It’s always a challenge for someone when they first start looking for a piano. Maybe you want one for yourself, maybe you are thinking about getting your child piano lessons – whatever the reasons might be, getting into the piano market is a challenge for anyone.
The first thing you will notice is a huge range of prices. There are pianos that cost tens of thousands of dollars and there are pianos that cost hundreds of dollars. Sometimes the pianos are the same models yet there is a huge difference in price. So where do you begin?
Buying a used piano is a lot like buying a used car. If you go online you can see cars for under $3,000 but the reality is you will probably need to put some additional work for them to run efficiently. The same is true for pianos – you can buy something very cheap, or even find a free piano, but the amount of work you might have to put into them can vary greatly. Sometimes you can get lucky and find something that after a few hundred dollars of work can be a serviceable instrument. Other times it can cost you more than the piano is worth – sometimes a lot more.
If price is the ultimate premium for you, it might be better to get a good digital piano or keyboard. Decent ones can start at about $800 and could be more reliable than a used upright you might find on Craigslist at that price point. Keep in mind that a piano requires constant work and that it will have to be tuned and require more maintenance later on so that $1,000 can really be just a starting point when it comes to investing into a piano.
The thing you can’t find for under $1,000 is a high quality instrument. Many people believe if they keep looking they will find that diamond in the rough where someone is listing a high-quality grand for way below what it is worth. It simply does not happen (or rarely happens like winning the lottery). Any of the pianos you find online for $1,000 or below will not be up to the standards necessary for an advanced player.
It is possible that you might find a high-quality grand for only a few thousand dollars but you should be very suspicious of any of these instruments. If you are looking for a higher quality piano you should almost always have a technician check out the instrument for you. Much like buying a car, you can get stuck with a lemon and simply will have wasted your money on something that will never work as intended.
Buying a piano on your own from private sellers is something that takes time and effort. If you go to a reliable source you will find something that is ready to play as soon as you buy it, if you buy from an individual you might be stuck with a large amount of additional work.
I help people with questions about specific pianos just about every day. If you have any questions about what piano to buy or one you are looking at, please contact me for free information: Robert@LivingPianos.com. I am more than happy to assist you.
12 thoughts on “Why You Should Never Buy a Cheap Piano”
I’d recommend that any serious student should have a digital with headphones in addition to an acoustic piano. That way you can practice at any hour, and do scales and exercises without driving your family and neighbors nuts.
You can start with the digital, but bear in mind that even the best digital actions are “close but no cigar.” You need at least some time on a regular basis on a real piano.
— J.S.
As a piano teacher I have struggled with students who started playing on digital pianos before they came to me, then switched to an acoustic instrument. It can take years to undo the harm of learning on an electric keyboard. I have never found a digital instrument, even a very expensive one, that has a satisfactory touch and response. That said, I have also had luck finding pretty good starter pianos for my students. There are some pretty good 30-year-old pianos around by good manufacturers that people need to get rid of. You just have to make sure there is still life left and the tuning will hold. So don’t give up on finding an OK acoustic piano!
Great Post! I will be sharing this with all my students
I had a similar experience recently shopping for a replacement double bass. Of course you can find a functional one at various prices, but then you end up spending all your time “working around” its particular idiosyncratic flaws; the buzz on that one note on the fingerboard or the dead spot on the E string, and so on.
Ultimately, one has to invoke the old sales maxim, “You’re paying for peace of mind,” when you’re carping about the high price of an instrument. It’s true. There’s a point where you want to just spend your time playing, not wishing your instrument would stop fighting you. Pay the extra money.
I rented a decent quality piano until I was sure I would dedicate the time to learning, and practicing. After a little over a year I bought a piano, but from a reputable dealer. Deferring the purchase worked for me
A student found a Shaeffer grand piano in perfect shape.Family didn’t need it and had used it only a little. While not a great piano, it has a nice tone and touch. The student is playing Racgmaninoff and Beethoven. It sounds good. I am so glad they found it. They were very lucky!
There are pianos all the time under the “Free” section on Craig’s List. I’ve even seen decent free baby grand pianos.
I brought my eavestaff 4’6 baby grand made roughly 1940s-50s for £700 with free delivery!
I have had it tuned once around 2 months after delivery and played it daily (maybe an hour a day). I have been amazed how it has held tuning over this year. I was prepared to have it tuned every 6 months but it just didnt need it. After a year though the top end is very slightly flat. No more than you’d expect a new piano to wander.
Its tone is a little bright and loud but thats the only flaw. I mainly just use it for playing pop and rock songs so the tone actually suits that music very well and really I purchased it because I loved the sound of it anyway.
The case is in great shape, all the strings are in great shape, the soundboard is intact, everything works. Really cant complain!
It’s action is great, it is super fast and can repeat faster than my fingers will, I have played much newer more expensive pianos that dont hold a candle to it.
It is also worth noting I played a lot of poor pianos (probably 30-40 of them) with very dodgy feeling slow actions before I found this one!.
The serviceable instruments are out there. My recommendation is if you are looking for an old instrument thats cheap, if you have the space go for a grand, they were better built in the first place and usually owned by well off people who had them looked after. More often than uprights anyway! And avoid anything with 85 keys. Unless its something really special like an old restored broadwood.
It seems there is a world-wide epidemic of people thinking that £1000 is enough to buy a piano! Chris Baker you are lucky, but it’s true that in the UK the market for any grand piano is quite small because people don’t think they have the space, and that pushes the prices down.
You CAN find a Bechstein or Bluthner grand for around £1000 or £2000, but then it usually requires extensive professional restoration which costs in the region of £15,000 – and you’ll end up with a beautiful piano but it hasn’t been cheap!
The best digital piano actions ARE an actual acoustic piano actions such as the Yamaha AvantGrand Hybrid pianos.
You people speak as if the piano is the “be all, end all” of music. It is not. There are many, many other instruments out there, good decent instruments which can be reproduced on a keyboard of most sorts. Accurately reproduced, I might add. Also, many students do NOT want to work as hard as the professional might. You could speak to this urge.
I just bought a Chickering 145 “stretch” (it’s 5’10 not 5’8″ from c. 1928 in pretty nice shape in the price range mentioned as a rebuild core. It seems to have had a rebuild and refinished about 25 years ago (front rail bushings, strings, and hammers). The piano spent a lot of its life near the ocean, so the brass parts and strings are tarnished. The inside is full of dust, there are a few strings with wild beats, and the trap work and action need work. The pin block is good, and there are no cracks in the soundboard. The hammers are hard as rocks. Overall it sounds good after softening the hammers. Since I’m capable of doing minor rebuilds on my own (I’ve done harpsichords, organs, and clavichords before) I think it is a good investment. Over time, I can invest in the next stage of rebuild. Well worth it on a premier piano from the prime time of American piano building.