Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Need an advice, which piano to buy?

Hi,
I consider buying new piano. My daughter attends to music school. She's 6th grade now and still practise on old, shattered piano. I decided to buy something better (it's for many years, isn't it?). I was looking for Kawai K3 , K5 or Yamaha U1 maybe U3 (but it's really expensive). Two days ago I was in shop with used pianos and I was playing Kawai BS-2A. It costs 4150$ (before negatiations). I've read almost whole Internet, but I didn't find useful informations about BS-2A. Now is the question. Is it worth it? Is it comparable to the pianos like Kawai K3, K5, or Yamaha U1? I have to admit that it has fantastic tone and it's in really good condition. Owners of the shop I mentioned imports pianos from Japan, refurbish them and fix everything, so it's like new. For comparison I'll add that Yamaha U3 costs there 5400$.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Karol

Karol,

I'll suggest some general advice. I don't have experience w/the pianos you've mentioned to say anything about them. So I'll mention that first. My general advice, from my own experience of just buying a piano is try as many pianos as you can and visit as many dealers as possible. Of course, this comes down to where you live and what's close enough to visit.

I also found it to be helpful to try pianos that were above my price range - as a way to get knowledge about pianos in general. I found this to be very helpful in understanding what I was seeing (and hearing and feeling) in the range I was looking for.


The most valuable lesson for me came from working with a good dealer. By "good dealer" I mean an individual or a business that's responsive to you and the needs that you state and also concerns that you might have. You will probably be in touch with the dealer for some time into the future because the piano will require service in the months and years after you acquire it. So what I'm suggesting is a long-range view to process rather than a short range view of piano only can be really helpful.

You may have already done all above. So I'm just saying in case it's helpful. Good luck in the search!

Thank you for really helpful advices.
I've visited as many dealers as I could and tried a lot of pianos.
Kawai BS-2A is really good. As I said tone is fantastic and it's in brilliant condition.
I was looking some infromation about it in the Internet and I didn't found anything. There's no any info about this piano on Kawai's site. I wonder if this is not a piano on chinese market? I'm looking for someone who know Kawai BS series and can tell me what is the class of this upright piano.
Thanks for all your responses.

Karol

Karol,

I am not familiar with the BS-2A, but have you used the search function on this page to see what you can find out about it? The results may be more specific information.

Yes I have. I've researched whole forum and whole Internet as I mentioned in my first post.

Karol,

I typed "Kawai BS-2A" into the search box on the top left of this page and a ton of links came up.

Here's the URL that has them all listed.

https://www.pianoworld.com/searchresults.html?cx=partner-pub-3828295670381575%3A8979922837&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=Kawai+BS-2A&sa=SEARCH&siteurl=www.pianoworld.com%2Fforum%2Fubbthreads.php%2Fubb%2Fshowflat%2FNumber%2F2150385%2Fgonew%2F1%2FNeed%2520an%2520advice%2C%2520which%2520piano%2520to.html%23UNREAD&ref=www.pianoworld.com%2Fforum%2Fubbthreads.php%2Fforums%2F1%2F1%2FPiano%2520Forum.html&ss=7j49j2

Hope this helps -

Unless you are a highly experienced pianist or piano technician judging the tone and condition of a used piano quite difficult and risky. So if you really like this piano you should find a knowledgeable and independent(from the dealer)tech to tell you about the piano's condition.

If you tell us where you live other posters can probably help you find a good tech in your area and suggest piano dealerships you may not have already visited. Another important piece of information to help posters give you advice is the year the piano was built(or alternatively the serial number).

Karol: The reason you cannot find any information on a Kawaii BS-2A is that it is not intended for sale in the US. Sounds like to me you are dealing with a gray market dealer at these prices. These dealers import used Yamahas and Kawaiis from Japan, have them "refurbished," and then sell them at very deep discounts to new Yamahas and Kawaiis. Nothing wrong with that per se, but remember you are not only buying a piano but you are buying the service that goes with it from the dealer. Gray market dealers are notorious for "here today and gone tomorrow." And with gray market pianos you could possibly run into servicing and parts availability problems in the future even with a private technician since parts will not be shipped by Kawaii and Yamaha without a legitimate serial number. That number reveals whether or not the piano was made for the US market. I'm not saying that there aren't some good gray market pianos out there. I am saying that customer support is important to and you may not get any from a gray market dealer. Personally I would stay away from a gray market dealer. I've been (almost) seduced into the gray market purchase as well. After some good advice I steered away from it. Gook luck.

Although grey/gray market pianos aren't right for everyone and every situation, I disagree with your reasoning as to why. Two of the more "stable" dealerships I know in the area sell them, and they comment how good their importer/refurbisher is with warranty support when it is needed. I have also not read many problems from technicians who are unable to source parts for the Yamaha and Kawai pianos they service, regardless of origin, either.

Thanks very much for all responses.
Familiar and independent tuner had have a look on this piano and said that it's in very good condition, and has rich sound. He recommended me to buy this instrument.
I negotiated some discount. 3800$ with 5 years guarantee. On Friday I'm going to the dealer and I'll decide.
Thanks for help. Best regards