Hello everyone,

It has been quite a while since we have written a post at Pianolobby. The start of the new academic year seems as good a time as any to write again.

Where are we? Pianolobby has changed and grown quite a lot over the last couple of years. We have quite a large space at Access Storage in Sydenham in South East London which is working out to be a good home for us. The building is only 3 years old, it is clean, dry and very safe and we currently have around 45 pianos in stock. We even have grand pianos!

Piano Ranges. There is a pretty good selection of Yamaha pianos, from a compact Japanese built 108 upright piano, B3, U1, YU1 and U3 pianos all in stock. We have a wonderful G1 grand piano as well, I have to admit falling a little bit in love with this piano…

We also stock Kawai upright pianos. Kawai is one of my very favourite piano builders. I have always loved their tone quality and the fact that the offer something a little different from Yamaha. They are still a family owned business, which to me feels more personal.

Hailun is another family owned business we love working with. Their pianos just get better and better, their current range is pretty stunning. We have an example of each of their upright pianos in stock as well as the 151 grand piano. The build quality is superb, lovely rich tone quality and good to play. Definitely worth trying out, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

If you are looking for a good piano, would prefer a brand new piano but have a tighter budget, Danemann is worth a look. The pianos range from the compact 110, through to the largest 123 model via the 115. They are available with different finishes, as regular accoutic pianos or fitted with a silent system.

We also have a wide range of other pianos from a compact Bentley, a Yamaha U1 sized Samick (lovely piano this) to a larger Gors and Kallmann upright piano.

What is new? There is now a range of purchase and rental schemes as a way of helping as much as we can. Our rental scheme has been really successful, especially for those who are first time pianists and not had a piano at home before. Our newer Rent to Buy scheme has also been a positive introduction. This works for those who are pretty certain they have found ‘their’ piano, but need a bit of time to live with it.

Anything else? We have recently started to branch out into other areas of the piano world. One of these is renting out pianos for one off events such as a concert, or a wedding, or perhaps a photoshoot. A beautiful piano was on the stage of a theatre. We felt like proud parents seeing it there at the centre of the set!

The other area we are trying out is piano storage. Over the years we have been approached quite often to look after a piano for someone while they redecorate. Others were moving house and needed to keep the piano in a safe place for a while. We currently have 2 pianos that were inherited by the new owner and not sure what to do with them. They are being kept safe and maintained while the owners deide what to do.

Come and visit. Our booking system is remainng in place as we find this is a good way of interacting with our lovely customers. We can give our undivided attention should it be needed. Pianos make noise, if there are a few groups trying out pianos, it is then harder to assess which is the best piano for you.

Having said all that, there is a little change. Fridays! We are going to be open 10am-3pm every Friday. Just send a message to say that you are on the way and we will meet you and happily show you around. Come and have a play on our pianos.

What is next? We have a little adventure coming up soon, but will tell you all about that another time.