by themixtape » 14 Jan 2018, 21:27
Resurrecting this semi-old thread as I've spent more time...
UPRIGHTS
The Rain Upright is so amazing. Still. Tiny, even the L sample, and just gorgeous. Works for everything. Cuts through live, and in studio it just destroys. Amber Upright is probably the best, I think. It is "the" upright sound, probably. The Bambino has SO much character especially in the low end. That truly is "your living room piano". And I always go to the Black Upright for a lot of stuff. These four are my favorites.
I used to hate the Mellow Upright but man, it begs to be played with soft, slow, depressing pieces. VERY nice. All the others are good... Grand Up is a little too, I dunno... Grand-ish I guess... used to feel the Queen a lot but not these days. Blue Swede is good for Coldplay stuff. And I dunno... I'm not really feeling the Baby Upright. Maybe it will grow on me in time.
GRANDS
Still, the Studio Grand 2 is the go-to. It offers the most dynamics. People hate on Velvet, but I think it's great for soft, sad stuff, and I use it a lot. I still am not feeling the Italian. I don't know why. Something just sits wrong with me, with that Grand, even the XL version. It sounds so plain.
The three best, in my opinion (for headphones and studio): SG2, Lady D, Grand Imperial. For live-- without a doubt, the Bright Grand and maybe the Silver. The older pianos are still good, though. The SG1, the CGC and CGA... still very nice.
Haven't spent a ton of time with the Royal... but, it is pretty damn good... it's like the SG2 on steroids.
Additional thoughts?