I have heard a little bit about Everett pianos. I am actually looking at one, and will be getting some personal experience about of it on the upcoming Wednesday. I want to know as much as I can about this piano before then as well. It's history with sound quality, it's "Balanced Tension Back" and it's "dyna-tension scale".

I have heard that it was at once at top of the piano field, and I must ask, if it ranked near that of Steinway at the time...

The one that I will be looking at is recently restored for a little over a thousand dollars, or it was restored, and it is in decent conditions, though apparently some "knobs" to lift the lid are missing, and there may be some "finish issues" as far as the wood is concerned.

I don't know much about this piano, I have heard about what I mentioned above, and it's ownership by Yamaha apparently for a while, which makes me wonder if that's where they started in their piano lines. I am currently looking for a used piano, this is what I got my eyes on right now. I also am looking at an Essex which I made a checking account to save up for it and will buy it when the time comes. Currently have $484 saved up, and I need about $6,000. Besides that, my local Steinway retailer has coupons that they can send through e-mail, and I signed up for that as well.

But I need to take baby steps here. I am looking at a used piano, restored, and hopefully in good playable condition. There are a few things that worry me. Little kids live in the house which this thing is, and little kids have a tendency to bang on the keys for amusement. Hopefully these kids are taught not to mess with a piano. I would like as much information about this brand as possible, and what to look for. I don't know what a "Balanced Tension Back" is supposed to look like nor do I know what a "Dyna-tension scale" is supposed to look like, and they are exclusive to this piano brand. So I would like to know as much about that in particular. I got what little I know from Wikipedia, and it wasn't much, and barely enough. I would like to know more.

So how old is this Everett? Was it really a Yamaha Everett? If you have doubts, you can hire a piano tech to inspect a used instrument.

And which Essex model has your interest? For $6k-ish you are in the Yamaha U1 territory. Many choices there.

My 2-year-old bangs on my piano. You can't really prevent them from touching it but you can teach them how to use it properly. Also, a piano can more than handle small children.

And don't bother with the Wikipedia and all those marketing buzzwords... read the Piano Buyer .

Hi Tyler,

Present condition is far more important than brand on a piano like this. Looking at the piano next Wednesday will be more helpful than reading about the history of the brand. Playing it will be even more helpful. If you like it and everything seems to work okay, then the ideal next step would be to have a technical inspection done. That might not be practical since it would take a big chunk of your savings, probably around $100. So maybe someone here will give you a checklist of things to examine yourself when you go to see it. If no one better qualified steps up, I'll do it myself.

In general terms the Everetts manufactured in the seventies and eighties when Yamaha controlled the factory have a reputation for durability. They did a lot of business selling school pianos that were designed to take a beating. Those pianos had stronger backposts, locking keyboard lids, and better casters for wheeling the piano around. But bear in mind this was 30 years ago or more. Like I wrote, the present condition is much more important than the original design features.

The Dynatension scale and the Balanced Tension back were designed to work together. The scale put more tension on the strings than the usual piano of the day. String tension pulls at the back of the piano. With more tension there is more pull, so the Balanced Tenesion back was designed to distribute the pull from that high tension evenly across the piano's back. I'm sure that's not the bet technical explanation, but maybe you can get the general idea.

Everetts had that deign patented long before Yamaha took control. The company claimed that this high tension scale design helped the piano to stay in tune longer and to resist the usual problems pianos have with changes in humidity. I don't know if that's true, but the pianos do seem to have held up well and techs often recommend them along with Baldwin Hamilton studios and Acrosomic spinets as being old pianos that can still do the job for people on a tight budget.

So I'd say that that piano is a good lead to follow up on, but if it lived most of its life in a school setting, it may not look too pretty or sound too good. It's better to expect the worst than to get your hopes too high.

Well, it wasn’t “restored” for a thousand dollars. But, then, it probably didn’t need to be restored. It was repaired and that could mean anything. Try to find out just what work was done.

The so-called “Balanced Tension Back” is a phrase Everett used to describe their unique backpost design. Most piano makers use wood beams to make what are called “backposts.” Everett used cast iron beams. If this piano was built prior to roughly 1972–74 it probably has this style of construction. It was a pretty good system; strong and stable.

Don’t pay any attention to the phrase “Dyna-Tension Scale.” It’s a meaningless marketing term designed to confuse the unwary.

Pre-Yamaha Everett pianos were pretty decent pianos. Case construction might not have been quite as good as similarly-sized Steinway verticals but their tone performance was generally better. For several years after Yamaha bought Everett—sometime during the late 1980s—the pianos were built by Baldwin; you should avoid these. Baldwin never did quite figure out how to build them properly.

Of more importance now is the pianos current condition. If you can you should have a technician check the piano over. But, if the price is low enough and if it plays good enough you may want to pass—a competent evaluation will probably cost from $80 to $120 depending on where you live and the going rates for piano service. If this piano is console-size (≈42”) or taller and is in decent condition it might be a pretty good piano.

If you are considering making an offer on the piano remember that appearance is everything with pianos of this type. It terms of resale value the finish and casework are probably more important than its internal condition. If it has serious cosmetic—finish and casework—flaws the price should be very, as in very, low. Even if a lot of work has been done to the inside.

ddf

I taught both my toddlers, when they were toddlers, to play with two fingers only, one on each hand. Banging was not allowed and was punished. They caught on very quickly. You, as pianist and owner, should take the responsibility for training these little kids.

The Essex I am looking at is the EUP-111E. I am looking to buy it new of course. Really, it depends on the sound though. Some pianist like the sound of Yamaha better and some like the Steinway sound better(most preferred Steinway by professionals) I will look at other pianos when I get the money, but I want something I will enjoy playing. I have played Steinway's before and I do like their sound. How their sub-name should I call it, Essex compares, I am pretty sure it is close. I have heard them on Youtube and the sound certainly doesn't disappoint me, and Steinway is a promising company of course. Though we do have a Yamaha retailer down here, so if I not crazy about the Essex, I can poke around the rest of AMRO's uprights, see if I can find anything else, and then there is a Yamaha retailer near where I live too, and I have played Yamaha and they do sound quite good. So I have a little experience with both sides.

Just as a reminder, the Essex(or whatever I may buy for that price range) is something I am saving up for. Technically, my parents are kinda paying for the used piano I will hopefully be getting down the road soon. Kinda a birthday gift for me(because my Birthday is in February)


If you can make me a checklist, then that would be great, though. I would appreciate it.

This summer, I am going to look into trying to get a job with my local piano retailers, so I might get more of an idea, and if lucky an employee discount, though piano retailers may be more strict about that.

Or you could visit your local library and check out Larry Fine’s “The Piano Book.” Any edition of the hardcover version will do. In this book there is an excellent, illustrated chapter on buying used pianos. For the novice piano buyer a good understanding of this chapter will be better than any checklist.

ddf

Hi,

If you are shopping Amro, you also have a very nice Kawai dealership you should visit.

I have never played a Kawai before, I have no experience with them. I will have to try one out next time I am in the store.