Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum 30 year old Young Chang G-157

Is there any scenario where buying this piano (certainly not for the asking price) would be a good idea, LOL? Feel free to give me a hard slap if its warranted....



Young Chang

It would appear to me that most folks are afraid to even consider Young Chang grands with all of the other major piano brands out there as there are too many negative details regarding the action brackets problems from the middle 1980's though the 1990's and I passed up on one myself that did not have the action brackets problem but had some other issues regarding a heavy action, pedals and dampers that did not work correctly, and a number of notes in the treble range that had an odd buzzing sound and perhaps needed additional voicing and/or action regulation to correct?

Here was the piano I had purchased -- as it was "sold" to me for $8,500 -- and, after deciding not to keep it I then sold it back to another store:

https://www.pianomart.com/buy-a-piano/view?id=34121

Tone was pretty decent overall and the piano played quite well with a resonant bass end (aside from above mentioned issues) so I passed up a chance to perhaps correct the issues with a local technician who was going to charge around $1,850 to do the regulation of the action and other pedal and damper adjustments. I wanted to believe in the Young Chang brand and pretty much gave away what could have been a potential long term playing instrument.

Wow, that was a huge grand! This is just a little 5'4" which, ironically, is a size that would most ideally fit in my smallish room. I'm not really sure why exactly I'm even looking at grands, only that I'm still seeking the perfect one for me. I have a lovely new upright and a very good digital. *shrug* I guess this is just what I do, lol.

The action bracket issue is just another worry point for a piano that maybe looks nice, but ultimately is nowhere near worth the asking price. I'm near Niagara Falls NY, and the pickings here are usually very thin, as well as seriously overpriced. Everyone seems to value their pianos way too highly. There's a Winter grand for sale here, asking price is $6,000, LOL. WUT????

I'll probably be disappointed anyway, as I've never played a Young Chang that I liked. The actions ARE heavy and often noisy and clunky, and the pedals are often loud and poorly set. I guess I'll just go play it so that I can move on, LOL. Thanks for your input!

I wanted to add here that I am somewhat disappointed in what "could have been" with the G-208 as it certainly was a powerful grand with a bright and clear treble range although I became somewhat overly finicky with several notes that did not sound right and the obvious pedal issues which I am sure could have been corrected.

The biggest regret was that the seller had made a real effort to drive the piano out to me himself (along with a helper) and he believes that I am still enjoying the piano when in fact it has already been sold back to another store that decided to pick it up for me and I took a considerable loss in cost.

Here is the seller's website:

http://www.adoptababygrand.com/

Perhaps I could have made something out of this grand with just a little additional work?

Every piano has to be evaluated on its own merits as for sound and action.

The seller had sold me a piano that was not as good as advertised.

Hey, ebonykawai:

I have not heard good things about YC pianos of that age. However, things may have changed substantially since then for YC.

I recently investigated the possible purchase of a 2000 YC baby grand (5'). I had reservations about the ability of such a small piano to produce an acceptable sound. So, I did a YouTube search for "Young Chang G150", or, "PG 150" (can't remember). The search returned about 15 results and I listened to all of them. To my surprise, many of them sounded very nice. And it was not just those being offered for sale by piano dealers. These samples got me over my fears that a baby grand could not have an enjoyable sound.

Excited at the local prospect, I researched further. It seems that there were two noteworthy events that brought improvements to YC. One was the involvement of Joseph Pramberger around 1995. The pianos produced after his input bore the new model number prefix "PG" instead of the older "G". Then, sometime around 2000 or so, Del Fandrich made further contributions to the YC quality.

I do not know these things, other than the YouTube sounds, from personal experience. They are just what seems to be a consensus about the evolution of YC around the late 1990s through early 2000s. So, I'd advise you not to rule out the "PG" line or later lines on the basis of the problems of their past.

The one you are looking at could be scary.

Agree, Ralph, thank you for this info! I may just cancel, it would almost certainly be just a waste of time. I'd have to hire a tech, anyway, to determine what exactly is going on with this piano, and that's already getting into money, which would just be ridiculous.

Thanks for talking sense, guys! Usually it doesn't take that much convincing before I see reality, LOL. It's a nice looking piano (by the pics, anyway, who knows uo close), but I'm not looking for a shell, I'm looking for substance. 👍😊

It's hard not to look back with regret, I can totally understand where you're coming from. You went with your gut instinct, and usually that's a good way to go. Who knows what would have happened, maybe you would have never been happy with those notes, or the other issues. I've had tuners think I'm nuts because I hear something that they don't, lol. What do you do then? I'm sure you made the right decision. I think we'll eventually find our forever grands someday! ❤️

@ebonykawai,

Thanks, for your reply -- as I am going to wait a while longer until I have the extra money available (after January, 2019) and then can spend up to around $15K - $16K and select the piano I am really looking for. It will most likely be either a Baldwin SF-10 or perhaps a Mason & Hamlin grand if condition and price is right.

Those are both great choices! You'll find your dream piano!

I don’t think you will find a M&H BB in any decent condition for $15k. You may be able to find a used A (5’8”).

I found a BB for this price... in excellent condition, this was from a private seller, recommended by my tech. It takes patience to find a piano you love at a reasonable price.

Good for you, dog person. I still maintain your situation is a rare exception.

I certainly won’t argue that my experience is common.,., but I contend it becomes more common with patience and persistence..... I think getting the word out of what you are looking for is not used enough. The piano I bought was never listed for sale, but my tech knew I wanted a good grand and serviced this one. I wonder how often members enlist the help of their tech.... not just to evaluate something found but also for help in the search.

If a buyer is a huge rush, this is not likely to work.

Fair enough. This is how I got my SF-10. Off the radar, never advertised. I was at a PTG meeting, sitting around talking about pianos we would love to own. One of the guys said, “I have this guy in Naperville who has a beaut. . .”. That is mine now.

Being patient is, I think, number one. I've been looking for about 4 years now. I'm confident the right grand will come up at some point. Until then, I have my upright and digital. 😊

May it please your grace, it's amazing what is out there. Letting as many people as possible know what you are seeking is good advice. That's how I came across my Blüthner.