...but you really aren't! Before you buy any package of bundle deal, contact me first and I'll tell you if it is really good or not because I know a lot about accessories (I use them in my studio) and the best ones to get at low prices.
Whatever a store sells is always going to be better than a product which that store does not sell (according to the salespeople there)...does that make sense? In other words, you'll rarely hear a store tell you "go and buy my competitors piano because it's better than what I have." This just does not happen (haha). But in reality that store is in business to sell product...right? For stores and some internet sites, it's "about selling" and not about really helping you, although there are some very good places that still do care about you...and you are welcome to ask me who they are with regard to US companies. With that in mind, when it comes to digital pianos, the stores need to make a profit on that sale and the bigger the profit on a particular brand and model of digital piano, the more likely that store and its salespeople will tell you that you need that piano and nothing else will do. However, that piano may not be a good one for you but you may never know that because you don't understand the way a piano key action really needs to feel and work so that it plays music correctly, or how the pedal(s) should operate, or how the dynamic sound needs to respond.
Then there are so-called piano "review" sites that are really stores or Amazon links in disguise or not in disguise. When you see someone reviewing pianos and everything they review is linked to Amazon, they just want you to buy that product from Amazon so they can make money off of you regardless of how bad that product may actually be. It costs nothing for a so-called reviewer to link their site to Amazon or other internet selling sites so that you can buy that product off their link. I would suggest you run away as fast as you can if you see a web site or review site that links everything they have to Amazon, eBay or similar sites. I have seen false and misleading info given on these selling and review sites just so you'll buy the product. Can you really trust these places (sites) to give you good reliable info?...I for one do not trust them because I have seen positive recommendations for bad or inferior pianos from store web sites or so-called review sites that seem to not care about what they say as long as it gets you to buy something. STAY AWAY from these places and do not trust them if you want reliable info!
There are definitely music & piano stores and salespeople in the US and around the world who can be trusted and those companies have usually been there for many years and have earned their reputation with a lot of history to show for it. Always ask how long that store has been in business and how long that salesperson has worked there. It can be a good indicator of what you should & should not believe about what they tell you. A new local music store with little or no history may be a good place to shop, but you may also be better off going to an established dealer in the community (or on-line) because they may be able to offer better service and better pricing. This is also true with on-line sites and so-called reviewers as far as them having experience and knowing what they are talking about.
A salesperson is by definition, a salesperson. He or she may know something about the product they sell, but he or she is there to SELL you something and the more profit that is in a particular brand or model (assuming they have a variety of brands & models), the more incentive that salesperson has to push that product on you regardless of whether that item is good for your musical needs or not. A salesperson who also teaches music in a music store, or a teacher who is also a salesperson in a music store cannot (by default) be neutral because they are usually required by that store to say only good things about the products that particular store sells...even though that "teacher" may not like that piano very much. They are normally required and compelled into saying good things only. On the other hand, there are some fabulous pianos in music stores where music lessons take place and those teachers really do love those instruments because those products are really good:). But who can you trust and how do you really know?
Based on all my years of teaching, shopping, and piano buying experience (which is much more than most people), as I mentioned earlier, you are likely just a "commission" for many salespeople at music stores and amazon linked sites and they may have little regard for your long-term musical goals & needs. Also, just because a particular brand of digital piano may be famous or popular does not automatically make one of their models worth owning as compared to other brands & models. I have seen popular brands in past years like Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweil, and others, produce models that were not as good as other piano brands or models in a similar price range. In fact, there are some (popular) digital piano brands right now that build models which have noticeable and important deficiencies which can inhibit a person's ability to learn & play piano properly. But yet there are on-line & local piano & music stores in the US who say nothing but good things about these deficient pianos when in reality those pianos have problems with poor key action movement, bad piano sound, small dynamic range, low polyphony, poor functionality, or a track record of poor reliability. But you'll never know or get this info from stores that sell those brands because they will not tell you the truth. These particular stores are only worried about their "bottom line," their "profit margin," and reaching sales quotas that manufacturers give them.
A good digital piano should give you years of enjoyment as long as it does the fundamentals correctly. Some store dealers will go to the trouble of producing their own product videos which can be helpful, but unfortunately when it comes to the key action, which is the #1 most important thing to look for in a digital piano, you obviously cannot feel it or play it from a video. It is very easy for a salesperson/demonstrator to make any key action seem good in a video but you cannot really trust what you see when it comes to physically moving key actions and I can tell you that from much experience. As an example, there are certain brands and models of digital pianos that have stiff key actions when playing more delicate music and pressing the keys lightly. If you were to push a key on a regular good acoustic piano and then push a key on one of these digital pianos, you would immediately notice a huge difference. A piano key action is of the utmost importance and I talk about key actions a lot in my reviews and will let you know when a key action is bad and when it is good based on fundamentals of moving piano keys as compared to a real acoustic piano.
I am a long time experienced digital piano pro musician & piano teacher and have played all of the latest brands and models now and throughout my long 45 year music career (I started very young as a musician - piano, organ, guitar - and originally as a young guitar teacher). I do not have a local store or warehouse, I don't have an on-line shopping cart, I don't link to PayPal to make commissions, I do not need to sell pianos to pay for overhead because I don't have a store and don't need the money. I don't need to reach sales goals or achieve high profit margins, or to say good things about bad pianos (and there are some as I mentioned before). I do like to help people get good new digital pianos at low prices because I have always been able to do that for myself and I know how, and that would include all brands and models. I will tell you what is good, what to stay away from, and how much you should be spending on a particular brand and model of new digital piano. I am also an expert on older digital pianos in the US (I have played nearly all of them) and can tell you whether a used one is a good investment or not.
When someone at a music store or so-called (pretend) review site tells you they are unbiased about digital piano brands but they are working for or in an actual music store or linked to Amazon shopping cart ads, that statement is a "red flag" when it comes to whether you can actually trust what they tell you. When they make claims such as a specific piano having "perfect sound & key action-touch," then they are simply being untruthful in my opinion because the only "perfect piano sound & key action" is in a regular acoustic piano. Many of the newer digital pianos are getting very close to real acoustic pianos in the way they sound & play and are indeed very enjoyable pianos to own for many years.
For most families and piano buyers, a good new digital piano will be an enjoyable playing and listening experience as long as you understand what they are supposed to do and any limitations or truly helpful features they may have. Once you understand that then you will become a better shopper and seek out more info from other stores and on-line sources and not spend any more money than you have to. I will be happy to help and give you FREE piano buying and price advice because as a long time piano, keyboard, organ, and guitar teacher, and pro musician, I want the very best for all piano students and people who enjoy playing the piano! That's what it's all about for me:)
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!