Ellington upright

[janeta]

 Hi. I recently moved, new at playing the piano, and am looking for a piano under $1000. There is an Ellington upright for $300, late 1800's, has a nice sound but needs work. Does anyone know if Ellingtons are good?  Unfortunately I'm spoiled by a Mason & Hamlin grand I have at the house I am not currently living at so I'm looking for something with similar sound. Any recommendations? Thank you

[danesi]

I don’t really recommend an Ellington for concert (that’s just me though; I’ve had a few bad experiences on them) but for quiet practice, it would be a good piano. Of course, if someone is trying to sell a piano for $300, you should probably run in the other direction. Something that cheap probably has some defects that you don’t know about. You should probably do some more research on the 300 dollar upright before buying it, because you don’t want to be ripped off, of course!
       Cheers, Danesi