REVIEW – Williams WGB Digital Grand Piano – NOT good

UPDATED REVIEW – UPDATED REVIEW – The Williams digital mini baby grand piano ($1299 at Guitar Center) is DISCONTINUED and the latest and only mini digital grand from Williams is now called the Symphony Grand “micro digital piano” and you can learn more about this new 2016 model from my review at the following link: Williams Symphony Grand 2016 Review

The following past review is from the review I did of the previous discontinued model back from about 4-5 years ago:
 Many people love the look of small acoustic baby grands and the same is true for digital pianos. But when it comes to getting a good digital “baby grand style” piano at a low price, the Williams WGB Grand Piano is not one of those instruments. Williams has a web site and on it they say the following words: “Williams digital pianos have been crafted for musicians and music enthusiasts who want the look, feel and sound of a fine acoustic piano, combined with the amazing range of effects and other features that only a digital piano can offer.” I caution you not to believe everything a web site would say, especially if the web site belongs to that brand. When I read that statement on the Williams web site, I just couldn’t help but laugh at it and wonder how the Williams “people” could write something like that to describe their pianos. Oh well, what can you do?

I am a musician and piano teacher having taught thousands of students through the years and would not recommend this Williams WGB piano. This small 3’3″ long mini digital baby grand sells for about $1299 internet and store discount price and is sold by the Guitar Center Company including it subsidiaries Musicians Friend, Woodwind & Brasswind Music Company, and Music & Arts, and others, all of which Guitar Center owns (small world).

When I had a chance to play one of these pianos not too long ago, I could instantly tell that I did not like it (although I really was trying to). It had a decent mini-baby grand piano “appearance” in a polished black cabinet, but that was about as close as it got to a piano. The 3 pedals each squeaked terribly loud and were very hard to press, and the sustain pedal (the one on the far right) only had off & on switching on them (like a cheap keyboard) instead of the normal acoustic piano gradual half-pedaling which is a must on any good piano and what all acoustic pianos have. The instrument sounds were below average (there were just 14 of them), and the key touch and response was very poor. In fact there was very little velocity response changes from soft to loud in the key action even though the piano had three velocity settings. It was almost like playing a piano without any volume changes at all while playing the keys hard or soft, very strange. So trying to play the piano “smoothly” and to have expression was next to impossible.

So why is this piano being offered for sale? It’s because consumers want a mini baby grand look in their home despite how poor the rest of the piano may be and they just don’t understand what they are really getting. And when it comes to to any positive reviews that may be circulating out there on-line, in my opinion you just can’t believe everything you read in those consumer reviews because you don’t really know who they are, and even if they are connected to the dealer or not? If you have very low expectations of what a digital piano or any piano should play and sound like, then this may be the perfect piano for you, but you usually get what you pay for. By the way, the Williams “company” is not a “real” piano manufacturer like Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, and a few others. It is a name that is owned and created by the Guitar Center company and made by “unknown manufacturers” in China.

As far as I’m concerned, this Williams WGB digital grand piano is simply a “PSO,” which stands for Piano Shaped Object because that’s as close to a piano as it gets in my opinion. And who knows if the pianos will hold up and be reliable? (my experience so far is not good). I have even played new $150-$300 keyboards by Yamaha & Casio that outperform this Williams piano in touch, tone quality, and features which just shows how deficient the Williams WGB really is. So do yourself a favor…save your money or buy a lower priced Yamaha, Casio, Kawai, or Roland digital vertical or portable piano which would be far superior to these Williams pianos. If you really want that mini baby grand appearance, it will cost you a lot more money for something that actually behaves like a real piano but is in a nice mini baby grand case. 

Remember, “cute” does not necessarily mean good, especially when it comes to pianos. Just be sure to do your homework and research before getting a piano like a Williams. If the price is just too good to be true, then it most likely is.