Hi

I am considering buying a seond hand yamaha upright (maybe u1 or u3) there seems to be any number of dealers selling these shiny pianos on the net but at around 20 years old. They claim that they have been over hauled and checked but I was wondering whether buying one of these would be tempting fate from a qulity/ tuning point of view.

They appear to be around the £2700 mark so not cheap?

Any comments appreciated

Regards

I think that's a lot for an upright that old. I paid £1850 for a 2 year old Henry Miller...though not an American original, but a Chinese one which has licence to use the name. However at the time when i bought it, I was considering a Yamaha which was about ten years old, and only £150 more. But I preferred the tone and response of the Chinese one, and it stays in tune very well too. Make sure you look around before making any decision.

You could get a reasonable new piano for that sort of money - 2700 seems a lot for a 20 yr old secondhand piano. In any case, a 20 yr old piano that has been well looked after shouldn't need major work done on it, so I would be a bit worried about the quality. If you find one you like, it might be worth paying a proper piano tuner/technician to have a good look at it for you to make sure you aren't buying an old clanger. Happy hunting!

thanks for the advice

A friend of mine bought a secondhand piano off the internet - it was in working order as described, but the innards were thick with dust and it smelt really fusty. You don't normally think to ask if an instrument smells, but another forum member has recently posted about an instrument he bought off the internet which smells so bad it's unplayable. It was the same with the piano, in the end it had to go because the dust had permeated everywhere and it would have cost too much to clean up, with no guarantee of getting rid of the smell. So before you buy, it would be worthwhile asking specifically if the instrument has a smell

That reminds me of something i read in the paper last year, one of the hopefuls from ITV'S X Factor had jilted his partner as now he'd become a 'megastar'(in the last eight), she avenged this act of betrayal by emptying the contents from tins of Tuna in his piano. Not very nice. He'd been mystified as to where the smell was emanating from for around a week.

You should try it out a few times before you buy it, and think alot about your decision. After all, it is an awful lot of money.

Like someone else said (sorry cant remember who) you can get a relatively good new piano for this price
xx

I wouldn't pay that sum of money for an instrument that you haven't had the chance to try out first. Anyhow, 20 year old Yamahas usually go on the internet for around £1500....although I'm not sure about condition.

You can get a second hand Yamaha from a reputable piano dealership for less than the sum that you have stated in your post. The dealership that I used for my U1 doesn't advertise but is known about by word of mouth. PM me if you would like to know the details - they won't rip you off.

i wouldnt recommend buying any piano off the internet without having tried it first. also, try getting someone else to listen to the piano to get a second opinion. also, dont be fooled by the shiny pianos. they may look pretty, but i've played some amazingly polished pianos that look like new, but sound like they havent been used for 20 years.

Jacob.

If you are paying a few hundred pounds then just try to play it and seee if you like the sound and feel.


If you are paying thousands then it needs to be professionally checked - just like a house or a car. The answer is to always get a qualified and experienced piano technician (i.e. someone that regulates and repairs pianos, as well as tunes them) to check it over and give you a report, including the cost of bringing it back into first class condition. You should expect to pay a decent professional fee for this service.


Common faults on second hand pianos are:

Worn tuning pins - piano won't hold its tune
(Being out of tune in itself is not serious - but it does make it hard for you to judge other aspects)
Worn dampers - sound doesn't stop quickly
Failed, faulty, or missing dampers - strings vibrate all the time
Hardended and/or badly grooved felts - impossible to play controlled p and pp. Harsh tone
Uneven action - impossible to control relative weight of notes. Interferes with playing quickly
Broken tapes - Hammer bounces on string
Worn out strings - they've been hammered for 40 or more years!

Less common faults

Broken notes - lies on key bed and does not function
Rot and fungus damage to casing and/or action and/or soundboard
Split soundboard (sometimes fixable and worth doing, sometimes not - depends on quality of the instrument and materials, and nature and extent of the damage)

I have played on a lot of Yamaha uprights and they are very nice pianos when they are fairly new. I have never played an old one so have no idea how well they stand up to the ravages of time. Many have a third pedal but I have yet to find one that works! The tone and action varies a lot between pianos, even of the same model. Action can be stiff and a little difficult, or as smooth and easy as a Bosendorfer. Tone can be mellow to brilliant, almost harsh.

I bought my Yamaha U3 brand new about 10 years ago and it is still in perfect condition and has never needed any work except tuning I imagine that in another 10 years it will still be brilliant Try before you buy, mine still looks and plays like new, inside and out. It doesnt smell either