All About Choosing and Buying Pianos

[explorer]

Mum_2Gals:

Hi,


I plan to purchase a piano for my 5yo who is in Yamaha YJC now. When I ask the teacher & sales person at Yamaha for recommendations, All suggest U1---$8600. According to them, only U1 & above are Exam models...
Thanks :oops:

Wait for Yamaha Sale. Sometimes discount could be quite steep. Then it may be quite worth while to buy a brand new one

[Mum_2Gals]

Hi explorer,


Thanks for your reply

Yamaha sale is on now...$8600 is the price after discount, usual price is $9850 (before 8% discount for students)....

[jce]

Hi Mum2Gals


Yes, "exam model" is based solely on height.

In exams, piano brands will depend on where the exam venue is, so for example Yamaha centres will use Yamaha pianos and Kawai (Roberts)centres will use Kawai pianos. Other private centres may use other makes, but the minimum requirement is of course the 121cm and a well-tuned and maintained piano.

Personally the pianos that Cristofori carries…uh, not good. But that’s my personal opinion.

Older or preowned pianos if well maintained are just as good (again, in my own opinion). One gets the "true" sound and touch by then as it has "matured". I think for someone who’s still uncertain whether the child is going to progress far (and you don’t intend to die-die force the child to at least complete up to grade 8 or even 5) then buying secondhand is a good option.

[Mum_2Gals]

Hi jce,


Really appreciates your advice :thankyou:

I'm also not very confident with cristofori pianos, just that the price and the \"buy back\" scheme looks attractive.

Did consider secondhand piano, but afraid will end up with one that is not well-maintained----can't trust the seller totally :oops:

DD is only 5yo, I'm really not sure whether I'll 'force\" her to learn all the way to Grade 8. But I believe most young kids need some kind of \"force\" plus motivation from parents to persevere......

Do you have any other recommendation for brand new pianos? DD's piano teacher suggest getting U1 now, so no need to change another piano when she's at Grade 4-5. Is it true that U1 has very good resale value, and most prob will not have any problem selling--getting back half the cost after 10yrs?

:thankyou: :thankyou:

[hquek]

hi Mum_2Gals,


I was in the same situation as you, but DS1 is in the single piano class at yamaha. Teacher advised us to get a piano so DS1 can practise. After much thought, we went for 2nd hand model becos we’re not sure if his interest will be sustained, AND we didn’t want to have to change after a couple of years IF his interest did sustain.

After searching a few places, we ended up with a U3. It’s a bit taller than U1, but the sound is richer and nicer - I think it’s an upright grand. There is not much price difference between U1 and U3 - couple hundred bucks. When it’s new, both models are very different prices. We also saw U2 (which is a bit of inbetween), but since that’s discontinued model, we decided against it.

There is assurance of quality with new piano, but DH and I were reluctant to pay that price difference. Finally we pay $4K for a U3 (I think it’s about 30 y/o). 2nd hand shops typically don’t sell younger models, and those do are still fairly expensive.

In any case, most of the 2nd hand dealers will offer a buyback scheme within x number of years. They also offer guarantee on the piano that you bought - methinks that is to channel business becos you MUST have them tune the piano regularly.

If you don’t mind to consider 2nd hand, listen to the piano and decide if the sound is to your liking. DH and I are both strangers to piano, but we could feel when a particular piano produces not so nice sound. It’s a matter of listening enough. If you have a friend who plays piano, even better, ask that friend to try out and let you know.

There will be a certain value when you want to sell off the piano; but I certainly don’t think it will keep/increase value. 2nd hand dealers must make their margins, you will do better if you sell directly to another person who wants it.

Been to many shops and finally settled on one shop (out of sheer exhaustion) - let me know if you want to see where I’ve been. Have fun with the hunt!

[jce]

U3 is not an upright grand, it’s just a bigger version of U1. The upright grand is U5 (which I think they have renamed).


The resale value of Yamaha pianos are generally better than many others. Half the price after 10 yrs…maybe, provided it’s really well maintained. And I agree, sometimes can’t trust the sellers. I personally believe in going with one’s instincts. Find a good reputable 2ndhand shop, find a good make, try out the piano (just tinkle the high notes, mid range and low range), listen to the sound and go with the flow. Even teachers (at least not ALL) can tell whether the technical parts are in good condition, these are really down to the trained technicians.

There’s Pearl River which is reasonably priced and quality is decent. I think the resale value (in terms of percentage) will probably work out about the same.

[sleepy]

According to my dd, U3 sounds fabulous and she prefers the touch


I asked the tuner. There are 2 main differences between U3 & YUS5 (upright grand). YUS5 comes with a sostenuto pedal. U3 doesn't. The way YUS5 were designed, sound is different (I believe he means YUS5 more superior).

Other than that, both U3 and YUS5 have 3 compartments whereas U1 has 2 compartments

[sleepy]

Mum_2Gals:

Did consider secondhand piano, but afraid will end up with one that is not well-maintained----can't trust the seller totally :oops:

Do you have any other recommendation for brand new pianos? DD's piano teacher suggest getting U1 now, so no need to change another piano when she's at Grade 4-5. Is it true that U1 has very good resale value, and most prob will not have any problem selling--getting back half the cost after 10yrs?

I noticed Yamaha has good resale value. I think it's more worth it to get a brand new one since depreciation is not that high. You can still fetch a reasonably good price when you wish to upgrade to another in few years time

[Mum_2Gals]

hquek:

hi Mum_2Gals,


I was in the same situation as you, but DS1 is in the single piano class at yamaha. Teacher advised us to get a piano so DS1 can practise. After much thought, we went for 2nd hand model becos we're not sure if his interest will be sustained, AND we didn't want to have to change after a couple of years IF his interest did sustain.

After searching a few places, we ended up with a U3. It's a bit taller than U1, but the sound is richer and nicer - I think it's an upright grand. There is not much price difference between U1 and U3 - couple hundred bucks. When it's new, both models are very different prices. We also saw U2 (which is a bit of inbetween), but since that's discontinued model, we decided against it.

There is assurance of quality with new piano, but DH and I were reluctant to pay that price difference. Finally we pay $4K for a U3 (I think it's about 30 y/o). 2nd hand shops typically don't sell younger models, and those do are still fairly expensive.

In any case, most of the 2nd hand dealers will offer a buyback scheme within x number of years. They also offer guarantee on the piano that you bought - methinks that is to channel business becos you MUST have them tune the piano regularly.

If you don't mind to consider 2nd hand, listen to the piano and decide if the sound is to your liking. DH and I are both strangers to piano, but we could feel when a particular piano produces not so nice sound. It's a matter of listening enough. If you have a friend who plays piano, even better, ask that friend to try out and let you know.

There will be a certain value when you want to sell off the piano; but I certainly don't think it will keep/increase value. 2nd hand dealers must make their margins, you will do better if you sell directly to another person who wants it.

Been to many shops and finally settled on one shop (out of sheer exhaustion) - let me know if you want to see where I've been. Have fun with the hunt!

Hi hquek,

Right, difficult decision now cos hope to get a good first piano so that if DD interest can sustain, don't have to change after a couple of years. But afraid her interest cannot sustain........

How old is your DS1? Would appreciate any feedback on Yamaha 1-1 piano class. I'm actually thinking of switching her to 1-1 class when she turn 6....---min age for Yamaha 1-1 class? Her current YMC teacher says 1-1 class not as interesting and less emphasis on listening......But somehow I feel that the learning pace in a class(10 kids) is quite slow, lots of waiting time......

Pls do share with me which second hand piano shop is more reliable and has been around for many yrs.....Saw one online advert for second hand U3--$4800, 10years.....Still very hesitant abt buying second hand stuff cos don't know whether can trust..... :thankyou:

[hquek]

Well, thing is, being outsiders of the trade I don’t know what the resale price is like. Those 2nd hand models I have seen are typically very old so have no basis to compare. My concern is that if I buy a brand new, and then 5-10 years later to sell to a dealer, the price will be waaaaaay lower than if I buy a 5-10 year old piano from dealer (he must make his margins mah).


So end of the day we went with an old piano at a price we can lose 100% on and not feel the pinch (use so many years also ‘dai’). Any amount claw back is a happy surprise.