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Joined: Jan 2010
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Hi everyone, I'm new on here although I have read quite a few postings. You can see from my subject that I'm choosing between 2 pianos. The Kawai 506N is a 44 1/2" new from a dealer for $3000. The 1986 Yamaha U3 A is from a private owner asking $2800. He bought it from a dealer in 1996 refurbished from Japan.
So you can see that the price is about the same. I know that the Yamaha U3 is supposedly the best of the uprights but I am wondering if the new Kawai would be better because it's new. I want to make the wisest purchase. The piano is for my own enjoyment and so that I can teach my daughter.
I would appreciate any advice or suggestions!
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First thing you'd want to find out about the U3 is how old it is. You can determine the age by checking the serial number here. If the Yamaha is really old, you may want to go with the Kawai.
Piano self teaching on and off from 2002-2008. Took piano instruction from Nov 2008- Feb 2011. Took guitar instruction Feb 2011-Jul 2013. Can't play either. Living, breathing proof some people aren't cut out to make music.
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Welcome to the forums Bethany!
As with any used pianos, you will need to do a little homework before you buy. I usually would look at Larry Fine's "The Piano Book" and its latest supplement for helpful tips. Another consideration; if the piano was purchased in Japan and moved to another country, you may have some difficulty getting replacement parts if something goes wrong. Get the answers to these questions resolved before you decide to buy the Yamaha.
- Mark
...The ultimate joy in music is the joy of playing the piano...
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Thanks for your advice. The piano has an "A" before the serial number and it was manufactured in 1985. It was reconditioned in 1996 by a dealer here in Florida and sold here.
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Joined: May 2007
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The "A" was the last scale design as for gray market Yamaha U3(s)imported into the states from Japan.(U3G,H,M,A)In the late eighties the U3 as discontinued as for distribution in the Japanese domestic market. They were replaced by the U30BL and the U30A. Yamaha still manufactures the U3 for the USA,Canada and ? export markets. A primo condition U3A is the obvious choice over a Kawai 506. No US retail dealers recondition it's gray market uprts. Any reconditioning,refurbishment or ? are performed abroad in Japan aside from cabinet detail which may be done via the importer.
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Thanks, that's good information to know. The piano must have been reconditioned and then imported here for sale. I thought that probably the Yamaha would be a better deal over the Kawai even with the Yamaha's age but I wasn't sure. It's from a private owner so it wouldn't have a warranty but my mom says warranties are often overrated anyways because they often don't cover what's wrong. She has had a Kimball console since 1975 and has never had to do anything to it except for tuning, of course. With a well-built piano like the Yamaha hopefully the warranty wouldn't be needed.
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You're absolutely correct as for the value of a warranty on a preowned piano. A tech assessment is what one should spring for especially in considering a piano from a private party. Some would feel more prone to do so, emphasising on the "gray market" issues. A warranty on a preowned piano from a dealer is a "piece of mind thing".In a used piano it really only covers the structural integrity of said piano in it's present state aside fom it's normal wear and tear over the years. A structural integrity warranty claim on a quality piano is quite rare on a preowned piano. It usually surfaces, if at all in the beggining years upon the piano being NEW. It is usually covered with it's factory /manufacture warranty.
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Bethany ... a note of caution about the meaning of refurbished/reconditioned. I worked for many years for a large, international company (I won't mention their name). Among the items they manufactured were consumer electronics. A certain small percentage of goods were returned. Due to the immense production quantities, this small percentage was a fairly large number. The firm would refurbish returned goods at the factory, and resell them labeled as refurbished, at a significant discount of course. I worked at this site, and had friends in the refurbishing operation. Here's how it worked. The returned unit was plugged in. If it didn't work in even the smallest way, it was tossed into a dumpster that was positioned behind the line of workers. Other than replacing an occasional volume knob, the refurbishment consisted entirely of cleaning the unit with a bottle of 409 and a rag.
I also worked a few years at another large firm whose product line included stereo systems. The refurbish process was nearly identical. At both firms, only the most basic quick check was performed (less than 1 minute per unit), and then it was cleaned and reboxed. I'm not criticising this practice, since warranties were provided, and a good discount as well, both of which made a refurbed unit a good buy at times. But there was no refurbishment in the common sense meaning of the term. Refurb meant cleaning.
My only experience with piano refurbing occurred a few years ago when I was shopping for my first piano. I saw a Yamaha U1 with a sign on it that said "Refurbished". I asked the sales person what was meant by that term. He replied, "They replaced all the strings and all the felts." I played the piano a little, and it sounded OK for the price. I continued looking at the other pianos in the store with the sales person, and about a half hour later found myself back at the refurbed U1. I played it a little more, and since I was interested, I opened the lid and looked inside at the hammers. There were grooves in the felts about 3/16ths of an inch deep in the middle octaves. I said something like, "I know you told me they replaced the strings and felt, but I gotta tell you, I have some doubts." He said, "Well, in this case they only reshaped the hammers and left the original strings." (He apparently forgot what he had said earlier). I said, "But look at the depth of the grooves in the felt." He said, "That's from the tuning." I answered, "They must have really tuned the blank out of those middle octaves." He kept with the tuning theory, and I didn't buy a piano at that store.
I don't know if you should buy a refurbed Yamaha or a new Kawai. Just wanted to suggest that refurb may not mean what you think it means.
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That's good info to know, Crow Wing, both on the piano front and the refurbished electronics front. Bethany, I'm a total newbie and only recently was asking similar questions about a piano purchase, but the best advice I got was to hire an impartial experienced piano technician to inspect any used piano that you are interested in buying. I think there's too much that can go wrong with a piano whose history is unknown, and that makes for a risky big item purchase, sort of like a used car. I also was advised that dealers sometimes are misinformed about the state of pianos in their store - like the previos poster exemplified. Good luck.
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Thank you everyone for your advice. I ended up choosing the Yamaha U3 and am so happy with my choice. It was delivered yesterday and I played and played until my hands were hurting. The tone and touch are incredible and the piano will be such a joy to me. I've not had one in a few years so I'm really happy.
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Piano
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Piano
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