I'm new to the forum and would appreciate your input.
I had to sell my beloved piano a few years ago and am now shopping for a replacement. I dropped into a local piano store and stumbled across a 49” Kawai KU-50 upright piano (gloss black). It appeared to be in excellent condition inside and out (but I’m not a piano tech). It has a unique full size music holder (more like some grand pianos). He was asking $4690 and claimed there was not much wiggle room in the price.
After returning home I did some web research. There seems to be precious little info available regarding this piano. From the serial number, 2295724, it appears to be a 1997 model (possibly manufactured in late 1996).
There are a several pics on the web and a few brief mentions of this model, but no real discussion. Virtually all the web info is in Japanese, so I am assuming that it was not intended for the NA market and is a so called “gray market” piano. When I use Google translator, the results are mostly gibberish, with little useful info.
I purchased the online piano blue book of pricing. Alas, this model isn’t listed. I e-mailed Robert for more assistance. He confirmed the age and the non NA model status, but didn’t really know much about the model. He said the “U” in the model number was likely a reference to their grand piano line, so this may be a more upscale model. It was a bit of a guess, but he told me that it might be worth $4000-4200.
I performed a search for only Japanese sites and found some pricing info. The “standard” price is 743,000Y ($9053), the “selling” price is 594,000Y ($7237). I found a few other references to the 743,000Y price and believe this to be the original MSRP in 1997.
I have also been looking at used Yamaha U1/ U3 pianos, as well as Kawai K3/K5, but this KU-50 really intrigues me.
My concerns:
I don’t know how the KU-50 compares to the current Kawai line for a point of reference. Just how good is this piano? (What piano does it most resemble internally?)
Are there any problems or concerns with this model?
How do I be sure this is not a refurbished music school piano with potentially excessive internal wear in non visible locations? If I decide on this piano, I will hire a tech for final inspection, but I would like to be able to rule out any dog pianos before spending a few hundred $ on a tech to check out a possible keeper.
How do I determine a fair price with so little information available?
Should I be concerned about replacement parts on a “gray market” piano that had a short manufacturing run (possibly 1 year) and has long been discontinued?
I try to do my own research as much as possible before turning to the experts. I would appreciate any and all sincere input to my research.
Thank you, TR
Topic: Kawai KU-50 help needed.