New Upright Piano

[dazzjazz]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone here purchased a new upright piano recently?

I'm in the market and and keen to hear from others who have just bought one.

How did you make the decision?

Are you happy with the purchase?

 

Darren

[JeffLearman]

What are you looking for, and why new?

 

There are scads of awful used pianos available, but a remarkable number of decent ones as well, most for very low prices. I can't imagine why anyone would want a new piano unless they've looked at used ones and can't find what they're looking for. Or unless they have money to spare.

 

That goes for grands as well as verticals.

[Michael W]

It has been quite a while since I bought my Yamaha U3, but the piano market evolves very slowly.

 

Like many people, my desire was to find a piano that I liked, that I could afford.

 

TIP: The biggest mistake I made was to play a couple of uprights that were WAY out of my price range. A dealer tried to sell me a Bechstein Concert 8 - and I played it for about an hour. It was literally three times what I could afford at the time. But it was, however, the most wonderful upright I've ever played. Every piano I played after that, I compared to the Bechstein.

 

I also played an August Förster piano that was very expensive, especially due to the poor exchange rate between the dollar and the euro at the time. It was also a fantastic instrument.

 

In the end, I could not afford either of these pianos, and ended up settling for the Yamaha, which is certainly not a bad piano.

 

So my advice is to stay within your price range.

 

I will never forget that Bechstein.

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Budget information is important, but the usual suspects in the affordable range are a Yamaha U1 or a Kawai K500. The U1 and the models just above it are standards for home use, but some people feel you get a little more bang for your buck with Kawai and the K500 (there are lesser models in the series) might be a step up from the U1.

 

But I would definitely look for a used one since it's not uncommon for mom or dad to get one of these things for their kid and he/she doesn't take to it and then they are looking to sell.

 

Cats who chat about this stuff all the time hang out here:

Piano World Piano Forums

 

The site also keeps up with all the models each year and breaks down what they all have to offer:

Piano Buyers Guide

 

[cphollis]

The tip on the Piano Buyer's Guide is very good.

 

My last upright I got off of Craigslist -- there are a ton of them out there it seems, mostly junk but a few underpriced creampuffs. I would do the initial screening, then pay a piano tech to take a deeper look. Got a great Yamaha U1 for $3000 that way.

 

I also found a few dudes who would buy older high-quality uprights and sell them out of a showroom. Costs more, but less likely to get stuck with a lemon.

 

-- Chuck

[Doerfler]

Hey Darren -

 

don't know what kind of inventory exists down under but you can't go wrong with Yamaha or Kawai. I bought a 52" Kawai (see avatar) 2.5 years ago. I love the character/tone. I've since sold my 5'(baby) grand, don't miss it. Honestly, like everything else here is the US, inventory is plentiful, so it's easier to get a deal. That being said, I eschewed the piano dealer I purchased the grand from and bought current upright off Craigslist. Made the decision on price/performance. Yes, I am happy. Will be happier once it gets it's Spring tuning.

[dazzjazz]

I have looked at some used ones and hated them all. I've read somewhere that the sales of new pianos are down 90% worldwide, so I thought I might be able to grab a bargain - opportunistic I know.

 

I played a really nice Kawai K500 recently, so that's on the cards.

 

Yamaha and Kawai are the dominant players here by far. There's a Steinway dealer down the road from me, but I will take the advice and steer clear of what I cannot afford. My piano tech is recommending Hoffman - anyone own one here?

 

Which Kawai is that Dave?

[Doerfler]

 

Which Kawai is that Dave?

 

It's the BL-71, equivalent in height to the Yamaha U3 at 52".

If you right click on my avatar and do "save image as" the pic then blows up pretty well. It has a large rack for sheet music and also the top opens just enough to let out a little more sound, but still able to keep the lamp proper.

[dazzjazz]

How's the action? I find Kawais can be sluggish.

[MathOfInsects]

What's your budget? I always tell people that if they're going to spend less than $5000, they should get a good (great, actually) DP instead.

 

Not very helpful, I know. It's what I do, I'm a people person.

[dazzjazz]

No problem, I have considered making my CP4 my main axe for home use!

[piano39]

My two cents- look at grey market pianos. This is a hotly debated topic. I bought a gray market Yamaha UX-3 about a year ago. Really like it. The UX-3 was the high end version of the U-3 at the time. Currently, the high end version is the YUS-3

 

When I bought the piano, it included one free tuning from the store that I bought it from. I did that last June. I have a tuning scheduled with my local guy next week. I'm anxious to get his opinion.

 

There is a lot of debate about the gray market pianos. FWIW, my piano looks brand new (probably refinished). I'm anxious about a professional opinion, but I'm pretty optimistic that the tuner will tell me that I got a nice one.

[Musicale]

I bought my Baldwin Grand from a guy that makes a living restoring pianos. He had probably 5 or 6 in various stages of reno. Mostly Steinways. He really knew pianos, which ones to stay away from and all that so my recommendation, unless you think you're pretty good at judging, I'd leave it up to a mechanic ! I think the dynamic between the room you play the piano in and the piano itself is probably directly behind the way you feel while playing it in making a decision. The action/touch/dynamic range etc. really are different on every instrument, so you have to play a lot of them. Take your time, it's hard to get "That Sound" out of DP's .

 

Musicale

[LX88]

The best upright I played, hands down at NAMM was a 52'' Hailun.

 

This is a brand I had not heard of before, but I was told that they are made in China.

 

I am not sure where they are availble but they are definitely worth look if they are in your area. I loved everything about it and wish I could have taken the one I played at NAMM home. It had a very warm sound, kind of like some of the older instruments I have played that have been given a lot of TLC.

[Joe Muscara]

I have looked at some used ones and hated them all.

My experience when I was shopping for my grand was that persistence was key. I nearly gave up a few times, but then would find myself on Craigslist again looking for any new interesting listings. Eventually, I found the piano I now own and I'm glad I went through what I did. I mean, this piano was located an hour away and I went up there three separate times, to first see it, to have it inspected and buy it, and then to set up delivery. That was after looking at several other pianos that were a bit of a drive in each direction from where I live. Nothing was close. One of them had a problem that was making the instrument nearly unplayable (a known issue with that model and an available fix from the manufacturer).

 

It is much easier to shop for new pianos in the sense that you go to a couple of places and they're new. But piano salespeople are like car salespeople here. Ugh. Meanwhile, as others have said, there are lots of like new used pianos out there because someone bought it and it never got played. The story of mine is a little different. The guy I bought it from bought it online from a dealer in Ohio or something. Even though it's a 1996 model, it was in near-mint condition. So, he did the dirty work for me. I wouldn't buy a piano sight-unseen online. But I got the benefits of that with being able to play it first.

[Doerfler]

How's the action? I find Kawais can be sluggish.

 

It's great compared to my Rhodes 88.

[Bigmc]

On Ebay (UK) you can do a localised search for local pick up only.

We always have at least half a dozen acoustic uprights for sale or free to collect in my area.

I guess many of them are house clearances, but I bet there must be the odd gem in there ?

[Threadslayer]

The tip on the Piano Buyer's Guide is very good.

-- Chuck

Especially since it is edited by Larry Fine. I'm glad to see he landed on his feet after the Stooges gig.

[AnalogGuy1]

Bought a new Yamaha U1 over Christmas, after spending several hours in different showrooms with my son, looking at both new and used instruments. Studied Fine's book before. Had 3 comparative bids, with almost 2k between the high and low. He likes it a lot and has never practiced more. I, on the other hand, like it even more. Never thought I'd dislike the action on my Roland 700GX, but now I really don't like playing on the digital much anymore.

[Doerfler]

now I really don't like playing on the digital much anymore.

 

it's normal. That's what happens. Still need digitals for gigs, though. By the time you get that upright out of your house and to the gig it's out of tune.

[J. Dan]

I bought my upright maybe 6-8 years ago new.

 

Actually, the music department at the university in my neighborhood rotates their pianos out with new ones every couple years and sells the old ones. I got an invitation to the sale (invitation-only) and went to check out what they had. They had many steinways, ballwins, and yamahas that were wonderful but most were out of my price range, even discounted. Then I sat down at an Essex studio upright and the action felt like the steinways and the tone was really nice to my ears. It also didn't hurt that i really liked the looks of it (that's what sold my wife at the time). The problem was that it had already been sold. After failing to sell me on any other pianos, they said they actually have another of the same piano, but it was still new in the crate. I said give me the same price and I'll buy it. They agreed (I got it about 20% off what they would typically go for from what I could tell). I arranged for delivery and later got a call that when they opened the crate, they discovered it had been damaged. So they ordered me a brand new piano from the factory - I still got it for the same price. As I recall, I paid right around $5k, maybe just under, delivered.

 

I got This one except my finish looks a lot darker than the web site.

 

Edit: According to This site standard pricing in 2009-2010 was $6,290 for that model, so I think I did OK.

[J. Dan]

One more thing. I bought this piano when I was married. I have 2 young kids. While I really wanted a real piano for myself, the big selling point was that I wanted my kids, besides being exposed to music, which they are, to have a piano there that they could play anytime they wanted. Unfortunately, neither have taken it up as of yet. My 10yr old took guitar lessons for about a year, and my 6yr old has shown a little interest. But something crazy happened recently. My 6yr old didn't want to play the piano, he wanted me to set up my Kronos because he said in his words it was "more real". My first response was, how can a fake piano be more real than a real piano? I think he identifies with all the other sounds. I sort of understand it, as backwards as it is.

[dazzjazz]

Oh wow, you got a great deal, will keep my ear to the ground for something like that. I've tried the Bostons and Essexs. Very ice, but out of my price range...maybe with a situation like this, I could afford one.