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Hello,

I'm a piano teacher that is looking for a second piano and I happened to see a 1970 Yamaha U1 at a St Vincent de Paul's of all places. I inspected it myself and it looked very clean, Strings are shiny, hammers do have grooves but enough felt left for shaping and voicing. I played it and it was smooth as silk with no buzzing sounds.

I went ahead and purchased it for $1600.00. It will be moved into my music studio tomorrow afternoon.

I'm now having some buyers remorse, because of the age of the piano. Should I be concerned with the age? Is the price fair?

The case is satin ebony, and not perfect, but not bad at all either.

Thank you in advance for answering my questions and easing my mind. I can still get my money back if I change my mind.

I answered this elsewhere, but I will repeat it here:

It is difficult to evaluate the piano without seeing it. Older Yamaha uprights have problems with the string loops that hold the hammer butt springs breaking. You can see this by looking down at the back of the butts, below the hammer heads. The springs will either be caught on the loops, or sticking straight out free if the loops are broken. The piano will still play, but the hammers will be pulled back by the bridle straps, instead of the springs, which makes the repetition worse, and eventually the straps may break and the notes will play erratically.

Thank you. I will check that out tomorrow morning. I did test the response of the action by repeating a note really fast and it was quite responsive. If that's any indication.

All loops are in place as they should be. A good buy at 1600.00 would you say? Or a potential money pit for it being that old. Hah, 1970, can't believe that's old, I must be ancient! Thanks! Anyone out there own a Yamaha U series of 1970 or prior?

I just listened to some recordings of the yamaha u1 1970 on Youtube and I think you made a good deal!
Judging from the video's it is a beautifully sounding piano. If everything is in place as you said I see nothing wrong with the piano being a bit older than usual. I even think it adds some character to the piano.
Enjoy your new piano!

Thank you for your response and taking the time to listen/watch some videos. I have to say the older Yamaha U1s do sound quite nice, almost nicer than the newer ones. I just hope I don't have to put a lot of money into the piano in the near future because of its age. I'm having a tech come by tomorrow and hopefully he'll give me a good evaluation of its condition.