Pianos are complicated, but not inscrutable. A detailed guide to new and used pianos, ”The Piano Book,” by Larry Fine (Brookside Press, $14.95), offers information at all levels, for a non-musician shopping for the first time or for a serious pianist who doesn`t know how the keyboard`s mechanism works.
Fine`s book lists dozens of gimmicks used by sales personnel and tips on what to look for. In diagrams, it explains the difference between an upright, studio, console and spinet, and the pricing practices of piano dealers.
The book also offers detailed directions for taking a piano apart to examine it, typical sale prices for used pianos, tips on moving a piano and brand-by-brand rundowns on quality.
Many companies, the book says, have sold ”stencil pianos,” pianos made by others onto which the companies stenciled their names. And used Steinways are in a category by themselves.
Included is a table allowing a potential buyer to determine, by a serial number, the approximate year any Steinway was built.
