Advice to Parents on Buying a Piano
There are many common misconceptions about buying pianos for young students, and one of them is that a suitable piano can be had for only a few hundred dollars. The truth is that, to progress, young students need better pianos, not worse.
Parents may not want to invest a lot of money in a piano — after all, the child may lose interest — so an older, cheaper piano or cheap keyboard may seem the logical place to start. However, a bad purchasing decision at this point in a student’s learning tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In many cases a piano that is too old, too small, or simply not good enough will quickly become useless to the student. Students don’t have enough experience to distinguish between a bad piano and their own lack of ability. When a piano’s action can’t respond to the correct touch, or its strings can’t be tuned to a harmonious sound, the student, unable to duplicate what was taught in a lesson, will become frustrated and discouraged, and will lose interest. No amount of practice on such an instrument can overcome its shortcomings. And when you include other factors — the costs of moving, tuning, and repairs; an older piano’s shorter remaining life; lack of warranty protection; the need to hire experts to make repeated trips to evaluate the conditions of various older pianos — a new or more recently made instrument may start to look like a bargain in the long run.
For these reasons, I would encourage the financially able family to look at good-quality new pianos, or better used pianos no more than 15 years old. And with a young talented student, moving up to a quality grand is never a mistake. If an older piano is chosen, it should be one that was of good quality to begin with, and has been restored to like-new condition. If you’re concerned about a child’s continuing interest, I suggest renting a new instrument now, with an option to purchase it later. Most reputable piano dealers offer month-to-month rental programs.
Although good and bad pianos have been made in every decade, and every used piano must be evaluated on its own merits, certain decades or categories of piano frequently found in today’s used-piano market should raise red flags:
Old uprights — These are usually 48″ to 60″ high and somewhere around 100 years old. Many buyers will purchase an old upright with the idea that it might have antique value, then quickly find out that it doesn’t. In some instances, buyers fascinated by old uprights see them as an opportunity to tinker with and learn something about pianos. There’s nothing wrong with this — as long as a young student is not saddled with it. Most pianos that are a century old and have not been discarded will need extensive restoration before they can be useful to the student, but few are worth enough to have such work performed on them. Many have difficulty holding a tuning, and/or desperately need new strings, hammers, dampers, or pedal repairs — or all of the above. Parents who purchase these deteriorating instruments as practice pianos for beginners will probably face a constant stream of complaints and subsequent repairs. In most cases, this category of used piano should be avoided for use in serious practice.
Small, cheap, American-made pianos from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s — During this period, American companies started feeling the competition from Japanese (and, later, Korean and Russian) makers who could undercut their prices. The result was that the few remaining American makers of inexpensive pianos began to cut as much cost as they could from their production. In addition, small pianos, especially spinets were heavily promoted for their cabinet styling at the expense of their musical qualities. Spinets, which are 36″ to 40″ high, have a recessed, or “drop,” action that is connected to the keys with long “stickers” of wood or metal. These actions are difficult — and thus expensive — to repair. Also, during the 1950s and early ’60s, many spinet actions were manufactured with connecting parts, called “elbows,” made of plastic — a technology then in its infancy — which eventually deteriorated and broke off. Installing a set of replacement elbows can cost hundreds of dollars.s, were heavily promoted for their cabinet styling at the expense of their musical qualities. Spinets were usually the least expensive entry-level pianos a company would manufacture, and most are not worth repairing. Many of these small, cheap pianos were so poorly designed and constructed that, even when new, and regulated and tuned as well as possible, they played poorly and sounded terrible. The first wave of pianos from this era began to enter the used-piano market in the 1980s, as the people who originally purchased them began to retire. But many others were passed on to this generation’s children, and now, as those children retire, a second wave of these instruments is entering the market. Even pianos from this period that were well made — and there were some — are now 30 to 50 years old, and so are likely to need some restoration before they will be suitable for the student. Caution should be used to separate those that have potential as good student instruments from those that don’t.
Toy Keyboards — Although most digital pianos are suitable for the first few years of learning, such instruments must be capable of replicating the feel and sound of an acoustic piano. Many do not even have the correct number and size of keys. To check if your digital piano is suitable for learning, ensure that it has the following minimum requirements: a full 88-key keyboard, full-size keys, polyphonic capability, and a "weighted" keyboard capable of creating louder and softer sounds when the student presses the keys with varying intensity.
Brands to Avoid
When buying a used piano, considering the brand is possibly the least important factor of the buying decision process. Much more important are factors like what — if any — restoration has been done to the piano, how well does it hold a tune, and how often has it been maintained. However, there are some exceptions to the rule. Here are some brand names from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s — and others from a little earlier and later — that are probably best avoided by students, though some may be acceptable for casual use if carefully serviced or reconditioned. Note that these lists only apply to the use of these names only during the mid to late 1900s. Some of these names were used in earlier periods on fine pianos, and several are still being used today, but on pianos that have no connection to the ones warned about here.
The first set of brand names in red comes from the Aeolian Corporation, which went out of business in 1985. Many of these, and other names not listed, were “stencil pianos” — essentially identical instruments with different names applied to them, to meet dealers’ needs.
The second set of names in green contains some other U.S. manufacturers of low-end pianos which are probably best avoided without extensive renovation or meticulous maintenance and upkeep. Some of these are stencil brands themselves.
The last set of names in yellow are a few foreign-made brands of the period. During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, many Japanese, Korean, and Russian manufacturers entered the market, competing with extremely cheaply made products and unskilled workers. Some of these brands have gone on to improve their instruments dramatically, becoming fine artisans in their own right. However, instruments made during this period from certain foreign manufacturers are best avoided.