Purchase advice

[ndasgupta1]

I am 42, and started piano lessons 3 years ago.  I played fropm ages 7-9 but showed no aptitude or interest and quit until I started taking lessons along with my 7 year old.  I'm enjoying it a great deal, and my teacher seems to think it a great shame that I didn't pursue and flatters me into thinking I have some small modicum of talent.

Anyway, I've been playing on the same old upright that I used when I was a kid.  I am purchasing a new home soon and think that I'd like to buy a baby grand/small grand piano.  An opportunity fell into my lap recently, in which an elderly patient of mine is moving soon and needs to sell her old piano.  It is a 1947 Model M Steinway.  I had a piano repait technician who worked for Steinway for years take a look at it.  He thinks it's tunable and fully functional.  Said that there are two small hairline cracks in the sounding board which are repairable.  Also that the piano doesn't really need any work now but could stand to be restrung in 5-7 years and that the action (whatever that is) could likely last another 8-10 years.  Says that each of these would be reasonably expensive to have done.  But again, he doesn't think that either are necessary now and apart from bleaching the keys to make them look nicer, it's in very good shape overall.

The woman is asking only 5k as she needs to move it within a week.  Both the technician and my teacher tell me that it's an absolute steal at that price, and that I really shouldn't even think about it -- the tech said that he'll buy it if I don't.  Still, though I am sure that it is a good price, I'm really not much of a pianist now and 5k is a fair amount of money, especially when I consider that I may need to put substantially more into it over the year.  So...for the community, do you have any opinions on it?  I've never really priced good pianos before and this one is sort of falling into my lap.

[ndasgupta1]

After reaqding my own post, I realized that I didn't really ask a question.    So here's my actual concern -- for an intermediate level player like myself, I don't really need a fantastic piano.  Right now, and I would imagine that for the next 5-7 years, I am not good enough for the caliber of piano to make a huge difference.  So even though the piano may be a great deal for a talented player or someone looking to flip it after restoring it, is it worth it for me?  Should I spend 5k to buy it knowing that I'll need to (eventually, within 10 years or so) put in many thousands more?  Or am I better off buying a much lower quality (not that I know -- I know the name Steinway, of course, and that the price tags are high, but I'm not that familiar with other makes) newer piano now that won't need as much work within 10 years?  What's the basic price for a decent, newer piano of that size/caliber from other manufacturers?  Thanks!

[quantum]

For a Model M, $5k is one heck of a deal where I live.  Personally, I've seen junk Steinway B's (that's a 7 foot piano) sell for $10k CDN (junk meaning they were in such bad condition that most people would haul them to the junk yard).  Last I checked a couple years ago, a brand new Steinway M from a dealer was around $40-50k.  

Speaking of your current level, would you absolutely need a Steinway M - probably not.  But would it be helpful to your development as a musician - most certainly.  For around $5k-8k you could also get a Yamaha U series vertical.  These models are commonly used in music schools, have excellent build quality, and a very good choice for intermediate level playing.  

What is of note here is that you are given the opportunity to purchase a top tier grand piano at a price point that many mid-level verticals sell for.  If you have the space, go for it.  Think about your child, you could pass this instrument on one day.  

The hairline cracks would not bother me too much, because of the fact they are declared and your tech believes they are repairable.  Any piano will need money spent in order to maintain it, regardless if it is brand new or pre owned.  You will need to spend money on regular tunings for any acoustic piano.  Any piano will need voicing and action regulation.  Any piano will eventually wear with playing and need various parts replaced or rebuilt.  

Your tech is talking about planning these significant maintenance procedures such as restringing and rebuilding the action, most likely because this is the sort of high quality instrument where such procedures would be warranted in keeping the thing ticking along for years to come.  If it were some cheaply made budget instrument, when the time comes to do these things it would be better to just acquire a completely different piano.  Think of the action as the engine of the piano, it is all the parts that translate a key press to sound.  

If you want to look at something of similar size:
Shigeru SK2

Similar size but probably not at the same level of build:
Kawai RX2
Yamaha C2

[iansinclair]

As they say on the 'net -- OMG.  If you have a chance to buy a 1947 M for anything like that price, and its condition is as you say it is...

Don't walk.  Run.  Cash in hand.

I have a 1924 M (my summer practice piano) which has never had any work done on it, and is quite playable and tunable as is.  There is a small crack in the soundboard -- but it doesn't buzz, and doesn't affect the tone.

Restringing yours may be needed; mine hasn't been (although my 1898 A has been).  That depends a lot on the amount of rust on the strings and how tight the pins are.

I would be very surprised if the action needed work even in 10 years.  As I say, mine has had no work at all other than odd bits of regulation now and then, and it's a 1924.  My A also has had no work at all on the action, other than regulation -- and that's from 1898!

Go for it!!!

[dcorban]

I think you underestimate yourself. Like you, I ignored piano for a great length of time and only got back into it due to my daughter taking lessons. If you enjoy it as much as I do, and play frequently, you will quickly find yourself wanting a decent acoustic.

I have been playing for only a year and am still in "grade 1", yet I feel I am already worthy of such an instrument. You will also find yourself wishing you had something better if you don't buy this.

[hfmadopter]

Everyone else took care of the comments on mechanical value and general value of an M. Let  me just say that M's also have a certain tonal quality that other makers don't have in that size. They may have a great tone of their own ( Shigeru is like that for me) but not Steinway's inherent tone in the M model. Ya it could be ragged sounding at the moment but that potential is there.

The name Steinway other than having a special hood ornament so to speak. doesn't mean a thing  if when you sit at the piano it doesn't feel like "you". You want to own a piano you love to play. It's unlikely the M isn't one of those but you never know till you try it. And part of getting to that point with a piano is tone, voicing and action regulation. At three years you should just about be there, to the point you will be feeling the need for a decent piano. A Steinway M certainly has that potential.. I wanted a grand piano at about the same point, maybe late second year. It hit me when my upright wasn't repeating so hot. It had great tone, wonderful tone when freshly tuned but the action was slow. And really, I just visualized myself at a grand more !