My Notes on Piano Selection

Below are some notes which I have gathered. Hoping to get a good new piano to replace my old Schubert:-

General Notes
1. Minimum height of 121cm can be used until Grade 6 and sometimes to Diploma.
2. Steinway and Yamaha pianos are typically used for concert performance
3. Buy used pianos when you have a technician to help you check the pianos before you buy (someone you trust)
4. S$2,000 to $3,000: Can get older Kawai or Yamaha or other japanese brands.
5. S$1,000 - S$1,800: Can try yahoo auction or ebay for any good deals.
6. S$600 - S$1,000: May get reasonable gem and ask techie to help you tune it up.
7. S$500 and below: Test pianos for child who don't know if interest will last
8. For working adults, get a moderate range piano like S$3k to S$4K: to enjoy good sound and touch pleasure on what a good piano should delivery.

Japan-made Pianos
1. Yamaha U1 (expensive and sound might be too bright): $9k for new ones
2. Kawai K3 (mellow): $7.5k for new ones
3. Atlas at Piano Master: $3.4k for new ones
4. As a guideline only for original used piano:
eg: Yamaha U1: S$8000 (new), S$6400 (5yrs), S$4512 (10yrs), S$4096 (15 yrs), S$3277 (20 yrs), S$2621 (25 yrs), S$2097 (30 yrs)

Chinese-made Pianos
1. Hailun can provide better Chinese made pianos: HL125 at $3.6k for new ones
2. Pearl River Pianos (Cristofori)
3. Perzina Pianos (the best Chinese made pianos in Group 3A based on grouping by Larry Fine)

Korea-made Pianos
1. Young Chang Pianos
2. Samick Pianos

Continental Pianos
1. Continental pianos are good for higher grades but might not be suitable for due to humidity issues.
2. Wendl and Lung (W&L) is also solely distributed by Master Pianos International, with the same manufacturing background as Hailun pianos. (Austria)

Methods to Test Pianos
1. Hit the last left note firmly. is the sound firm and deep and still have sweet resonance? If not, forget it.
2. Run all the keys including the black ones (take your time) in 3 modes, soft, medium and hard. are all the notes have the same tone, color and loudness? If not, forget it.
3. Are any keys sticky? Like the key takes some time to lift up after pressing? Old Yamahas are known to have this problem. If yes, forget it.
4. Open up the piano and check the hammers for thickness and evenness, strings, frame and tuning pins for rust, the board for any small cracks...

Bottom Line
1. No point getting a cheapest piano but sounds bad. Not good for ears and learning.
2. No point getting a new piano, won't help the learning speed. But if one can afford, why not?