I was wondering about this guy...
His videos on Youtube are very informative and educational, but not sure about his rebuilt pianos.
Has anyone had experience with this person? His pianos have attractive prices and he made videos describing each piano that he's selling.

His website: http://livingpianos.com/pianos/

His Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LivingPianosVideos

Please tell me if he speaks truth or is just a scam artist!
Thank you!

His father, Morton Estrin, was one of my piano teachers!

(He also taught Billy Joel--we're both from Long Island.)

He's trying to sell pianos; he's no scam artist.

Cool.

I see that he doesn't sell any new pianos or really anything but older American and European makes. That narrows his views of the majority of pianos actually sold in the market, and I see that opinion in his videos. I have no way to evaluate the value of the pianos he sells. He's carving out a message for like-minded buyers.

He is certainly not a scam artist.

I have met him and played some of the pianos he offers for sale (this was some time ago, so not his current inventory). IMHO the pianos were accurately described and a very good value. As already mentioned in another post, he prefers American and European pianos and is therefore is probably selling to people who share the same values.

As with anytime you are considering purchase of a used piano (or for that matter I think it's a good idea when you're purchasing a new piano) you should hire your own independant tech to evaluate the instrument before purchasing anything.

If you're nearby, or are able to travel to audition the instruments, I think it would be a very worthwhile visit. By the way, although he does take steps to have the recordings correctly portray the differences between each piano, no recording can substitute for playing the real instrument (and I don't think he would claim anything different).

Sadly. I live in Canada so I have no way of meeting him.
Has anyone purchased a piano from him before? The age of most of his pianos are very old...

I think he had some newer Baldwins when I was there.

Are you considering an at-distance purchase?

Maybe, but most likely not. Although they are very attractive, I like to do 'hands-on' experience.

Also, is it just me or are piano prices ridiculously high in Edmonton Alberta? The cheapest price for a Yamaha GC1 was $14,900 and someone on a thread got it for only $12,900. Is that dealer tricking everyone with their 'so-called' bargained prices?

Yes, it's almost impossible to communicate what the touch on any given piano feels like.

Dealers use sales tactics just like all other salesmen. I don't know if it's fair to say they're "tricking" people.

Prices are difficult, because they do vary by region. Right now in my area there are some amazing piano deals. But that doesn't mean dealers thousands of miles away are able to do the same.

He sells mostly rebuilt or reconditioned pianos.

First, I have never heard of this man before right now, so I really have no idea about what he does.

However, I think that my opinion of what a rebuilt piano is differs tremendously from his. Based on what I saw on a few of the galleries I perused I would call what he does reconditioning. In other words, he pays a third party (based on differences from piano to piano, probably a variety of third parties) to fix what he feels needs fixing.

There is no shame in that, but it might be easy for someone without much knowledge visit this site and assume more than that.

My 2 cents,

However even so, are those prices reasonable in my region? Edmonton shouldn't be that expensive...

You are so clueless, why are you comparing piano prices in Canada to prices in another country? Especially used pianos where prices can be more random and all over the place. Where is your common sense?

Go around the piano stores in your area and get an idea of what the prices are and then you can start haggling and see what you come up with. Don't worry about USA prices.

He is great pianist too. Love his videos, seems like a kind spirit.

Haha, I think so to.
Thanks for all your answers!

I've not met him personally (we were going to meet up at the 2013 NAMM show but Kathy and I couldn't attend).

I have spoken to him on the phone a few times, he seems like a true gentleman. And he has made some nice short videos for us http://www.pianoworld.com/videos/

I also have one of his videos where he does period music in period costumes, on period pianos. Something he is noted for.

From what other people have said (and what I've observed) he is quite talented and seems honest. I have zero experience with his pianos though.

Full disclosure: he is also a paying advertiser on Piano World (Piano Dealer).

Now if we could just get every dealer who takes advantage of the exposure they get on our forums to also pay for some ads, I'd be a very happy guy :-)

As a result of this thread I came across this interview.

Thanks for the link. Outstanding video!

About half way he describes the sound characteristics of the different brands. Interesting.

Thank you for that video! It was very informative though I wish he talked more about Yamaha and Kawai.

This from the member who has blessed us all with such stimulating lines of enquiry such as:

- "Will buying a tuning fork help me better learn piano?"
- "So would I need a differently pitched tuning fork for every 88 key on the piano? Would that not get too expensive?"
- "How do I play this note?"
- (Re. Tremolo) "Can you not use the same finger pressed rapidly? It will be even faster than moving between fingers."

I don't think you should be calling anybody clueless. Especially in such a mean-spirited fashion.

Amen

Robert Estrin's latest video was recorded on a Yamaha.

http://youtu.be/jI7uabNseUc