Should I buy a new piano?

[carazymcmahon]

I've played for about 6-7 years. My second year I got a used kawai upright for $1700. I love the touch I get on it but after playing more demanding music and experiencing finer pianos I've realized that my piano doesnt have very good action and, while its easy to play soft, it's a challenge to play loud chords or to bring out a crescendo in a run, etc..

The past few months I've been thinking about getting a different piano. My budget is $4000 max and the best deal I've come across is a 5'3" 1946 Knabe.
https://reno.craigslist.org/msg/523778698.html

I plan on going to some music stores around town tomorrow and looking at some others also (9' steinway, LOVE playing it)

I'd really appreciate any advice on this.

[thalberg]

Knabe is a good brand for the price.

The action on a grand is much, much better than that of an upright.  Once I got a grand I couldn't stand uprights anymore.

If you have the 4K to spend, I say go for it.

That grand in the picture looks like it's in good shape.  If it sounds as good as it looks, you're in luck.  It's old, but Knabe's are very heavily built pianos.  Even if it has problems, you can probably upgrade the parts slowly as you get the money--strings one year, hammers the next, etc...  The Knabe likely has the potential to sound superb.

[carazymcmahon]

So I went and checked out the old Knabe and it wasn't as good as i thought it would be. Didn't have much power, not much touch and the soundboard might have been fallen a little, BUT i checked out the Steinway store and found a nice 5'6" essex that we might be able to bring down to around 10k or less.

[dan101]

A Steinway for that price sounds a bit too good to be true. You'd better get a technician to go with you in order to check out the soundboard, etc.

If the above piano is, in fact, in good shape, then that is an amazing price. Good luck.

[Kassaa]

A Steinway for that price sounds a bit too good to be true. You'd better get a technician to go with you in order to check out the soundboard, etc.

If the above piano is, in fact, in good shape, then that is an amazing price. Good luck.

An Essex is a Steinway designed grand built in China, much like Boston's are Steinway's built in Japan. They're pretty good value for their money.

[richard black]

much like Bostons are Steinways built in Japan

They don't even claim to be that, and they are far from it. I think they are built by Kawai, which is a perfectly decent piano make: but whoever actually builds them they are neither Steinway nor Kawai (or ....) and as a result no one seems to have any responsibility for quality control and frankly they strike me as deeply sub-standard. I've lost count of the number of them I've had to fix in their first couple of years in the colleges where I play. Silly stuff like screws not tightened properly in manufacture. Not good pianos, I reckon.

Never seen as Essex in the flesh, much less played one!

[carazymcmahon]

Actually, Boston and Essex pianos are both designed by Steinway but rather than being hand made they are mass produced in Japan(Boston) and Korea(Essex).

[slobone]

I would say in general never spend in the thousands for a used piano without having a piano technician check it out first! Just like a used car in fact. The price quoted may bear no relation to the amount you'll eventually have to spend to get what you really want. There are a lot of PSO's* out there...

*piano-shaped objects