Baby Piano advice

[wengerstoybus]

Hi guys, hope you're all well and had a great weekend.

I'm looking to buy my girlfriend a second hand baby piano in a couple of months and am trying to get a handle on what I should be doing. Basically I have no knowledge on qualities, brand or anything and am doing this as a surprise. It probably sounds minuscule but I'm looking at a budget of around the £300-400 mark. I've seen a few on eBay which fit the budget and look nice enough, but I just wondered if you had any tips, things to look out for, as I really don't want to just end up with something totally out of tune, which is a bad brand without knowing Any help at all appreciated, and just be honest if you think the budget is simply unrealistic (I'm aware of how much pianos cost new!)

Cheers.

[iansinclair]

You've kind of left the reply wide open there...

First of all, are you looking for a grand, even a small one?  or for an upright or a spinet?  The latter take less space -- a lot less space!

I honestly doubt that you would find a grand, even a small grand, in your price range unless it had some serious problems.

However, second hand uprights are perfectly good pianos, but usually are pretty inexpensive (now and then you can get a decent one just for the hassle of moving it!).  Age is not really a factor; upkeep is, and if you can find a decent piano technician to look at your possibilities it will help you, since you are inexperienced.  He or she can help find simple problems (like being somewhat out of tune) and help you avoid difficult problems (like action troubles, cracked sounding boards, and other evils of that sort!).

Look around at the comments on various pianos in this forum; it may help.  Makes which are known to be decent or better (the list isn't inclusive no in any particular order!): Kawai, Yamaha, Boston, Baldwin (older ones only), Steinway (apt to be pricey)... those just come to mind off the top of my head.

The same comments apply to grands -- but as I say, you are unlikely to find a decent one in your price range.

Whatever you do, don't buy it sight unseen.  At least go look at!  And as I say, preferably with a tech., or perhaps you have a friend who plays who can help you out?

[wengerstoybus]

You've kind of left the reply wide open there...

First of all, are you looking for a grand, even a small one?  or for an upright or a spinet?  The latter take less space -- a lot less space!

I honestly doubt that you would find a grand, even a small grand, in your price range unless it had some serious problems.

However, second hand uprights are perfectly good pianos, but usually are pretty inexpensive (now and then you can get a decent one just for the hassle of moving it!).  Age is not really a factor; upkeep is, and if you can find a decent piano technician to look at your possibilities it will help you, since you are inexperienced.  He or she can help find simple problems (like being somewhat out of tune) and help you avoid difficult problems (like action troubles, cracked sounding boards, and other evils of that sort!).

Look around at the comments on various pianos in this forum; it may help.  Makes which are known to be decent or better (the list isn't inclusive no in any particular order!): Kawai, Yamaha, Boston, Baldwin (older ones only), Steinway (apt to be pricey)... those just come to mind off the top of my head.

The same comments apply to grands -- but as I say, you are unlikely to find a decent one in your price range.

Whatever you do, don't buy it sight unseen.  At least go look at!  And as I say, preferably with a tech., or perhaps you have a friend who plays who can help you out?

Thanks for the feedback Ian, much appreciated. After considering a few things which you said, and having a brief further look for second hand Spinets and Uprights, I think I'm veering towards a digital piano - Mainly because I can purchase one new potentially, but also because the risk of sound deprecation is much much lower. I know it's nowhere near the same, and I remember her saying 'it's not the same', but I'd prefer to get something 'good' rather than a 50/50 chance of getting something 'exceptional/terrible'!

Thanks for your help!

[hfmadopter]

Really about the only way you can successfully buy someone a surprise piano as a gift is to know exactly which piano it is that they want/crave. In fact until they have played the choice, they may not know themselves.

I suggest helping her purchase a piano of her choice. Don't try to be really impressive to her and just buy some piano based on the fact that she wants a piano, it could be entirely the wrong piano.

In the digital maze of pianos for instance, it took me 6 months to narrow my field of selection to 3 pianos. One of which I bought. The reason I bought it was my personal choice and if you bought that for your GF it may be completely the wrong choice. She may want a different piano based on totally different reasoning than why I chose what I did. A piano is not just a piano, digital or otherwise. It's all the worse with acoustic !

Just a heads up, you certainly can do as you please.