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Home/Available Pianos/Schimmel Grand

Grand piano

The Schimmel grand.

A German grand from a maker that has built pianos since 1885. The one we photographed carries Made in Germany on its keyboard and the Schimmel crest inside the case.

What it is

The short version.

Wilhelm Schimmel built his first piano near Leipzig in 1885, and the firm has made pianos in Germany ever since. It is based in Braunschweig today.

Schimmel also runs a factory in Kalisz, Poland, so the country on a particular instrument is worth reading rather than assuming. The grand in these photographs, taken on our viewing gallery floor at IMM, is marked Made in Germany.

Type
Grand piano
Condition
Pre-owned, prepared

Ask for current availability and price

The Schimmel name on the cast iron plate of a grand piano
Who it suits

Worth your time if.

  • A player who wants a European grand rather than a Japanese one
  • A teacher or a serious amateur choosing one grand to keep
  • A room with the space for a grand to be heard properly
  • Anyone who wants to hear a German instrument against a Boston or a Yamaha in one visit
Buying one used

Four things to check, in order.

The same four we check ourselves before an instrument goes on the floor. Every instrument is an original used piano. Not reconditioned, not rebuilt. Ask us about any of them on a specific piano and you get a straight answer.

  1. The serial numberSchimmel stamps it on the plate, where you can see it with the lid up. It dates the instrument, which is the first thing to know about any used grand.
  2. The actionA grand should repeat evenly across all eighty eight keys. Uneven touch is a regulation job, which can be done, but it belongs in the price.
  3. Soundboard and bridgesLook for cracks, and for bridge pins that have pulled. This is the part of a grand that is expensive to put right.
  4. Where it has livedA grand kept in an air conditioned room in Singapore has had an easier life than one that sat in humid air with the windows open.
Photographed in the viewing gallery

Up close.

The Schimmel crest and the year 1885 inside a grand piano
The crest, 1885
The serial number stamped on the plate of a Schimmel grand piano
The serial number
A Made in Germany mark on the keyboard of a Schimmel grand piano
Made in Germany
A Schimmel grand piano under its cover in a customer home
In a customer home
The other one to hear

Against the Boston.

The Boston is a Steinway design built in Japan, the Schimmel a German instrument from a firm founded in 1885. They answer the same question in different accents, and hearing both in one visit is the quickest way to know which one is yours.

Both, back to back, in the same room on the same afternoon. That is a fifteen minute job at the viewing gallery and it settles the question far better than any page can.

Read about the Boston →

A Boston grand piano with the lid raised in the Music Companion viewing gallery
Questions

The Schimmel, answered.

Where are Schimmel pianos made?

Schimmel builds in Braunschweig, Germany, and some of its instruments come from its factory in Kalisz, Poland. Check the instrument itself. The grand photographed on this page is marked Made in Germany.

Is a used Schimmel worth it?

A well kept Schimmel grand is built to last decades, and the parts that wear can be serviced. As with any used grand, the soundboard, the bridges and the tuning pins decide whether it is a good buy, not the name on the fallboard.

How much is a second hand Schimmel grand in Singapore?

It depends on the size, the year and the condition. Ask about a specific instrument and you get a specific price, and if there is no Schimmel on the floor we will say so.

How does it compare with a Yamaha grand?

Differently rather than better or worse, and the only description that matters is the one you arrive at yourself. Play both in the viewing gallery on the same afternoon.

The rest of the range

Other grands people ask about.

All grands

Around six feet

180 cm and up

The size people ask for by name is around six feet. It is long enough to behave like a proper grand and short enough to place in a home or a small hall, which is why it is the most requested length we see.

Read about grand pianos →

Yamaha

Grand

161 to 186 cm

The grand most people in Singapore mean when they say they want a grand. The real question is less which maker and more which length.

Read about it →

Kawai

GX-1

166 cm

Two years old, 166 cm, from Kawai’s GX BLAK series, and the most recent grand on our floor. The model and the serial are both cast and stamped into the plate, so that age is a matter of record rather than an estimate.

Read about it →

Boston

Grand

A grand designed by Steinway and Sons and built in Japan by Kawai, for players who want that design thinking at a price a home can justify.

Read about it →
Visit the viewing gallery

Ask what is on the floor today.

Message us with the model and we will tell you what is in, what condition it is in, and what it costs. If we have nothing suitable we will say that instead.