Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Our first piano acquisition- Yamaha U3

Dear Piano pals,
My name is Manuel. I'm a violist, but my wife is a pianist, and recently we decided to try and find our first piano. A bit of background about us: I'm finishing my doctorate, she is not in school at the moment but has a Bachelor's in piano. We were married 3 months ago.
So, although my wife is the pianist, I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about how to find a good piano for the limited budget we had to work with. I read a lot here, also got the Larry Fine book. Initially, our hearts were set on finding a small grand. She felt that this would be good because the action and feel of a small grand would be similar to the pianos that we perform on for recitals, even though we knew the sound wouldn't be the greatest. However, pretty soon those dreams were crushed, because our apartment has a very tricky entrance. We live in a basement apartment, and the only entrance is through a narrow stairwell that goes down 16 steps, at the end of which a tight corner must be turned to get into our place. We consulted with a piano mover, who actually came to look at our stairwell, and his verdict was to not get a grand, no matter how short. Just go for an upright. And so the search began anew.
We live in Iowa City, IA. Here in our state, there are not too many stores that keep a good selection of used uprights. So I searched and searched on the internet, and eventually we found out about Jim Laabs. So, last Friday I happened to have the entire day off, we made it a roadtrip! We left our apartment around 7 am, bound for Stevens Point, Wisconsin (about 5 hours from us). Mr. Troy Laabs received us and showed us everything he had. He was very courteous and we felt that he really was trying to find a piano that would fit our needs- not just making a sale. After we tried everything, we didn't found one that really spoke to us, so he highly encouraged us to go to the Minnesota location. Back on the road, and three hours later we were in St. Paul. There we dealt with Marty Bartels, the manager. Again, we received very kind treatment and he showed us everything they had. The Minnesota store had more pianos for us to look at, and after trying everything, our choice came down to a Yamaha U3 and a UX1. We settled for the U3, although I still wasn't 100% if it would make it through our door. at 8 pm we got back on the road to Iowa City, arriving slightly past 1 am. More than 13 hours of driving, in one day!
The piano mover we had consulted with is Shon Clausen of S & P piano services in Des Moines, IA. After we decided to get the U3, I contacted him and we arranged for him to go and get the piano for us. I thought this was the best (and the staff at Jim Laabs agreed) since he had personally seen our stairwell and knew the difficulties. In the end we paid more for the delivery than what most people probably pay, but that's because Shon needed three helpers to get the piano in. Today we received our piano and my wife hasn't stopped practicing Schumann since then. Can't complain, I'm getting a private concert! We will be playing the Schumann Piano quartet and quintet this summer at a music festival we help run.
All in all, I am very happy with our purchase. Jim Laabs gave us an excellent price on the piano (much lower than anything I saw locally). This is a 1978 grey market U3, but by the looks of it's outside and inside, you'd think it just rolled out of the assembly line. I believe we are very blessed, at this early stage in our professional lives, to have such a high quality instrument in our home that we can make music on. More than anything else, the joy that my wife gets from having her own instrument at home is worth 1000 times the trouble we went through to find it!

congratulations, may you have many years of pleasure from your "new to you" piano. While some people disapprove of gray market or perhaps dislike the used piano competition, it meets some needs and should be respected. No need to note it in your signature!

Congratulations on the new-to-you U3! That is a nice piano!

I hope you all have many years of enjoyment with it!!

All the best!

Rick

Congratulations!

That was quite a trip and all in areas that I know well. Had I known, I could have offered a restaurant itinerary. Lim Laabs piano has a good reputation and I'm sure you were treated well.

Now there is only one thing left to do --

Enjoy! - Enjoy! - Enjoy!

Oh, and - Welcome to Piano World!

I am so happy to hear that it worked out and you are enjoying your new piano. We, of course, would all like to see pictures and then hear a sample of your wife's playing but - all in good time of course.

Enjoy your new life!

Congratulations on your new piano. That sounds like quite the adventure! You are tempting me to go on a music store road trip now :-)