Piano season, when children and adults begin lessons, starts in the fall, and thousands are beginning their search through the classified ads or visiting piano showrooms to find a suitable instrument. Anyone who wants to get a jump on the busy season should start now.
Being an informed consumer when buying a piano is harder than it is for almost any other big-ticket item. And first-time buyers often face greater pitfalls because they want a used piano.
”It`s a horse market; it`s worse than buying a used car,” said Kenneth Sloane, director of the Department of Piano Technology at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio.
”I`ve seen perfectly fine instruments given away many times,” he went on, ”and I`ve seen instruments that people have had in families for years represented as priceless pieces of art, and they`re just junk.”
First, experts say, even if the piano is meant for the living room, do not think of it as furniture. Yes, an attractively styled case with few dents or gouges looks best, but that may have little to do with the way the piano works and sounds.
Second, it takes an expert to get a good idea of the piano`s condition. A thorough guide to buying a new or used piano, ”The Piano Book,” by Larry Fine, says, ”Those readers who love Rube Goldberg-style mechanical contraptions will find a piano action absolutely captivating.”
Each piano has its individual character, even two of the same brand and approximate age.
Bring an expert
Play the piano to see if its tone and action (the hammers, dampers and pedals) are pleasing. At the same time, the experts say, bring along a piano technician; that is what most of the people who used to be called piano tuners now call themselves. Typically, a technician will spend half an hour to 45 minutes examining an instrument and will charge the same as for a tuning, about $50 in most cities, sometimes more.
This can be good advice even if you are buying a new piano. The market is full of new low-cost pianos from Asia and, more recently, Eastern Europe, but the quality is variable.
Some people bring their piano teachers. Piano technicians say teachers can determine the action or tone of a piano but may not spot some of the manufacturing pitfalls such as plastic parts, which were popular in the 1950s. By now, those pianos` parts may be ready to fall apart, requiring expensive repairs.
Many dealers offer a ”finder`s fee,” or commission, to a piano teacher who steers a student to a purchase. The commission can take the form of a cash payment of 1 or 2 percent of the piano`s cost, or a discount for the teacher on a future purchase. If you are not sure about the teacher`s motivation, ask. As with used cars, the best values can be found in the classified ads, but so can the lemons. If you are buying from a dealer, get a warranty of six months or a year.
Do not be put off by age; a piano built 60 or 70 years ago according to high standards and since has been rebuilt, can be better than a new low-quality piano.
Prices are highly variable. Frank LaPiana, of LaPiana Piano Sales Ltd. in New York, said that $1,000 to $1,700 can buy a good used vertical
(”upright,” studio, console and spinet) piano, but he sells used Steinway grands for up to $24,000. That is far more than some good new grands cost.
Size a big factor
The biggest consideration for many buyers is size. A piano is about 5 feet wide. Vertical pianos are 2 to 2 1/2 feet deep, from the keyboard to the back; grands range from 4 1/2 to 9 1/2 feet deep. Both kinds need another 2 feet for the piano bench and, of course, the pianist.
In measuring available space, also consider placement; grands look silly if they are crammed in with other furniture, and no piano should be in direct sunlight, near a radiator, draft or window.
If you have the space and the budget, the experts advise a grand. It has better tone, and because the action relies on gravity, not springs, it permits smoother control. Grand or vertical, bigger pianos generally sound better than smaller ones.
As for electronic keyboards, most professionals in the piano industry speak of them with disdain. Sloane takes a kinder view, saying they have had one beneficial effect on acoustic pianos: squeezing low-quality instruments,
”piano-shaped objects,” out of the marketplace. Still, a keyboard is not generally considered a substitute for a piano.
Pianos may cost a lot, but good ones appreciate in value. Manufacturers sometimes will say pianos are a good investment; indeed, some have proved a better place to put a few thousand dollars than a mattress.
Fine said his parents paid $3,500 for a Steinway Model M grand (5 feet long) in 1966, and that it now is worth $10,000 to $12,000. A new one costs about $25,000, depending on finish.
But the investment value can be exaggerated. Fine said, ”If you want to make money above inflation, you don`t buy a piano. You can make more money in a bank.”
For beginners who are not sure they will stick with the instrument, a compromise is a rental.
LaPiana offers pianos for rent for $65 to $75 a month, depending on size, and collects a round trip moving fee in advance, which varies by piano and location but within New York City is $95 in buildings with no elevator. After six months, he will apply the entire amount to the purchase of that piano or another one.
