What to do when buying your first piano

The first thing we need to do is be careful. There are many scammers out there selling pianos that are of inferiour quality with falsified serial numbers, false brand names and pianos that look like new outside but are not. They will take full advantage of the fact that you don't know. So study our site and if you do that carefully you will know at least a bit. You don't have to buy from us but you can only spend your money once !!!

Cost to bring a used piano into new shape is between P 30.000 and  P40.000.  A piano has some 6,000 parts needs a full regulation before you buy them.  Most velts (2-300) will need replacement, especially in Asian countries because of the bugs eating them. This process is time consuming and costly and so most dealers don't do it because you, the customer, will not notice the difference for instance the difference between good and bad hammers. To check the difference between good and bad hammers see pic.

Without regulation when pressing the keys they will all feel different, hammers don't hit all strings, the keys will not be level but...the prices will be less. Your choice. To see a good well regulated piano inside, click here. YOU WILL NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE IF YOU DON'T READ UP ON WHAT TO LOOK FOR. We clean all parts, paint some parts because we want it looking like new and give the pianos at least 2 tunings and regulate or replace parts.To see a not regulated piano inside ask the dealer to open it and check if every part looks the same. Therefor we give you our famous no nonsense 10 (ten) years full warranty on all new and used pianos.

EXAMPLES of NOT-SO-GOOD-DEALS; (recently on Caroussel, Locanto)

Japan Piano, Yamaha Piano, P 15,000. You know it's a scam, a concert bench costs more, a good Yamaha used piano cost at least 200,000 for a half decent one.

Bechstein Grand Piano, fully refinished, P 285,000. Bechsteins don't sell for that, it's impossible. Refinishing of a grand piano cost at least P 500,000 but more likely 1M, that's without the price of the old grand piano purchase in the first place .

Yamaha C3 almost new, P380,000.  A new C3 cost 1.6M, so you can easily figure out that the person advertising this wants to suck you in on price. Unless the C3 is 100 years old (which is impossible) and/or has a falsified serial number or a cracked frame, it is simply NOT POSSIBLE unless the dealer wants to be out of business soon. Back to front page.

 

A good upright piano, new or used, will cost you at least PHP 150,000.00 and up, a good baby grand piano new or used starts at PHP 450,000 and up.

 

Here's how to go about it the right way:

There are really 5 main questions you need to answer for yourself after you have established a budget. 

  1. Acoustic or digital piano?
  2. Upright or grand piano?
  3. What is my budget?
  4. What brand name do I want, is it realistic?
  5. New or good used piano?

Acoustic or digital piano?

First: The initial cost of an acoustic piano is more than an electronic piano, however, after five years, your acoustic piano will be worth more money, and the value of an electronic piano will have depreciated to almost nothing.

 

Second: Children require the touch and sound of a real piano. Their brains are like sponges and they grow accustomed to whatever they are presented with. This means that they will begin to expect the lightly weighted artificial feel of an electronic piano, and when it comes time for examinations, they will have a very hard time adapting and might fail.

 

Upright or grand piano?

Upright piano advantages:

  • Takes up less space than a grand piano, lower cost, easier to move.

Upright piano disadvantages:

  • Musical expression is more difficult than a grand piano, action is not so advanced, repetition is slower, keys are shorter than on grand pianos, cabinet is less elegant.

Grand piano advantages:

  • Sounds better, more controlled musical expression, better and quicker action, longer keys, aesthetically pleasing, easier to position because it looks good from every angle.

Grand piano disadvantages:

  • Takes up more space, higher cost, harder to move.

What size of piano?

The answer is quite simple.  The longer the string, the better the sound. There are 4 choices for upright pianos, namely:

Under 45 inches (console)                                                                 45 to 47 inches high (studio)

48 to 51 inches (professional upright)                                          52 inches (largest upright made)

 

 

 

 

 

Upright pianos:

  • In the professional piano world anything under 48" high is not considered a professional sounding piano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand pianos:

  • Anything under 5'5" is not considered a good sounding grand piano. It seems the "break" for a good sound is a certain string length that cannot be had under 5'5".

When shopping for a grand piano it is good to know the sizes and the "insider" terms.

Size Name
from 4'7" to 5'5" BABY GRAND
from 5'5" to 5'8" MEDIUM GRAND
from 5'8" to 6'6" INSTITUTIONAL OR LARGE GRAND
from 6'6" to 7'6" SEMI CONCERT GRAND
from 7'6" to 9'4" CONCERT GRAND

What brand name should I consider?

There is a lot of confusion out there regarding this subject. We can help only by giving you our own experiences and our suggestions (from best to worst)

  • American made pianos such as Mason & Hamlin, Steinway & Sons are no.1 choice together with some German made pianos like Bosendorfer and Bechstein 
  • Japanese made pianos MADE IN JAPAN such as Yamaha and Kawai are number 2 choice. NOTE: Yamaha produces pianos in Malaysia and Indonesia and Kawai produces in China. Be careful what you buy.
  • Korean made pianos such as Young Chang and Samick made in the 1980's are really good and don't cost much, but be careful.
  • Chinese made pianos. Mostly not good.
  • Yamaha Indonesia new pianos and Kawai Indonesia are not good.

New or used piano?

Most often a new piano of a good quality is priced at a level that makes most people uncomfortable. The reason is simple; does my child deserve such a huge investment? This is a very valid question and you as a customer must realize there is nothing wrong with a good used piano.  A new Yamaha Indonesia is PHP 275.000.00 and a used Yamaha U series cost less but is 10x the quality. The advantages are great, namely a used piano or used grand piano should be half the price of a new one, the wood on used pianos is already matured so the piano should be very consistant. If you purchase from a good  dealer like us you will find a used piano with a warranty equal to a new piano. Trouble is that most importers will get cheap used pianos and sell them for high quality ones. Back to front page.