PLEASE HELP! Used 10yr old Hallet Davis or 30 year old Yamaha, both baby grand

[barrymac12]

Trying to buy a piano for my wife for Xmas and know nothing about baby grand pianos. The yamaha is older but has been unused in a club house for 10yrs.  2 strings may need to be replaced but not sure why.  It's a little dirty and needs cleaning.  The Hallet Davis was recommended by the guy who I was trying to get to appraise the Yamaha.  It's looks to be in mint condition but I don't know the quality difference between these pianos.  Thanks in advance for any help!

[pianoplayjl]

You might have to try the pianos yourself to see which is a better piano and see what suits your wife. Of course Hallet Davis piano wouldn't be a bad piano because the brand is good anyway. It is best to hire a piano technician and see if the Yamaha baby is fixable. If it is, IMHO it is really worth it. Get your technician to fix up and replace the strings as well as tune the piano and check for anything still faulty.

JL

[49410enrique]

same sentiment here, have a good technician (or two to confirm the other) really go over every nick and cranny of both instruments, if possible and if it won't spoil the gift giving and if both are playable see if the ownsers will pay for a tuning (i find it funny how many won't, most people seem okay with paying for a car to be details prior to selling but wont' get a piano playable, go fig...)

see if the wife can play both and see which she connects with better. all things being equal whichever speaks to her more will be the better choice.

if there's any reservation on the maintenance or upkeap of the yamaha consider how much it would cost to repair/bring up the yamaha as well, if you can get a better deal on it and its a better piano it might be worth 'restoring'.

if none of the above apply and it is an as is deal and the techs give u a green ont he hd, i'd go with the mint, better maintained instrument.

me personally i have never felt any wow or real emotion when playing yamahas, i think they are way overpriced relative to the quality and sound you can get in other pianos. i have had good experiece with asian pianos though so i am not biased as i really like kawai instruments (they're the 'honda accord of pianos' those things are tanks, yamahas? meh nothing special at least for me.

sorry if this just served to confuse more just wanted to share one (me ) pianists insight into how i'd think in this situation.