Build your own hybrid piano - step one, choosing the action

RIP · 2021-10-29T13:02:50+00:00

Ok, so you want to build your own hybrid piano, rather than buying a Yamaha AvantGrand, Kawai Novus or whatever Roland and Casio make. You have various avenues to do so, and here is the one that some of us have followed. First step, deciding which action to use and find one. The two main questions you have to ask yourself are: Grand or upright? Wooden or composite? Here are some pros/cons of options Grand actions pros: better for challenging repertoire (however most pianists never reach that level) deeper (will require deeper cabinet if you will use one, in any case needs more space from the wall) Grand actions cons: harder to find in some locations (e.g. Europe) might use a whole grand cabinet, but that would use a lot of space in a room because of previous, will require more work if you want to have a cabinet (but the cabinet and hence the final instrument will be lighter and could be made in a way that's easy to disassemble) Upright actions pros: easier to find in some locations (e.g. Europe) can be more close to the wall might use a whole upright cabinet with minimal footprint and minimal work to setup (however that would be as heavy as the acoustic it came from, and not possible to disassemble, so very hard to move around) require more skill to play, so better for "practising" Upright actions cons: worse for challenging repertoire (however most pianists never reach that level) require more skill to play, so worse for "performing" Wooden action pros: easy to find, even free from salvaged pianos (at least in the USA) less expensive Wooden action cons: more subject to needing regulation and adjustment in general subject to needing regulation when humidity changes Composite action pros: rarely, if ever needing regulation after installation not affected by humidity Composite action cons: hard to find inexpensively (salvageable only from relatively recent Kawai instruments, probably too recent to find for free) could be bought new and preassembled from WNG both for grand and uprights, but it's relatively expensive (a few thousands dollars), needs a piano technician intermediary (they don't sell to the public) and does not include a keyboard which is very complicated/expensive to build (several thousands dollars, more than the action itself… however you could use a salvaged keyboard) Most people I know (including myself) settle for a salvaged, wooden, grand action. It's important that the action is at least decent if not good. There are bad ones out there and you don't want your precious baby-hybrid to use one of them. You either need to learn some technician skills to identify the "bad" (you'll need those skills to regulate or adjust the action anyway, so no waste of time); or you need to hire a technician to advise (and later regulate your purchase). In the former case I recommend this book: http://www.pianosinsideout.com/Excerpts.html @CyberGene I wanted to add also the DIY tag but it looks like I can't? I believe it' relevant and I did not want to remove any of the others ☹️ Next chapter: housing, i.e. building a cabinet and other options.

dore_m

I'd post more recent vids of our trios during covid, but mostly in messy house in pajamas. Covid has really hurt ensemble practice at school

RIP

And if you land on this thread from a random search, do not forget to check out the step 2: https://pianoclack.com/forum/d/170-build-your-own-hybrid-piano-step-two-the-cabinet

TomLC

dore_m Nice video. Such wonderful children. Thanks for sharing.

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