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http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/msd/5160848251.html only two photos but I will see if I can see it next month because, we have alot of things going on lately.

Bump

Hi Kenan,

I see you've bumped your own thread twice already. Nothing in the rules against that, but I'm not so sure there is much else to be gained for you here in this thread.

The title of your thread is new pianos under $5000, and you've gotten some great advice from some of the knowledgeable regulars, and then you posted about a well-used Steinway A on Craigslist.

I say buy the piano you love and can afford, and not what someone else loves and can afford.

Just my .02.

Rick

Thanks Rick, I was just bumping to see if anyone else replies.
Sadly it is a well used Steinway

Yeah that piano looks like a piano that requires a full rebuild. It's not something that will make you play better - it will make you play worse. A fully rebuilt one is a different story, of course, but that isn't. The price is way too high for its condition, but then, Steinways are usually priced much higher than their musical value by the time they get to that age.

And as some of them are before they get to that age.

Yes tell me about it! I know someone who has bought a Blüthner style 8 (6'3 aliquot strung) from 1896, in completely original condition. Of course it was a wonderful piano, of course it is from one of the world's best makers, and of course it has a great deal of potential in the right hands.

This particular example has no tone left in the treble, it has tubby bass, and it can't project at all, so it's a bit like chewing on cotton wool. The store technician claims that re-shaping the (120 year old) hammers will bring the tone back to the treble (....) and that the piano should be good for a lifetime (it's HAD it's lifetime....).

The price they paid? £5000, which is about USD 7700. I mean, honestly, I held my tongue when I found out but it was hard.... The piano is worth a maximum of £2000 in its present condition. Yes, I know you could buy it at auction for £1200 or perhaps less, but there would still be the commission, possibly VAT, and transportation from the auction house to this particular city (which if using www.pianoauctions.co.uk would be about 450 miles), which would probably end up being £2000 all in.

The man who chose the piano is a surgeon (could have bought a new Steinway, actually) and doesn't play, but his daughter got to grade 5 or something, and in his opinion this Blüthner is the most beautiful piano he's ever seen or heard...... Oh well....

$5000? I'd be looking for top-shelf uprights, like a Yamaha U1. Or Steinway or Bosendorfer et al.

Last year, I sold a near-perfect U1 for $4000. No, it's not a grand, but it was a very fine instrument. $5000 buys you a heckuva lot of upright.

When you go to grands, you're mostly looking at various baby grands, which are basically uprights laid flat.

I'll add .02 to that.

Whatever you buy, you need to get the best piano you can afford, which probably won't be a Bosendorfer - unless it's a dying Bosendorfer. When I was your age, my parents bought a new piano - the most basic KAWAI, which, 45+ yrs later is still going strong (at my brother's home). No, it wasn't a Bosendorfer, but it was something I could seriously practice on until I left home and was married.

Most of us buy pianos in steps - starting with something affordable, upgrading over our lifetime. I was almost 60 when I bought something in the league of a Bosendorfer. Yes, I dreamed of a Bosendorfer when I was 25, but it wasn't a priority - or possible.

So, yes, buy the piano you love and can afford. Then enjoy playing it till you wear it out - which will be a long time.