Kawai GL30 vs Yamaha GC1 - Intermediate BABY GRAND Piano Comparison
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- čas přidán 19. 11. 2020
- Ted doesn't have room for a concert grand piano at his house so today he and Pat are taking a look at two intermediate grands. When an aspiring intermediate piano player demands a quality grand piano that they can grow with, the Kawai GL30 (5'5") and the Yamaha GC1 (5'3") surely fit the bill. Let us know what you think of these two awesome instruments from two of our favorite Japanese manufacturers.
00:45 - Intro
05:11 - Playing Comparison
10:54 - After Playing Discussion
Kawai 5'5" GL-30 Classic Grand Piano | Polished Ebony
→www.alamomusic.com/kawai-55-g...
Yamaha 5' 3" GC1 Classic Collection Grand Piano | Polished Ebony
www.alamomusic.com/yamaha-5-3...
#GL30 #GC1 #Kawai #Yamaha #Piano
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There is a huge difference between when I received my GL30 9 months ago and now, the sound is much much much better and the action feels better as well. Keep in mind that entry level pianos changes a lot the first months at home. For me the tuning was not stable the first 6 months for exemple. But I have to say, im not impressed anymore by steinway or higher priced yamahas. Yes It as less power and dynamics than longer grands (Who needs a very noisy instrument in his linving room) , but the amont of colors you can get from this instrument is astonishing.
I’ve had my GL30 for almost a year and a half. We have an open LR DR with a sloped ceiling. Fairly decent sized area. I only opennthe lid half way. It plays and sounds magnificent! The only thing that really ticks me off is how Americans are ripped off. The price in Europe is thousands less!
Great job as always! Love them both.
Always great videos guys. I thought my Grand purchase would be a Yamaha. Love my Clavinova. But the more I learn about Kawai the more I think I will have a tough decision to make.
Kawai GL30 - 5:45
Yamaha GC1 - 7:35
Very nice!
Both sound great . Not sure I can pick up a real difference between these two
Hello, thanks for sharing these wonderful pianos by Yamaha and Kawai. Can you share information on the Kawai GL rim construction and the material used vs the Yamaha’s rim construction and material? Thoughts on the Kawai’s Gx1 vs Kawai’s GL30? I’m trying to understand wood material being used.....acoustic guitars wood types, size, and bracing affects the sound.
Hello guys. You are the most honest and good reviewers of Yamaha products that I have found.Thank you! I have a question with completely conflicting answers from owners and from dealers about the GC1 baby grand. Some reviews say that it does NOT have a full sostenuto pedal and just has bass suspend. Others say that it does have a full sostenuto system. Some Yamaha corp. ads clearly state "bass suspend" while others simply say "sostenuto". I've even heard that early models had the bass suspend but that more recent models have a full system. While it may not really matter much...I think I've only found a couple of pieces in 65 years of playing where it was really necessary, it would be nice to know the design of that model. I am being offered a 3-year old GC1. Could you tell me if that piano will or will not have full sostenuto capability? Thanks so much.
Can you try to do reviews with the piano brand concealed someway until the end? Perhaps call it Piano A and Piano B and then reveal the brand / model near the end. I suspect it could be very revealing for the watcher, particularly the brand biased ones.
Great video. May I know what is your opinion on GH1B ? People say it's horrible, how true is that?
What is the first song that you played? Always a pleasure to listen to it
Great comparison! Can you please tell me the name of the 1st song? Thanks!!
To me the Yamaha sounded better for the first song but I couldn't make my mind for the second one
I don’t think you should generalize about Indonesia. In general I would agree, however, the Kawai factory in Indonesia is a virtual carbon copy of their Japan factory. The technicians in Indonesia are immersed in Japanese culture. They train in Japan for 3 years. It wasn’t until 2016 or 2017 that Kawai had their GL-20 produced in Indonesia. At first there was a rush to get the last Japanese ones produced. Then it all changed; people could not tell the difference. I and my wife were so impressed that we just ordered one. I would do my comparison to the GL-20. Of course not good formarketing since it is quite a few thousand less.
Please, what is that song at 9:37?
Thanks for the great video! By the way, anyone could tell me what's name of the music he played at 5:45 - 7:33 ?
I'm eager to know too !
@@jasonpiano641 2nd song is "Last Date" by Floyd Cramer. Dunno the 1st one ☹️
@@cabotcat1 Really helped. Thanks. I enjoyed this beautiful song.
@@mk1294 Not yet, nobody reply...😅
I love your videos but the Kawai was out of tune! Can you maybe say whether the Yamaha has any advantages over the Kawai? The Kawai has a better action and is bigger with a fuller sound for the same money. Maybe the Yamaha is better if you really don’t have the space for the extra inches or it’s better for certain types of music?
Did some replies get removed here?
FWIW, I don't see much talk about stretcher bars elsewhere except for Kawai's promotional material. And some of the best piano actions in the world, including Yamaha's CFX, and the Renner actions in some of the top Europeans like Fazioli and Bosendorfer, are almost all-wood actions. So, great Kawai does carbon fiber and such but it isn't necessarily a superior action to an excellent wood action. I think Mason and Hamlin uses WNG carbon fiber actions as well and M&H are some of the world's finest pianos. I think people like the clarity of Yamaha and brightness in the good sense. The Yamaha seems "brighter" in the sense of the lighter, less bassy tone makes for great clarity. They both play any type of music. The bluesy second song didn't sound any better on the Yamaha to my ears than the Kawai. But I found the Yamaha to sound clearer and the Kawai fuller. Which is better? It's up to the consumer to decide, not talk of stretcher bars and materials in the action. btw, there's a GL20 that is one inch shorter than the GC1. Kawais are bigger than Yamahas on the baby grand level but less so on the grand, semi concert and concert grand levels. Still Kawais are usually bigger. FWIW, Steinway D's are shorter that both Yamaha's CFX and Shigeru Kawai's SK-EX (SK longest of the three). Yet the Steinway projects the best out of the three with the biggest sound. It's not all about length of pianos or even their strings. Some pianos just have "fatter" sounds than others.
@@benjaminsmith2287 you’re just and old clown
The actions in GL are all made in Japan. Even the GL10
I really like both these two presenters. They're both knowledgeable and likable and persuasive. And they clearly like each other, and are very friendly, and are trying to cooperate. But, personally (and this might be just me), I'd prefer it if they made videos with just one person at a time. Having these two presenters in the same video (and I've noticed this over the span of many, many videos, not just this one), is like watching two dancers who are both leading. It's hard for the viewer to know where things are meant to be going. It's hard to concentrate on the video, and not keep wondering when one of them is going to interrupt the other (like at 1:04 and 3:07). Or take things off the rails. Like at 3:41, where Ted decides that the Milennium III action is the tie-breaker, and that he's decided on the Kawai already.
Three minutes in, with 11 minutes to go in this comparison video, and one of the presenters is decided. So I'm not surprised that Patrick appears (at least, to my eyes) a little frustrated at that point.
I would say either prepare better, or just do a video with a single presenter. Either of you will do; but just one of you.
Looking at buying GL20 vs GC1, they are the same price. Could you recommend?
I second this question plz
@@meweez63How much do these cost in your area because where I leave even the GL 30 cost less than the GC1
@@lodewijkvandoornik3844 the GL3- costs $35,000 and the GC1 is $26,000 in US dollars.
Hello does the silent system come with the GL series ? Or its an additional option. Just subscribed to your channel. Thank you.
a week after i posted that comment, i am buying the GL-30! i played one in the store and OMG i was in awe with the kawai. it sounds soo good !
@@KevinR3i am very happy with it ;) and can practice at night without waking my infant. Wish i had this 20 years ago when i started playing.
@I-am Konstantin can you please tell me how much you paid before taxes? I was at two Kawai dealerships and one quoted me 17k before tax for a brand new Kawai GL30 even though MSRP is almost 30 grand
@@gustavopaulette3496 hi i got my GL30 ATX for $20,995 before taxes. After taxes it was $22,328. if you are getting it for 17k...omg thats a steal :-)
@@IamKonstantin you got a great deal too since yours has the ATX system:)
I bought a Yamaha U1 studio upright two years ago when it was brand new. I am 73 with a learning disability so I decided to sell it. It is now nearly worthless. A large piano store to me that about a month ago. I thought I was buying a good piano, apparently only when the store is selling it to you.
You can get more selling privately! I also think they’re probably just trying to buy it back cheap. Call us, we can help you out and get proper money for it :)
@@apianogallery Thank you, but I am going to give it to one of my grandchildren.
Kawai feel the best action is smoother and sound make my song amazing good. Detail is amazing but yamaha is good too.
The kawai I have use sound better then this kawai
@@luisamarquesmarques3482 the one in church
what is the difference between yamaha gc1 and gb1k?
The GB1K is entry level. It's made in Indonesia. There are some other differences as well. I know the GB1K doesn't have a movable desk and lacks duplex scaling. The GC1 has duplex scaling and it is made in Japan.
@@benjaminsmith2287 okay i got my kawai gl 20 and its made in japan a very great piano
@@benjaminsmith2287 but i dream about getting an sk 3 or 2 one day
@@BFHPET Well, the Shigeru SK's are certainly great pianos. But you still have a nice piano in the GL20. You see I play on an old keyboard and sometimes I use software pianos and they sound pretty good. I hope, when the time is right after the pandemic, you can go to a Kawai dealer and play some of the SKs he has on the showroom. I do prefer the SK3 because of the bigger bass. That's always the advantage of a larger piano.
@@benjaminsmith2287 i am very happy whit my gl 20 i keep it im not rich but i trying my best to safe up i never get enough money for steinway but i like kawai very much very good pianos
1. Steinway, hands down. Balanced, articulate but not tingie. Resonant bass without being whoomie. If you played some delicate sections (you didn't) the Steinway would differentiate itself.
2. Kawai, a really nice and balanced sound. A bit overly bright for my taste for recording, but not objectionally so in a big room. I haven't played one with the newer action parts, so I can't comment on that. Just as long as it doesn't become the Steinway nightmare Teflon actions of yore. (Steinway never saw that coming!) Probably a chauvinistic favorite in Asian countries.
3. Yamaha, much more suitable for rock, pop, and accompaniment where the piano has to be able to cut through ensembles of electric guitars, sax's, drum kits, and unmuffled horns. I can spot one at 30 meters because of its brightness and tingie sound, even with moderate touch. The bass can be boomie. Often played with the lid closed and mic'd inside. Great action. In the case of classical artists, often, the choice as a practice piano when one cannot afford a Steinway.
All 3. I have two wishes, which I don't expect to get: That you would play some softer and more delicate music on all three. A piano is made or broken on the soft, delicate, quick passages, not on pop hammering. It tests both the resonance and action, especially. The second, that you would have mic'd all three where we really hear the piano's developed tone. That is not 6 inches above the strings, or inside the cover. We hear pianos with the tone developed by the case, rock and roll recording studio notwithstanding. We do not often stick our heads inside a piano, so why place microphones there?
Incidental to this is a quote I remember from somebody (who?) that the worst seat in the house at a piano concert is the piano bench. Its true. What the pianist hears is necessary, but it's not much like what an audience will hear. This is where Steinway has glowed over the decades -- developed (by the case) sound.
And I wish the industry would get its act together as to naming grand piano sizes. It would benefit everyone's communication. I have always been taught to go by the same general terms as outlined here, as an example. It's a system that works, and tends to be based on capability of the longest strings, not just the price of the piano:
www.steinwaynaples.com/grand-piano-sizes/
@Jim Shaw: Where is the Steinway in the video?
@@therunningpianist The spirit of the Steinway is there as a reference in every grand piano comparison, whether one likes it or not. Steinway sets the bar under which every other piano is judged. Maybe you or I cannot afford one, but that doesn't change the facts: Steinways are the instrument of choice for baroque, classical, and modern serious live performances and recordings around the world. Yamaha's may show up in pop and rock (generally with the lid down), and you'll find a smattering of Bosendorfers in parlors, and perhaps a Kawai at a cocktail lounge. But on a concert stage, anything other than a 9' Steinway concert grand must come with an apology -- or Elton John playing it.
This doesn't make Yamahas and Kawais bad. Just not as good. (And, alas, not as costly.)
@@jimshaw899 In other words, completely irrelevant. That's like telling someone who asks you if a Mustang or Corvette is a more powerful car, and replying that Bugatti sets the bar whether you like it or not. Or telling your spouse that the Hope Diamond sets the bar whether she likes it or not when asked which of these two diamonds at a local jeweller has better Cs. Everyone knows there are better options - so commenting that so and so is the ultimate in the particular industry doesn't help when people are looking at totally different items. And not everyone has a concert stage in their apartment.
But… a SS is 3Xs the price. There i$ an affordability factor. Most people are priced out of SS. With proper voicing by an experienced technician, for both a Kawai and SS, many people would be hard pressed to tell the difference. There is a difference, don’t get me wrong, but for $25K+ vs $75K, it is not a $50,000 difference. (I’m Comparing a 5’5” Kawai to a 5’7” SS in a home.) The Kawai gives a better ppp and easier to achieve that. I don’t see why the SS is 3x the price. Is it the SS name? Again, I agree, SS is THE standard, no question about it - but ….
@@jimshaw899 People who think Steinway is great clearly has never played a Fazioli.