Which Piano?

This is article was written by Mark from MarkGoodwinPianos.co.uk to help piano buyers get an idea of what to avoid and what to buy at various different budget levels.

I'll state a few things up-front:

£0 - FREE PIANOS!!!

Stop! Pause! Sleep on it! Don't be tempted, don't be fooled. Ignore that impulsive urge to claim that free piano that you've seen online. You will most likely just be paying to take away someone else's scrap. People give away good quality working pianos about as often as people give away good quality working cars - it doesn't happen. If you really must consider that free piano then you must first hire a piano technician to inspect it before you commit or at the very least scroll to the end of this article to read piano technician's warnings.

Upright pianos for ~£500

In an nustshell

Things to be aware of:

Conclusion - if your budget is £500 you are at high risk of buying someone else's banger that should really be scrapped. The sensible option is probably to buy a good used digital for £500 instead.

Upright pianos for ~£1000

Things to be aware of:

Conclusion - You can find a good piano within this budget but you must be very careful. You might decide that an excellent quality £1000 used digital piano is a safer option

£1000-£2000

In this range you will find all of the same pianos as above but in piano shops instead of from private sellers. They will be in better condition, tuned, regulated, voiced, cabinets repaired with free delivery

In addition to the Kembles, Knights, Danemanns, Steck, etc. you will also find smaller, good-quality uprights from Yamaha and Kawai such as Yamaha C110, M1J and various Kawai models approx 110-115cm tall. These small Japanese pianos are well made, but still have a very limited quality of touch and tone, and so are only really suitable up to grade 5.

You will also find pianos made in Korea with names such as Samick, Hyundai, Young Change. Not great pianos and you'll want to upgrade them before very long so possibly best resisted?

Notable mention here also for any small used Kawai pianos made in Japan. You could consider the Indonesian Kawai K-200 which probably crops up used for less than £2000 from private sellers now and again.

Things to be aware of in this budget range

However! in this price range you will also find plenty of used obscure Chinese upright pianos with beautiful cabinets, in pristine condition, with names that sound vaguely German. Due to the cosmetic quality they can be a tempting option but in most cases, you should resist. The touch, tone, tuning stability, build quality and resale value are often poor. You should resist!

Conclusion - With £1000-£2000 to spend you may conclude that a top quality used digital is a better option than some of the mediocre, old, brown acoustic pianos out there. Or you might save up a bit more for the next category, below.

£2000 - £4000

Now you're getting somewhere! You are still at risk of buying a terrible hunk of junk in this price range. You simply MUST MUST MUST check the manufacture location of any piano in this price bracket. I recommend that you avoid anything made in China, Korea, Russia, Indonesia, in this price range. If you take care you will end up with a very nice Japanese piano in this price bracket.

£2000 - £4000 should get you a used Yamaha U1 from a private seller. It won't have been reconditioned, it probably won't have new loop cords, bridle tapes, key bushings, practise felts, and it will need tuning, voicing and regulating after delivery to get it up and running properly. The cabinet will likely have minor scratches all over and probably a few dents and dings, too.

Notable mention also to Kawai here. If you can find a used K-300 or K-400 in this budget you'll be very happy with it. However, there are far fewer of these available on the used market so I would still recommend that you focus more towards the U1 as there are squillions of them available.

Things to be aware of in this price range

£4000 - £6000

You will certainly find a very high quality used piano in this price range. I would still resist buying brand new as the very best very quality and value is still found buying used.

At the low end of this budget you'll find a lovely reconditioned Yamaha U1 in many piano shops with free delivery, stool, warranty, in near perfect condition inside and out ready for a new life in your home to last several more decades providing great service.

At the higher end you will find Yamaha U3, Yamaha U30BL, U30A, Yamaha X, UX, and similar models which are all nice tall uprights made in Japan will all blow your socks off. You will also find Japanese made Kawai pianos such as the K-300, K-400, K-500 but these are harder to find as there are less of them. Stick to the Yamaha models for maximum choice and a higher chance of finding them close to where you live.

Things to be aware of in this price range

£6000-£8000

In this budget range you have the luxury of taking home any of the models mention in the paragraph above but they will be younger, fresher, with just 1 previous owner, probably only lightly used, just like buying a brand new piano for half the price. Look for U30BL, U30A, UX30, UX30A, U300. Look for those models made from around 1990 onwards in this budget and you'll be so very happy. You will also be able to afford quality used Kawai K-400, K-500, K-600, K-700 if you can find those. Congratulations, you will certainly end up with a very nice piano.

What did I miss?

If you think I missed any obvious good options in the lists above please let me know. Just make sure you only list models that are easily available on the used market as I don't want to send people on a wild goose chase for rare models. Email any comments to markgoodwinpianos@gmail.com

Comments from Piano Technicians

I emailed this article to as many piano technicians as I could think of. Here are their comments based on working with hundreds of different brands of pianos over their careers.

Mr W's comments:

I would probably not visit any Zender, Barratt and Robinson, Eavestaff Minipiano, etc. all cheap pianos using early plastic jacks and action and the only reasonable piano worth looking at in your list is the Bentley. Your list of up to £1000 were all good makes and well worth looking for, Kemble, Steck, Weber, Challen, Chapell, Danemann, Rogers, Welmar and Knight. The Welmar in particular were particularly good, the Knight ok in the mid register ok and ideal school piano. but the upper treble was lacking in tone. Any of the German (Gotha) Stecks were superb instruments. Generally, working for Andrew Lloyd Webber, who favoured Yamahas both for performance and rehearsal pianos, I found them to be extremely serviceable and hardy, they were moved around a lot and stood up very well to the treatment and still sounded excellent. Bechstein are always worth considering, But old Steinways, Broadwoods and Collard & Collard pianos that find their way onto the second hand market are invariably going to be approaching or over 100 years old. I think that you are doing the best thing by dealing in Yamahas and those of my customers that bought instruments from you are very pleased with them. So I would say, stick to these and avoid all those second hand cheaply made pianos that use early plastic parts and bushings which are bad news. Yamaha pianos use some plastic parts in their actions but I have never found fault with a single one and they have stood the test of time.

Mr H's comments:

The first two lists are correct in the cheaper range, could include Zimmermann up to £500, Brinsmead, Broadwood, Petrof up to £1000. In the £1000 to £2000 range, Yes K200, E108 upright Yamaha but not the models made in Indonesia. Russian and Korean pianos are not usually good. For £2000 to £4000, U5 Yamaha upright good. There are lots of chinese makes but are not well known in this country and of varying quality, the most common one made in China is Waldstein. For £4000 to £6000 German makes; Hoffmann, Feurich, Seiler, Bechstein but varying quality, Steinway, Grotian Steinway.

Mr B's comments:

Good list and definitely fair to exclude Chinese pianos. Some Feurich’s are good in my opinion, but they are a little inconsistent as with all Chinese ones. I’m not sure of the price, but a good upright I keep coming across is Schimmel (old and new but the new ones are really nice)

Mr A's comments:

The only other used 'good options' I can think to add are Petrof and Seidl & Sohn / Rieger-Kloss (the latter two I think are the same make and generally badged as made in Jirikov), which I've seen (and tune) quite a few of and are generally reasonable, although I couldn't tell you where they would sit cost wise - and they are / were both Czech makes. And regarding the Chinese makes - they're often pretty crap pianos, unless the importing shop has actually done a full regulation. Broadwood - probably should be in, and could fit into any of the first 3 categories (older ones in cat 1, and more modern ones in cat 2 & 3), as there's still a number of good examples around, but they're getting older now. Collard & Collard probably not as no modern examples around. (Not sure Steck should be in there at all - they're all getting very old now!) Lots of modern Bechstein's around (probably 30 to 60 years old), so may be worth including. Bluthners & Steinways I see very few of, so probably not worth including. And I'd very much warn people about the smallest Eavestaffs with the 1920s styling and chrome trim on the cheeks - I used to see loads, but don't see many now; they all have loose pins and are a nightmare to work on and tune. (Even the Eavestaffs with the sloping actions are a pain in the arse to work on, but at least they're conventional to some extent and are generally reasonable, and more modern, pianos!!). Spread the Yamaha joy, I say!

Mr B's comments (another Mr B)

I would add to the list Korean pianos such as… Samick (&Reid-Sohn), Hyundai, Young Chang. Also Fazer, Seiler, Sauter, Schimmel, Grotrian Steinweg. Not to mention the shitty Eastern European ones like… Fuchs & Mohr, Hupfeld, Zimmermann. And, just to satisfy the pendant in me you have spelt Chappell with one P

Mr K's comments:

Hi Mark, they’re all crap apart from the ones you sell

Mr F's comments:

As far as the ‘quality’ German brands it depends on age really – mostly the ones I see are early 20th Century and in my opinion not worth having. It might also be an idea to say avoid straight strung pianos, ones with over-damper actions and anything that doesn’t have a complete cast iron frame. I would always suggest something under 40-50 years old.

Mr H's comments

The price range is reasonable. However, You Could put a note at the end of your article stating that a lot of tuners won't touch mini Pianos anymore.

Mr W's comments:

I see a lot of older pianos, so I’m not overly familiar with other pianos not mentioned in your lists. I never recommend Chinese built pianos: I’ve tried to give them a fair time to improve, but in my opinion they are junk. I also can’t understand why some of the base Yamaha models are made in China. I agree with all of your lists! Yamaha offer a lot of piano for your money every time. Hope this input helps.

Article finished!

I hope this article develops over time with more advice, more models listed. But for now, that's it. Thanks for reading and please follow our social accounts on this link