Buying a piano...advice?

[Melrosgirl]

We are looking to get a piano. I don't play. My husband can play and dd is beginning lessons.

Any advice on brands? DH really wants to get the Steinway. He loves anything that can appreciate in value (his job is in investments!). Anyway, personally I want something that looks nice! hehehe

Upright or baby grand? If we go with the baby grand, we won't get the Steinway (lowest price Steinway baby grand is $36,000!). An upright (vertical) Steinway is around $17,000 - more reasonable, but still an awful lot of money!

Of course, there are other brands out there. I don't want to go overboard on this purchase. I do appreciate music and a nice looking piano, but I know there are other brands out there that we are considering (Boston, Essex and Knabe are 3 of the names I can think of.)

Any advice? Thank you!

 

[KimR]

We have a Yamaha baby grand and I love it! It's a good quality piano for less $$ than the Steinway (I think ours was around $18,000). I've heard to stay away from the Korean pianos (Knabe, for example), but that was around 4 years ago, so that may have changed. We spent months looking, researching, asking questions. Sometimes you can luck into a good deal on a used piano if it's been well taken care of...just be careful if you decide to go that route. Good luck and enjoy your purchase...we love our piano!

Kim

 

[Christine]

Well, we bought a cheap piano!!

Neither my husband or me are musical in ANY way, but my 8 year old son expressed a desire to play the piano. So I started him out at piano less and we had a keyboard at home. After 6 months of lessons he was getting really pretty good and was getting limited by the keyboard. AND, he continued to show an interest in playing it.

However, I did not and won't for a long time, have the $$$$$ for a good piano, especially not knowing if his interest would continue. So, our local BJ's was having a "Piano Road Show" one day and they had some upright and baby grands for very affordable prices. We got a Hallet & Davis upright for about $3,000. When I bought this, I knew that it is a cheap piano. But, it comes with a few free tunings, a 5-year warranty, a chance to sell it back in 5 years for an upgrade, etc. I didn't feel too bad about it. If, in 5 years, he becomes a prodigy, I will fork over the bucks for a good piano. If he gives up, I'm sure I can sell it for about half of what I paid to another student pianist.

Now, since your DH plays that is a whole different matter, it might really be fine for you to plop down $8-10K on a piano and feel okay about. Just wanted you to hear our experience with a "cheapy."
Christine

 

[Melrosgirl]

thank you for your replies

Shopping for this piano is like shopping for a car. So many choices, lots of $. !!!

I had no idea!

 

[EdiePA]

the Hamilton upright. It has great sound and Baldwin really stands behind their pianos -- the first one had a bad sounding board and Baldwin came, took it away, and returned my piano all at no charge to me. It tunes easily and holds it's tune for a long period of time.

Why did I choose the Hamilton? Because the configuration of the "strings" is the same as in a baby grand. The longest one is as long as a baby grand's. I just didn't have the $$$ or the room for the baby grand. Be sure to try several makes/models. I didn't like the Yamahas at the time, they sounded "tinny" to me.

Also, music lessons are a great investment for your children. Both of my boys play the piano and multiple instruments.

HTH
Edie

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We chose a Yamaha electronic piano for about $3000. It records things the kids play, so you can do two track stuff if you want. There are about 8 different instrument choices so you can use grand piano, electronic piano, choir, etc. It has a built-in metronome which DD#1 really needed. It is also much lighter than a regular piano and can be moved much more easily if need be. Also, there is a place for headphones so a child can practice, if necessary, with no one else hearing it (for example if another child is studying). It also does not need to be tuned.
If the kids keep on going I may get a "real" piano but DD#2 is just starting and DD#1 wants to give it up after 2 years and take up the saxophone!
Robin M.

 

[beachbunny]

I started playing the piano when I was three years old and I took lessons through high school and taught piano in college. I've been through a few pianos. The best sounding upright I've ever heard was a Yamaha - even better than many cheaper baby grands. Steinway is a name - they have good sounding pianos and not so good sounding ones. When shopping, take someone who plays with you to test it out. You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it would you? Also, don't have the salesman play it for you. If he knows what he's doing, he'll just play something that shows off the best features of the piano - you want to hear it at its worst. Finally, if your dd is just starting out, I wouldn't invest in a pricey piano unless you're looking to keep it long term as a piece of furniture even if your dd quits next year. Many dealers will allow you to upgrade in the future if you want.

 

[accomp]

I teach piano and have two Yamaha upright pianos. The one that I use primarily is one that we bought used a few years back. I'm very happy with it. As beachbunny said, have someone who plays test the pianos out when you are shopping around.