Hi all! This forum needs more posts, so I thought I would share how I found my current piano.
I had a Yamaha C2X that I bought new in 2016. I really enjoyed it, but at some point, started to feel like I needed a larger piano. There were a few things that bothered me about the C2X, and it mostly came down to limitations due to its size. So I started casually looking for something in the 6 - 7' range. My friend twocats and I made a lot of visits to the local stores, and the more memorable pianos include: a Baldwin SF10, signed by Earl Wilde (it was lovely, and twocats LOVED it); an original Falcone, which needed to be voiced down a lot, but still had a nice tone and touch; and a used Schimmel 208. This last piano was so promising that I ended up with it in my house on a trial basis (thanks to the good relationship I have with that particular dealer). I really loved that piano for some pieces, but not others and ultimately decided it wasn't quite right for me. I can't remember all the other pianos I played, but it was 2021/early 2022, so inventory was low due to Covid, and it definitely felt like slim pickings. At one point, I made a comment to the Yamaha dealer (the same one who had the Schimmel) that what I wanted was my piano, just bigger. That was a lightbulb moment, because I realized, that piano exists. Except, being Covid times, the dealer did not have any inventory of a C5 or C6 and nothing in the pipeline. After talking it over, the dealer agreed to place an order for a C5X with my name on it. Except that if it came in and I didn't like it, I was not obligated to move forward with it. So in Feb 2022, the order was placed, and as a bonus, I asked for a satin finish (they always ordered polished, which is not my favorite). And then I waited. I was expecting to wait for close to a year, but I got a call in early September that the piano had just arrived. Four days later, they had it set up, tuned, prepped, and ready for me to play. I went first thing in the morning, and was so nervous. What if I didn't like it and had to start the search all over again? Well, I played it and it did not sound like any C5X I had played before. It was even better, almost like an S5X. It had an almost celestial singing like quality to it that I had not expected and could barely believe my luck. This was my piano.
P.S.
It turns out, I'm even luckier than I realized at the time. I happened to play the next C5X they got in a few months later - I did not like it at all.
