New or secondhand piano?

[gemborini]

Can anyone help me? I am confused bY the lack of prices on the Internet. I am looking at getting an upright piano for my children ( now grades 5 and 6). We have narrowed it down to the kawai k3 and have been shown a secondhand Boston 126 upright which they really liked. Tis is in a good dealer, or so we think.. The Boston is 6 years old and in excellent condition and at £5000, which is about a thousand more than the K3. I don't know if this is reasonable for this secondhand piano and whether it is worth more than a new K3..... Any advice would be great. Thanks!

[sirpazhan]

well,, the boston price seems about right... a new 126 upright is about double the price of a new kawai k3.  so that's why you're seeing a 6 year old piano about a thousand more than a new k3.  I personally prefer the boston myself.  the 126 is also a larger piano at 50" tall, versus the k3 which stands at about 48"

[hfmadopter]

The one you should get is the one they want to play ! There is a good incentive to practice if one enjoys playing the instrument to begin with. You literally want to sit at the piano and play it because you like that piano so much. Of course this assumes that the instrument is within budget.

I would expect the Boston to be in that price range more or less. Also 6 years old if properly treated is really nothing, it's still basically new.

Kawai's are well made. Some people just don't care for their action, some love it. Have the kids play both pianos in consideration.

[iancollett6]

There are alot of people with the opinion that Boston are overpriced due to the connection with Steinway. Are Boston made by a division of Kawaii? Correct me if im wrong.

  I would have no problem in buying a second hand piano, I would rather a good quality second hand than a cheaper new piano.

[gregh]

Pianos can last for a long, long time. If you have any questions about the condition of a used piano, you might want to contact someone who tunes pianos to check it out for you (for a fee, of course).

[indianajo]

From your selection, you could be in the USA.  There are thousands of high quality console pianos from the 1946 to 1980 going to the dump every day.  Most were used as furniture, not musical instruments.  Brands I find very pleasing are Baldwin, Wurlitzer, Hamilton by Baldwin,  Sohmer, Steinway, Everett, Mason & Hamlin.  Steinways could have been used by a school or college, so you don't want a high usage unit like that.  The thousands of hours of practice could have worn down the hammers in the middle (visible) and the hammer pivots.  These brand names except Steinway after 1980 were recycled by their purchasers to sell their second line and third line products, so don't buy anything that new.  Don't buy any console shorter than 39", although Baldwin 36" acrosonics can be fast enough for a student into their fourth or fifth year.  
check every key, check for buzzing, visible cracks in the soundboard (back) broken strings, scooped hammers (high wear) or hammers shafts that are not straight.  Don't worry about out of tune, as most of these units are neglected.  Try to see if one note sounds good, with the three strings in tune.  Listen to the match in tone between the 2 string notes (middle bass) and the three string notes.
On craigslist, with your own movers available, prices go as low as $100 if you can move fast.  At a reseller working out of a flea market (there are two here in Louisville) expect to pay more like $600.  The reseller will have rough tuned the product.  
Talk to your local tuner.  Problems? Neglected pianos have to be tuned, my 1941 Steinway purchased in 2010 was last tuned in 1966, and took seven passes before tuning was to standard and  stabilized. then 2 1/2 years of great intonation without maintenance.  I paid $1000 for it, have seen cosmetically superior exact same models on E-bay for $5500.  
Use searchtempest.org to scan the craigslist, e-bay, and facebook ads within a certain distance for a piano with a picture.  This is fast because pianos show up in the musical instrument, furniture, antique, and other random categories.  Be wary of e-bay, as moving a piano over 80 miles is very expensive.

[gregh]

Yeah, tuning. I recently had the family piano tuned for the first time in, well, decades. The piano tuning lady didn't want to tune it all the way to concert pitch because if the strings are stretched too much they can break, and you'd rather not have to restring anything. With the second tuning it was brought up to A = 439 Hz. Next time it should be up to A = 440 Hz.

[leel]

I just bought a used Yamaha p2.  The case looks literally like new--satin mahogany-- and my technician pronounced it a GREAT piano, needing nothing but tuning when the weather changed to Fall. I found it by following .
Craigslist every day.  There were a couple earlier ones I looked at, but were not in good shape & required extensive work.  If you keep at it, it's possible to find a gem w/o breaking the bank.