How much does it worth anyways? built around 1983, looking good and plays a little bit too bright.

It's a C7D, great piano. I own one. Worth 15-25k depending on condition. Get a tech to evaluate it to make sure there are no major flaws. And your nephew has to play it too. If it sounds too bright, you could get a technician to voice it. A nice addition is the fact that this piano should have the one piece ivory keytops, which are nice.

Indeed looking forward to your decision.

I think older Yamahas tend to be over-valued. The newest Yamahas I've played are much better than older ones, IMO.

Uprights, grands or in general? Because it seems my opinion is very different (almost contrary) from yours, Beethoven. Dunno why, but probably due to personal preference. It's okay

The piano been well kept, except the treble is a bit too bright for my taste. However the exterior and the keys looked a bit dull in terms of color, not shining enough to reflect your face as I've seen in piano shops.

Is $14k like a good option? The seller is moving and in a hurry to sell it.

If it's been well kept, the poano would be worth a fair bit more than 14k, but if the seller accepts your offer that's a really good deal. The reason why you can't see your reflection is because the keys are made of real ivory, and so doesn't reflect light as well as plastic used in most keytops today. It's got a texture that is somewhat rougher, but still smooth, and it feels nice to play.

The Yamaha C7 is a big and powerful performance instrument. The bright treble you speak of is supposed to be there... it can be voiced down, but you don't want to put the fire out!

Some people complain about the brightness of the Yamahas. I’ve heard other, well-known brands that are just as bright if not brighter than most Yamahas I’ve heard. If you don’t like the tone of the Yamaha, get something else that you do like.

Chances are the one you are looking at needs a good voicing and regulation anyway.

As far as the price is concerned, think of it this way... a new one is roughly $40K to $50K.

I would strongly suggest having a qualified piano technician inspect it before any money changes hands.

Good luck with it! (You nephew is very fortunate! )

Rick

i just purchased a used 2005 C7 and am very happy with my purchase. that price sounds pretty reasonable. agree with rickster that you can have the hammers needled but don't put the fire out in the treble. i also love the action and the ivorite key tops, and the black keys have a wonderful grippiness. don't know if that's true of an '83.

In general. Cosmetically, I think they look better, now, and the touch (on grands) feels similar in style to some Fazioli and Hamburg Steinways I've played. The sound is no longer earth-shattering, too. All improvements in my book.

Earth-shattering? You mean how loud they can get ( ) or how horribly bright they get ( )? Or something else entirely...

Well, my C7 can be earth-shattering, loud, horribly bright and all of the above, but I love it!

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I loved monster electric guitar amplifiers when I was younger?

Rick

what i'm learning to appreciate about my C7 is that, similar to a mogwai, it's all warm & fuzzy until i pour some attack onto the keys, and then it transforms into a growling, alien monster... which me likee

Lol. No, that's exactly what I mean. I don't know what it is, but I find the newest ones much more agreeable.

I find the older ones much more "growly", and mine is all nice, warm, till i make it get ugly and loud and horrible, which I don't do a lot. and to say I haven't liked any of the new ones... ... But it's true!

Need another nephew? I'll be happy to oblige!

beethoven--How much of the difference of which you speak do you think might be a function of hammer felt packing over a number of years making the older instruments sound brighter than they originally did? How much of that difference do you think might instead be a function of what Larry Fine describes as Yamaha's more recent attempt to make their sound less bright when brand new? I'm curious. Thanks in advance for a reply.

btw, what's the main advantages of C7 over others such as C3, C5 apart from its length?

even 14k is a bit out of my budget range and my wife doesn't like the idea of a 7-foot piano sitting in our living room and she thought we should instead get those smaller C3,C5 and one C5 is selling under 10k in my area.

When I sit down on the piano bench to play my C7 and look out across the closed lid, I think of an aircraft carrier 3 football fields long!

When hear the roar of the bass engine and the sonic boom of the of the upper treble, I know I have a lot of power at my fingertips!

Seriously, a 7+ foot piano is only 1 foot longer than a 6 foot piano and 2 feet longer than a 5 foot piano. The hammers can be voiced down and the tone can be made to be tollerable in a smaller room, I suppose.

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm thinking that one of the few advantages of a longer piano over a shorter piano is the low bass.

I figure there is always a bigger and better piano to be had... if you can afford it.

Rick

i know this is a question for beethoven, but since my tech (who does the pianos for the chicago symphony orchestra and ravinia festival) was over just this morning to service my new 2005 C7 i'll pass this along:

we both agreed the sound was quite bright, especially considering the wood floors and plaster walls. so he needled the tops of the felts with one firm jab each, and that's all it took to warm up the overall sound immensely. i'm quite a happy camper right now.

Regarding the differences in sound, the c3 and 5 are in a similar league. They are very nice. The C6 and C7 are a quantum leap up in terms of bass richness, and a full concert Grand at 9 ft is another leap. I would say the difference between a C6/7 and a C5 is as much as the difference between the C6/7 and a concert grand. The C7 is capable of more volume than the 6.

I don't understand why there is so much difference between the C5 and 6/7 but there is some magic threshold that is crossed between the few inches in the C5 and the C6.

The are all very nice though.

The Yamaha site can also tell you more about the differences in specs. The designs are different and sometimes the components are higher-quality in the larger models.

Besides from length, it sounds better as well. Other than that, the specs for the Yamaha C series seem to be the same, although there is a difference. The C5 and smaller grands are in a minor subgroup called "conservatory collection" and C6 and C7 are in another subgroup called "concert collection", which is no doubt better. The C7, as opposed to the C5, has a different soundboard, it appears most things are the same. But If i had the choice, even with a necessary budget increase and space clearance, I'd still get the C7.

You'll get used to the size of it soon. It is big, but soon you'll find that when you come across other grand pianos you'll think they are very small in comparison. Has your nephew played the C7 yet?

With regard to the C7 there are two models--the 7'4" and the 7'6". A mere difference of two inches. But the 7'4" starts at around $14K if you look hard and the 7'6" just over $20K. There's a world of difference between the two models, in that the two-inch longer model has different scaling. The change was made sometime in the mid or late Nineties, and it was made because of obvious tonal deficiencies in the shorter model. I'm not in any way denigrating the piano you're thinking of buying, but be aware of the differences in case you change your mind and decide to step up to a later model. Dick

Make a correction:

The model in built in 1986, not 83. So what was a reasonable price for it?

Every scale is different. I, personally, find it hard to get much tonal colour out of the 7'6" in comparison to the 7'4". The C7 A,B,C,D,E (the letters are the scale designations) are 7'4", C7F and later are 7'6". i got a C7D with silent system, 7'4", pristine cond, for AUD 25k. But australian prices differ from US in that they are always higher.

What's the serial number of the one you're looking at, Zhengy?

E4218244

That's a 7'4".

Well, I have called a Yamaha piano technician today and he has told me that a piano only has somewhat a life span of 30 years, especially those who plays on it a lot, the hammer and the machenism can have a great deal of wears.

He suggested me that looking for those less than 10 year-old less wears.

Really? I am suprised. Pianos usually have a lifespan of longer than thirty years, usually around forty, sometimes fifty, and longer still if maintained really well. I wouldn't pass on this piano yet. Condition of the individual is all important, generalisations are helpful but in this case not useful to any extent. Did he give an evaluatuon of the C7 in question?

Well, my C7 is an older model... 1978. If my memory serves me correctly, the serial # starts with a B (?). Whether it is 7'4" or 7'6', it doesn't really matter. I love it anyway!

When I first laid eyes on it, I saw evidence that it had been rebuilt at some point in its history, though it needed some work. It was really dusty and dirty and had a couple of broken strings. I bought it from a large church that had built a new sanctuary and went to all digital pianos. (That was a blessing for me )

I figure it has a lot of life left in it and it has served me well, and continues to do so.

Best of luck with your C7 adventure!

Rick