Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha Clarinova CVP-403 Question

My son's birthday is coming up. He's turning 12 and is a decent pianist.

Anyway, my wife went into a store with him today and was convinced that she should buy this piano in Mahogony for $5,900. The salesperson said that the choice of color adds about $1,000 to the price (but this is the only color she wants). She called and asked me what I thought. I'm not going to try to second guess her choice of pianos, but I wanted to know about the price. I checked the price paid thread, but it didn't have anything on this particular model. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

I'm not familiar with the Clavinova CVP line. But in the Clavinova CLP line, the mahogany and rosewood finishes are LESS expensive than the Polished Ebony finish. The "list price" difference is several hundred dollars LESS for mahogany. So this dealer's claim seems fishy to me.

Have a look at the "prices paid" thread to see how much other people have paid for a CVP403.

Here's what I see there:
$5900 for the CVP407, two models up.
$5200 for the CVP405, one model up.
$???? for the CVP403, no listings.
$3000 for the CVP401, one model down.
I don't see any listings for the CVP403 sales on the board. But it will obviously fall somewhere between the $3000/CVP401 and $5200/CVP403.

So it's plainly obvious that $5900 for the CVP403 is a nonsense price. Remember that these sales must be negotiated. You must NEVER pay the dealer's asking price.

Perhaps someone else here can advise you about actual selling prices on the 403.

If not, I'd offer $4000 (including delivery). If the dealer balks, remember ... he's wrong, you're right, keep looking.

Thanks, Horwinkle. It's really too bad that Yamaha hides the ball on pricing so much. I can't even figure out what the list price is.

There is also a Polished Mahogany finish which is MORE expensive than the Polished Ebony finish.

And Gerry Armstrong gets the prize!

Apparently, on the CVP's, the Polished Mahogany is the most expensive finish. The salesperson is saying it's $1000 extra over the Rosewood. Anyway, he wouldn't bite on $4000 and wouldn't even make a counteroffer. I'm going to do some work looking at other brands, but I would appreciate anyone's thoughts about this piano and the price I'm being quoted. My sense is that I could get it down by a few hundred dollars (maybe $5,700), but not much more.

Okay ... polished mahogany. Indeed, all of the polished finishes are more expensive than the unpolished ones.

Still, $1000 extra is way too much. That could be the "list price" delta, but not the actual selling price delta.

$6000 is too much. $5700 is too much. I think you're wise to look elsewhere.

If you're budget is in the $5900 region, I'd forgo the 403 and spend a few extra hundred bucks for the 407. You get a big leap in the quality of the action (and a reasonable leap in the quality of the sound), which if your son is pretty good, will make a big difference (and will make a bigger difference as he gets older and better). I feel your pain about trying to appease the wife though. If your wife is also a pianist or musician (or a reasonably logical thinker), she should be able to appreciate this point. If not, best wishes

Hi Cagmo - I just went through the same thing last week. I started out looking at the 401 and ended up with the 405. I paid about 7k after taxes. There is only one dealer in MN - Schmitt Music and you can only buy a Clavinova from an authorized dealer in the US so, short of having one shipped from another part of the country, I was stuck. Anyway, I asked about the polished ebony and the dealer said it would be an extra 1500. Here's the explanation - polished ebony is 500 more but since they didn't sell enough of them to keep them in stock, they would have to order one from Yamaha. March is Clavinova Month so the sale price plus the 500 rebates do not apply to the polished ebony models. I think your daughter would appreciate the color monitor more than the color of the wood in the long run. The monochrome LCD is a lot harder to see than the color ones, plus the added voices are pretty cool and I liked the open back better.

This may be a question that you don't want to ask (if wife/son are already set on the model), but why the CVP series instead of the CLPs? If you're just after a piano, you can get much more for your money out of the CLPs. If the CVP's extra features are necessary for you (or, you really don't want to get into a fight about the piano choice), then by all means, ignore this question But, the top-of-the-line CLP is less expensive than the CVP you were looking at, and it will be a much better pure piano. If you're going to check other brands, look at the CLPs too.

Maybe there's another yamaha dealer nearby? The closest one to me is about an hour away, but there were two more within three hours. I have to agree with Horwinkle about that price though...it seems like nonsense.

buck2202 brings up a good point.

As you "walk up" through the CVP line, you get better piano features: better keyboards, better sound system, more voices.

The same can be said of the CLP line. Indeed, the two lines run more or less in parallel. As "pure pianos", each CVP model has a CLP equivalent (more or less).

The CVP and CLP series differ mainly in the accompaniment and voicing features. Every CVP model has the accompaniment sounds (and the controls and displays to operate them), while the CLP models don't. That's where the price difference comes from.

If you need those CVP features, by all means buy one. If not, you can get the same "piano" capability from a much less expensive CLP model.

For less than the price of a CVP403 (fourth in a line of five CVP models) you could instead buy the CLP380 (first/best in a line of five CLP models).

It all comes down to your need for the accompaniment features.

Yamaha MSRP on a CVP403 in high polish mahogany is $8249. Your price would represent at 28.5% discount. The 400 series is relative new in it life cycle. Most dealers do not stock the MP finish and would have to order. This often prevents "deals" on age dated units at lower wholesales. Prices on all new Yamaha products are going up again on 4-1 5%-11% depending on the model.