Hey, I have a Casio Privia PX-100 at the moment, it's ok but i would like a new piano
It is full size with weighted keys, but i really want a new ebony upright piano - maybe yamaha?
What does everyone reccomend i do?
Thanks

Yamaha make beautiful pianos. What standard are you? It all depends on how much you want to spend, I guess....

Erm..... well my teacher says approx Grade 8, but I'm taking Grade 6 to see what the exams are like then onto 8.
Probably under £3000. Would that be enough?

I dont knwo how much it is but i got a Yamamha U3 its mahogany (i think-dark reddish brown) you can also get it in black and white i think. Nice tone, the keys are nicely weighted

I've got a Yamaha U1 acoustic and Yamaha CLP970 digital piano. Both are good IMHO.

The best thing is to search this topic in the box at the bottom of the page: "buying a piano", "new piano" both bring up a few useful threads on the subject.

My dad bought me a huge Yamaha grand piano and i think it was about £10000, you should be able to get an upright one for £3000 if you look in the right places. Try this link to get basic information from Yamaha, http://www.yamaha-europe.com/yamaha_europe...anos/index.html , you could always go second hand, as long as you try it out properly and take someone else along with you.
We found when buying ours that there were some really scornful manufacturers that wouldnt touch Yamaha because theyre "machine made". BUT the pure and simple fact is that they sound great! so dont let snobbery put you down, every piano is personal, (I liken it to the wand situation in Harry Potter...)

Yamaha have a solid reputation, and for 3k you should be able to get one of their good models second hand.
You're probably better going for a good brand's used instruments than a brand new cheapy, but as captivate.me says, it's worth paying for a tuner's time to assess the instrument - you wouldn't buy a used car without an AA check! Kawai are another quality Asian brand - but it will come down to what you like the sound of.
I think you'll really enjoy moving from the keyboard to an acoustic instrument. I wouldn't ahve been without my clavinova while living in a flat, but it'd be hard to go back now.

Just for info you can buy a Yamaha U1 or U3 via Ebay for approx £1700. It is a guy who sells them at near trade price. If you do a search for piano it should still be there. I haven't tried him myself but may do in the future as they retail for around £2600 I think.

When you buy your first upright piano, go for the one that feels the best and has a tone you enjoy.

Personally I don't like Yamaha Pianos, given your budget, I would probably look on getting a good deal on an Irmler (Out of the Bluthner Stable), but then I have a particularly soft spot for German Pianos in genral and Bluthners in particular.

Go for yamaha

Trusted and quality manufacturer with great UK customer support.

However if steinway is an option?

Regards

Do you have space for a grand piano? This is a better choice if you can afford it, why not consider second-hand? This dealer has some which look reasonable and are in your price range: http://www.besbrodepianos.co.uk .

I love Yamaha uprights. My white one with the blue keys is a lot of fun, lovely touch and a great tone. Then again, I'm an organist, so my "touch" has been ruined over the years

I have a Yamaha U1 and it's great! i love it!

i actually think yamaha uprights are overpriced greatly. Yes, yamaha produce fantastic grands. But their uprights are way too expensive. I have a £3100 Reid-sohn upright, and i played a yamaha upright in the shop as well, i think it was about £5000-£6000, and the touch and sound was so much better on my piano.

The thing is that when you buy a yamaha, you are paying extra because you are buying the brand, not the piano.

Like when you pay extra for clothes with labels.

My dad is a piano tuner, so i know a lot about pianos, he often recomends Yamaha U3's, preferably made in Japan, great instruments. If u look on the internet, u may be able to get a really good deal, supprisingly, you can get yamaha's cheap! i think there's a place in Ringwood, I think his name is Chris Venables, he does have a website, his prices are the cheapest you are likely to get for new yamaha's.

That's where my dad got mine from, it's a great shop, very reasonably priced!
Sarah x

I'm currently in shanghai, and 3k can buy you a kawai baby grand out here. Not that i am gloating, since that is way beyond my means, and i play in terribly cramped practise rooms instead. From what i've seen, the mark-up of asian pianos in the west is quite incredible.

And also Bestein?? Fazioli?? Or Preyel??

DONT GET BESTEINS! sorry... but they really aren't great pianos!

if you find a 2nd hand piano that you like, its a good idea to get a private piano tuner, or the like, to look over it for you, because there may be hidden problems in the piano. My dad as even found a broken hammer mended with a drinking straw before now!

Schimmel make good pianos too. Lovely balance of tone throught out the instrument.

We had Yamahas at college, and I don't rate them too highly, I find their tone too tinny. Have you thought of a reconditioned Broadwood, they make nice pianos too.

If we are actually talking BeCHsteins, they're actually very nice! But as with all instrument purchases, it's very subjective...

I went 2 a piano warehouse nd i went though all of them
I said i wanted a yamaha and they sed yamahas are ok but you can get a upright that sounds as good as Yamaha 10K grand piano. so i went for a steinway
it is beautful and very clear , mine is blackand brand new

Piano's all depend on the sound u lyk andwhat sort of price u want to play
I played on a £100,000 grand piano!!!!! I hated the sound !! So there you go u dnt ave 2 but a 100k 1!!!!!!!
All down 2 perference

Thankx 4 listening
x

I think that Yamaha are extremely good value for money. Kemble is also a good make, and made at the same UK factory as Yamaha.

I myself own a Yamaha Silent series model. This is a standard Yamaha piano (many different sizes available) with an additional option to completely mute the piano and listen to a (perfectly reasonable) reproduction piano sound through headphones. You can also send MIDI out into a PC (and back). This is invaluable to me for late-night practice without disturbing the neighbours.

I would recommend Yamaha as a good reliable option. You would assume that any shiny new piano that has a price tag of £3000 would be a good piano but sadly this isn't the case.





As a matter of interest, what was the make of that 100k grand piano? Was it in a large concert hall?

Yahamas are wonderful!
I have a kingsburg, I think it's a new make. I've had it for a few months and it's wonderful!

I have a beautiful Boston grand piano - design by Steinway, but factory made rather than hand-made - 'the poor man's Steinway' I think it's nickname is, and it's good - I love it. But at the school I teach at, they have Yamaha uprights in nearly every practice room, and when I was at uni, they had a Yamaha grand which I sometimes practised on - Yamaha are definitely good pianos. I do prefer my Boston, but I'm biased, and it's the piano I'm now used to. I agree with the comment about Broadwood pianos - they are also good pianos. There's a beautiful upright one in a local church - lovely sound and touch etc. Bechsteins are also good pianos. In fact the two best pianos I think I have ever played are a full concert Steinway grand, and a Bechstein grand.

I have a U3 Yamaha. I'm at grade 6 and it is used everyday between my daughter and myself, approx. 2/3 hours. It is bright in sound but my piano turner has softened this a little. I purchased mine from Ringwood from Chris Venables and had no trouble with it. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I'm not too fond of Yamaha uprights, but I think they do produce some pretty solid grands. I actually have a Petrof upright at home, I'd love to get my hands on a Steinway grand though...

A friend of mine has a Bechstein, but it hasn't been tuned in years because apparently the model is no longer manufactured, so the tuners don't know have the right equipment or something.

I have occasionally played Boston grands and they are fine instruments. You lucky thing!

My earlier recommendation for Yamaha was not due to my preference for these instruments over any other, rather that they represent a decent quality piano at a reasonable price. As has been mentioned in another post, the pianos in the practice rooms of Chetham's are almost all Yamaha uprights.

My own reason for owning one is mainly that I couldn't afford anything else (not even "the poor man's Steinway" ), and the silent mechanism. If you can afford to consider Boston, Steinway, Bechstein etc then don't let me talk you out of it!

I would recommend spending some quality time going around piano showrooms trying out different models and deciding what kind of touch and tone you find enjoyable.

I don't want to seem moany, but please can you not use text talk? If you look at the forum rules at the top of every page, it says

A lot of people can't understand text talk - especially if they are from another country or English is not their first language.
Thanks.

or over the age of 18.

Yes, Ian!!

I've got a Yamaha CLP-230M and am just about to upgrade to a CLP-280-PE (wooden keys) if the part-ex offer is good enough.

The U1/3/5 are made for Yamaha in the UK by Kemble. It's rare to get one but if you can get a Japanese U1/3/5 you will get a better piano from Yamaha. I know of one place in the UK that has a new Japanese U1 - priced at £4500 but I reckon £4000 is a better price myself.

Of course if you want better quaility the handmade SU series from Yamaha start at around £14000, most places will sell you one for just under £10000.

I've only been playing for around 5 months and am studying for grade 2 but I can appreciate how good the touch is on the Japanese Yamaha pianos.

I'm going for the CLP-280 for convienience and have promised myself when I get to grade 5 I will get an SU or get a Steinway upright. (so I've got 3 years to save I reckon!)

The U3 are highly rated according to the demo Cd's that i recieved form yamaha - and was played alondgside Grands too

My piano is a Yamaha SU118 upright series which is a hand built piano. I have to say these pianos have very good balanced tone and the bass notes are very deep rich sound considering for an upright.

The piano has quite a big resonance and considering my model is the 118cm it has quite a big sound considering its size.

The SU 118 normally retails at £7500ish but you can get some good deals as you will find piano dealers have quite a big margin to play with.

My music teacher has a Schimmel upright and this has a lovely tone. The piano keys though are slightly heavier but it might just this piano that has a heavier touch than others.

I have also been quite impressed with Grotian-Steinweg as I have also played on their uprights and grand pianos and they have quite a good tone as the university I was used them.

I do recommend going to showrooms and trying out different makes. Hopefully you find something that will suit you.

I have a Yamaha U3 and it is awesome

Try here for some more Yamaha piano advice..................

http://www.piano-advice.org.uk/

When I went to buy a new piano about 7 years ago, I felt sure I was going to go for a Yamaha (upright) but I just wasn't too impressed with it's sound , I ended up buying a Woodchester, I just loved its touch and sound especially the bass notes.