Buying Advice

 

New or Second hand?

Depends on your budget. Good quality new uprights start around £1,800, Grand pianos £3-4,000 sky's the limit.
Second hand, renovated, £400 upwards.

Over-strung vs Straight-strung


Iron frame not always visible from the top
An over-strung piano will give you a longer string and therefore a bigger sound. However, this is relative to the size of the piano and quality of the strings, it should not influence your decision.

Buying Privately?

The casing may look exceptional and lovingly preserved, yet if not tuned regularly or kept in the wrong environment, strings may snap, tuning pins may be too loose, the piano may be rendered untunable.

Where has the piano been kept?

In a damp garage?, not good. In the kitchen?, worse still. In front of the radiator and in the conservatory, forget it!

For around £15, a piano tuner will inspect the instrument, tell you what needs attention and how much it will cost, whether its tunable, and more importantly, worth buying.