I'm in the process of buying a piano -- our kids (7 1/2 and 9) are starting lessons, and I'm thinking I might too (have played various string instruments in the past, but never a piano), so we're thinking of getting something decent that will encourage the kids (and maybe me) to stick with it. I'm hoping to keep the price in the $3-5K range, might be willing to go a little higher if it seems "worth it" (which I know is subjective). Have pored through Larry Fine's Piano Book (am picking up the 2005-6 updated today), but was hoping for some additional input from all you knowledgeable folks.
In visiting the local (Boston suburb) piano dealers, we've listened to, and have been recommended:
- Boston UP 118 for about $5800, at a store (Steinert) that seems a bit high end for someone just starting out
- Yamaha P22 for about $4400 (Boston Organ & Piano) -- they actually seem to recommend against the U1/U3 as being more difficult to resell (they're asking $6-7K these new, and have a used U1 for about $4500)
- Surfing around online, it seems that used U1/U3s are often available for $3000-3500, though mostly they seem to be refurbed institutional instruments
My questions:
1. In the Piano Book, the models listed above are all rated the same on performance and confidence; the U1/U3/U5 are rated a little bit higher on quality control. However, in the specific issues noted in the detailed writeup sound a bit scary to me (the admittedly uninitiated) -- bent tuning pins, poorly made coils, tuning instability, etc. How worried should I be about these problems -- i.e., are they easily dealt with by a repair person if needed? The problems seemed a lot less prevalent in the Japanese U1/3/5 models -- does that by itself make the extra $ worth it?
2. Do the prices above seem reasonable? The Steinway dealer seemed insistent that there was no room for negotiation on the Boston (whose tone I preferred slightly -- not sure it's worth a 33% premium at this point, though). The same dealer also said something about Yamaha having 5 tiers of pricing or some such -- does anybody know anything about that?
3. Any experiences with those dealers?
Thanks very much in advance for any insights!