Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum MY NEW PIANO or KEYBOARD! - Share Your Story! Buying a piano-need some advise please!

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a piano for my 8yr old. The intention is that she would eventually sit for the ABRSM examinations. I see some comments of second hand sellers that some models are good up to a certain grade so with that in mind, what is an affordable piano which I can get to see my kid through the exams?

The online reviews tend to lean more to Yamaha and Kawai anytime although new one's are expensive and is above my budget. We have in Malaysia many people bringing in used piano's from Japan and selling them second hand. I have a few questions :

1.Do brands like Yamaha and Kawai get better with age? Is there something I should look out for when buying a second hand, for eg. is there a piano which would be too old and not worth buying and it is true that maintenance cost gets higher with the age of the piano? I've seen some friends owning second hand Yamaha/Kawai's for 10yrs+ now and they seem to only need to do the routine service/tuning yearly.

2.The price of buying a better model second hand Yamaha(maybe a U2/U3) would open up the option to buy piano's which are either made in Malaysia (eg. Challen), China (Hailun), or maybe a Korea (Yong Chang)if I could stretch the budget a little more. Some people are of the opinion that I should just steer clear from them and not even consider them.

They seem to be strongly against non-Japanese made paino's whereas to the other extreme some just tell me I should buy the locally made one because they can be just as good and with the main reason that it is new.

I found out now that to get a decent 2nd hand piano (Yamaha/Kawai) could cost me around RM8k (for the taller uprights), whereas a new locally made upright piano maybe around RM10k. I think I should be able to get a new Hailun or Yong Chang for around that price too.

I also wanted to add one more factor that I don't really have a big space for the piano at home, is that something I need to take into consideration when getting a piano in terms of the sound the piano produces (eg. I heard some Yamaha's can be too bright and some mellower) or is that just a personal preference?

I wonder if people just biased towards Japanse made paino's in Asia because they've been around for a long time, or is that also just a personal preference? Your views would be appreciated.

Thanks.

As a starting point, I found this video helpful.

Don't be afraid to buy a second-hand piano--the most important thing is the condition of the piano, not it's age, and to some extent, even the brand. The answer to your questions about maintainability and other things is the same.

Pianos do not get better with age. They stay nice with proper maintenance, and if in poor condition can be improved by a good technician.

Find the nicest piano that you can within your budget, and then get it checked out by someone who can assess it for you. Ideally, you want a piano technician to look it over, to make sure it's in good condition and that there are no hidden issues which might need to repaired later. I don't know what an inspection would cost where you live. If, for some reason, you can't get a technician, then take someone who knows pianos well to play it and check it out for you. Perhaps your daughter's teacher would be willing to help in this regard.