Howdy all. I'm looking for a little advice from some of you experienced folk.

The Conservatory where I take lessons is going to be selling off some of their pianos, and I am interested in purchasing a grand piano. I believe that they are all Yamahas, C5s and GC2s (and possibly some other models as well). I haven't checked into their ages and prices yet, but my question for you is this:

Based on their years of use (and abuse), would you invest in a used piano from a Conservatory?

Whatever I buy will be played daily, and will probably stay with me for the next 40 years or so. I am concerned because although they are quality instruments, I see the possibility of large expenses in the future (repairs, rebuilding, etc).

So, what do you think?

It depends on the history of the pianos. If they are relatively new short-term loans to a school, the chances are that the supplier will control the sale proceedings and that the arrangement is designed to be a $ win/win for the school and the supplier. Advertising of such a sale offering will imply that it is a win for consumers too, but that's very debatable. Someone has to be the loser to allow the other two parties to be winners.

These sales favor descriptive terms such as "conservatory", "prestigious music school", or the like. However, the term "music conservatory" is tossed around very freely in the US. (don't know about Canada). Since you're a student there, you probably have some idea of how the school's pianos are treated.

OTOH, a 'conservatory' sale could just be a situation where a school has bandaided its old pianos as long as possible, and replacing them is the only option at this point. A 'conservatory' in my area was doing that about six monhs ago. The pianos were mostly Yamahas between 30 to 40 years old. Best advice to a consumer in this case is to look elsewhere.

Some questions that may help lead you to a better answer--

How long have the pianos been in use?
How many hours per day were they used?
Have you spoken to the technician who works on them regularly?
(if you were really interested in a specific instrument, it may be wise to ensure nothing was spilled in it and/or how much wear shows on the action)
How much better deal are these instruments than new?
What sort of warranty is offered? From a dealer or the manufacturer?

If everything checked out above, it could be okay. The term "conservatory" has a variety of connotations. The conservatory pianos in the practice rooms, classrooms, and teaching studios could see 4-16 hours of use daily when I was in college-- sometimes more as juries approached. Some "conservatories" are more like community music schools, where piano usage could be different.

No.

I don't think that this is the case, as a local supplier has an annual sale of loan/lease returns. And it is very similar to what you describe.


This may be the case, and if so, I doubt that I would purchase one of them. But I will be getting some specific information on the pianos for sale tomorrow (age, etc...)


I don't know what constitutes an "authentic" conservatory, but this one seems to provide what I would consider a "typical" musical education for persons not pursuing a professional career, or perhaps to prepare for entrance into a University music program. Lessons, classes on theory/harmony/history, frequent recitals, etc. But there are no full-time programs.

Condition/Price. Condition/Price. Condition/Price.

I would certainly buy the Baldwin M at my High school, or the Baldwin 9' concert grand at UNO.

Some places take absolute care of their instruments, and baby them, but others do neglect, and not maintain their instruments. It all depends I guess.

There have been a lot of threads on conservatory sales, if that is what this is.

If this is a sale of a long-used conservatory piano, I would not buy it. They have very hard lives. Sure they might get tuned a lot (not often enough, judging from the Boston grand I played at my local music school) but they have been played all day, every day, for years. There must be a reason for the conservatory to be selling them--I would bet that most of them are worn out. At the least, they would need a lot of work to bring them back to what they once were, work that the conservatory is probably not willing to put into them. I cannot imagine that you would get 40 years of daily use out of one of them without a lot of rebuilding first.

personally, i've not seen conservatory (read: music school/department) 'workhorse' pianos that are well maintained; most are lucky to get the infrequent tuning; voicing & regulation are generally abysmal.

i would say the gems tend to come from private sellers who have to sell for one reason or another. patience is a virtue in this case.