Buying a piano

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whyte Ice
  • Start date Start date
W

Whyte Ice

The Next Vanilla Ice
I am currently looking for an upright piano, there are alot of good deals in local classifieds and local pawn shops, etc. but I have no idea what to look for in a good one. What are some things I should look for in a good upright?

I have been playing keyboard piano for about 6 months, I'm not too good but I would like to switch to a real piano because I like the sound and feel better.

I have about $300-$400 to spend just to note.
 
[T]here are alot of good deals in local classifieds and local pawn shops, etc.
Click to expand...

Don't be too certain of that. We've bought a few pianos and learned something the hard way: There is no such thing as a "good" "cheap" piano. In fact, I'm convinced that there are no hundred dollar pianos in existence at all. There are things, however, that cost a hundred bucks and look like pianos.

I don't want to be a downer, but learn from our experience - the baby grand built in 1919 cost only $850. Needed a little work, of course. Let's clean up, well, no, rebuild the action - just the basics. Now we've spent $1200. What? The pedals don't work? Hmmm. What do you mean, the pinblock's cracked? Whaddayamean, "just inject epoxy"? Why do I keep losing pitch on the new string - shouldn't that fix it? What's that big crack on the soundboard?

For that $1200, we got a few years of extreme frustration and new repairs about once a month before we finally bit the bullet and went for a new one. I know just enough about piano repair now to know that if I'm working on one, it means I died and went to Hell.

Don't even think of finding anything in a pawn shop you can afford to own. It's like buying a horse, or an empty college building - they come cheap, but then YOU own it, and the damn thing is hungry. Start emptying out those pockets...

You could well find exactly what you're looking for under five hundred bucks, but you will be lucky to do it. I would suggest getting connected with a good piano tuner and pay the guy fifty bucks to help you cull pianos until you find one that doesn't make his face green. It will be money well spent.

You might do pretty well with a used electric piano for now, but please save up that cash for the real thing and don't waste it on a "deal" from the local pawn shop, or the $200 special that will soon have you building a coffee table out of the panels - just to get some use out of it. (I've been there, too...:D )
 
Yes. Consider that you count the price of a good new or reconditioned piano in the thousands of dollars. Ten thousand is by no means an exorbitant price for a nice home piano. I'm not saying you need to spend $10,000 to get a decent piano, but that gives you an idea of the order of magnitude you're dealing with.
 
I'm not necessarily looking for the best, I'm just looking for something I can practice on. It doesn't have to sound the best, just sound good.

I don't want to use it for recording or anything to that matter, just for composing and stuff.
 
You're describing a decent used electric piano.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=929746096

(probably need to be in Jersey)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=930236473

(Probably need to be in Seattle)

But you get the picture.

On the other hand.... for $22,000...

purple1.jpg


:D
 
wow... that's a bright piano!

Believe it or not, I bought my piano at Hudson's (a salvage store in the southeast US for those not familiar). 70% off a brand new Baldwin 6 ft. Not my favorite piano, but it's like buying a new car at 70% off - how often does that happen?

I had the best piano tuner/technician in the area check it out before I purchased it, and he found absoultely no problems. I've had it tuned four times in the year since then, and each time the guy commented how great of a steal it was. Just yesterday I had a new guy (old guy) do the tuning and voicing... needed to soften a few hammers after a year of practicing on it. He couldn't believe how good of shape it was in after telling him it came from Hudson's (they had a lot of pianos at that particular time, and most were damaged in one or more ways, most pretty nastily).

I'd prefer a Steinway, but hell, I'd have to sell my car and a nut first. :) This will do for now.

But, even though I found a once in a lifetime deal, I still paid many thousands of dollars for it. Moral of the story? Good pianos aren't cheap - even when they are at an unbelievable price.

However, for what you are looking for you can probably find an upright that has playable action and will hold a tuning within reason in that budget. Some notes will sound funky, and a technician would tell you a list of things that needed to be "fixed" to make it "right," but it would be playable. Or, as suggested, perhaps a weighted electric piano would be better suited for you for now?
 
How do electric pianos sound? Sound just like a regular piano ?
 
More properly known as digital (electric) pianos. They use sampled sounds, weighted keys (most), and ususally have 76 or a full 88 key keyboard.

The quality of sound will depend on the quality of the samples.

Kurzweil and Roland make outstanding digital pianos though the Roland is a bit harsh to me, similar to a Yamaha studio piano. The Kurz is my favorite for the Steinway sound. It depends on the music you play, but all usually have several pianos to choose from and some have strings and bass at the most basic level.
 
Short answer: they don't sound real, but some sound very good anwyay!
 
I couldn't have said this any better than Bigus.

A cheap, used piano, is going to be nothing but a heart-break for you.
If there are new piano dealers in your area, many will let you "rent to own." In my area, monthly rent on a NICE upright is less than $50 a month.
You can set it up, try it out for a while, decide if you're really going to play it, or is it going to sit there in the corner and collect dust?

If you like it, you're on your way to owning it.
If you don't like it, you're only out $100 or so.
 
Whyte Ice said:
I have about $300-$400 to spend just to note.
Click to expand...

Get a digital piano with weighted keys. Any decent acoustic piano you could find for under a grand would probably need another grand worth of repairs just to hold a tune. Unless you get really lucky and find someone who is desperate to get rid of one.

There are few acoustic guitars worth buying for $400 not to mention pianos.
 
Any decent digital pianos I could get for around $400 ?
 
Here's a good tip:

If you were buying a used car, the common wisdom is to take it to your mechanic for an evaluation. The idea being that you spend a few bucks in advance to preclude spending major bucks later. Now, you can't drop a piano off at your local technician's, but most of them are willing to be hired to make an evaluation house call. Believe me, unless you are talking about a REALLY cheap piano, it's definitely worth it to hire a pro to inspect it.

Now, admittedly, there is no substitute for a good piano, especially if you are a classical player. But, if you are looking for a cheap piano, you may get more value by going with a digital one. Aside from taking up less space and being more portable, it's other advantages include the fact that you can practice with headphones (and not disturb the rest of the house) and that they never need tuning (or much other maintenance). A few years ago, I wouldn't have made the same recommendation, but the universe of digital pianos has progressed quite a bit.

If you are trying to learn to play "piano" then you will want one with weighted keys, and most likely a full-sized keyboard. The best sampled grand sound and action available today, in my opinion, is the Yamaha S-90 triple strike grand. Unlike almost all others, it samples three different velocity levels per note. (Others use only two.) This allows for more responsive and expressive playing. And the action is the best I've tried in a keyboard.

I can attest to it's superiority over the Kurzweil, at least in my opinion, as I have a PC2x mounted right above the S-90 and have A-B'd them extensively. One noticeable thing is how much quieter the action is in the S90 over the Kurzweil- which clicks like crazy by comparison. By the way, I also have a Steinway B (1897), so I have an excellent baseline standard for what a piano should feel and sound like. Everyone that's recorded in my studio with the S-90 has been mucho impressed.

The other advantage of buying something like the S-90 is you get hundreds of other phat sounds besides the piano, and dozens of incredibly hip grooves that are inspiring and fun to practise with.

Last i looked, they were $1899 at Guitar Center, maybe cheaper elsewhere.
 
I'll throw in my $.02 worth in favor of a digital piano. I have a Technics P-50, paid a little over $900 for it. The advantage of a digital piano is it never needs to be tuned, so there are no ongoing maintenance expenses (at least as long as it doesn't break down).

It is also quite portable, weighing I think less than 40 pounds, so I can easily move it from one room to another.

Did I mention it never goes out of tune?

It has 5 piano sounds (concert grand, pop grand, upright, and 2 electric) and a number of organ sounds as well, so it is extremely versatile.

Oh, and it stays in tune.
 
DKMurphPr said:
I'll throw in my $.02 worth in favor of a digital piano. I have a Technics P-50, paid a little over $900 for it. The advantage of a digital piano is it never needs to be tuned, so there are no ongoing maintenance expenses (at least as long as it doesn't break down).
Click to expand...

Oooo - good idea! I forgot about technics!

I've got an old P30, which must be an older version of yours. It has 88 full size weghted keys and a great action, yet only weighs about 30 pounds. It only has three sounds - piano, and two electric pianos, and some built in reverb. And one of the EP's you have to know the "secret" to access. (Hold down the highest "C" while powering up.) The midi implementation is very crude - to change midi channels you have to power up while holding down a specific bass note.

But, it was only $900 new about eight years ago, and until I got my S90, it was as good a digital piano as any I'd played in terms of sound and action. I actually preferred it to the Kurzweil.

The only thing that sucks about it is, like the Kurzweil, it's got a weird proprietary AC wall wart that has a tendency to break. (The Yamaha uses a standard $6.99 computer-type power cable, thank God!). If you do break the wall wart, Panasonic (who owns Technics) will charge you $100 for a new one!!!! (Unfortunately, I know from experience!)

But anyway, if you can find one of these used, it may be the best soluition for your budget. Thanks DK for the great call!
 
I think I've decided to go with the Yamaha YPR-50.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top