Piano

A question about : Piano

Hello

I want to buy a standard in tune upright acoustic piano
I know the electronic weighted key Yamaha ones (plus expensive) are liked and highly rated by many plus not needing re-tuning etc. but preferably I know in my heart I want an old fashion one. New or second hand does not matter as long as it in-tune and in a reasonably good condition.

Are there any trustworthy websites you recommend, or is it safer to purchase one in store. Thanks in advance for any advice

Best answers:

• Especially if you're just starting out I'd look at freecycle, or local ads. A lot of people just want to get rid of them, and if you're willing to pay for the delivery will give them away.
• Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
• I'd echo the above. You could easily find a piano free, then invest in having it properly tuned etc. Would save you loads.
• You may well find a piano that's 'in-tune' when you buy it, but be aware that it will most likely need to be retuned after it's been moved to your home, and will most likely drift a bit after that as it acclimatises to your home as opposed to where it was before, so you should budget for at least a couple of tunings soon after you get it.
  Much will depend on your budget, and your location. There's oodles of used and new pianos on eBay and Gumtree, but are there any dedicated piano retailers where you live? How much do you want to spend?
  You really need to see the piano in the flesh and try it, to ensure that -a- you like the sound of the beast, and -b- that when you play, it has an action and response that suit you. You may well prefer a light action, and if you buy sight unseen, you could end up with a heavy, unresponsive brute. You may be a strong person and want a heavy, stiff action, and would hate a delicately-balanced piano that embraced subtlety. It's a personal choice.
  You have to try it before you buy. You wouldn't buy a car without driving it, or one of the model type, before you buy, would you?
  There's plenty of more specific music-based websites that offer more extensive advice than the above, and there's also the Haynes manual, which has some 40 or so pages on choosing a piano retailer, and the piano which suits you, as well as sections on looking after it once you have it.
  It's unclear whether or not you play already - are you looking for an instrument as an adult learner, or do you have some background?
• Here's what you're likely to find at the larger retailers
  https://www.forsyths.co.uk/pianos/32091-upright-pianos
  There's over 400 used uprights on eBay, some of which start at Ј0.01, and which the owners will basically allow you to take away for nought. Do you really want to go to the trouble of hiring a piano mover to collect one of these, with no guarantee of condition?
• How difficult is it to learn to tune a piano? If you can get an out of tune piano for nothing and save spending a few grand on a new or better condition one, perhaps it might be worth trying to learn how to tune a piano.
• This music forum seems particularly bad for OPs who never return to the threads they started .....
• I'm in Scotland, and our tuner charges Ј60 for a standard tuning. I found him through internet searching, but you could ask for recommendations from anyone you know who owns a piano, from piano retailers, from piano technicians, etc. I would imagine tuners in London charge a bit more. A bit of googling or a browse through Yellow Pages, music magazines, maybe?
  Electronic pianos have become more convincing, with high-end models offering simulation of half-pedalling, mock-ivory keytops, and other enhancements to mimic a real instrument, but I very much doubt you'll find the best of these at Ј500 or less. The only way to determine if a new Ј500 model will do what you expect is to find a stockist and try one. There's a few on Denmark Street, off Charing Cross Road, that I know of, and there's bound to be others scattered around London.
  I'm sure there'll be places in London that would let you hire a practice room with a piano for a short while, maybe music colleges and the like? Phone around a few and ask. Maybe schools or churches who have a real piano might be open to this too.
• We recently bought a second-hand piano for around Ј500 plus the cost of removal which I think was about another Ј100. We have it tuned every six months at Ј50 or so, and it currently needs a couple of strings replaced but they aren't crucial ones so I'm putting that off!
  From what I can gather, Ј500 is the least you are looking at for a piano that is worth buying, and ideally you should spend more. Ours has been tuned regularly and was professionally restored within the last 10 years or so, but the piano tuner still sucks his teeth when he comes to tune it because it is worn inside and at some point the soundboard will need to be replaced.
  We like our acoustic piano, but if I was buying again I think I'd take a bit longer, go to a few different piano shops & music shops, and buy from someone I trusted. Buying a piano for a few quid on ebay and thinking you can tune it yourself is never going to work. If you aren't sure whether you are going to carry on playing, I'd recommend getting an electric one, then if you give up you should be able to get decent money by selling it again.
• Saw this from hukd https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BLGZ9A8/
  but like tyllwyd said impulse buying is probably not the best idea, especially with type of item.
• There's a lot to be said for digital pianos.
  They don't go out of tune, you can use headphones so can play late at night, their sound quality can easily surpass that of an upright piano.
  Add to this the fact that you can add effects to the sound e.g. reverb to make it sound like you are playing in a concert hall.
  You certainly need to have a good think about why you want a real piano compared to a digital one.