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Hi! I’m a piano teacher and helping my student find a piano. They found one OUT of their budget but would be interested if it is a good buy. It’s a 42” Kawai console and is quite expensive, I feel, coming from an individual seller verses a store. Here is the description he gave us. I have a picture but it is not a public link yet that I can post. It’s beautiful from the photo. We are waiting to go play it for a specific reason. Here is the description he gave us.

"If you are a player, the piano has a pretty amazingly deep tone for it’s size. It also has a heavier touch like a large upright or a studio grand. The piano was bought locally, and has been tuned regularly it’s entire life. The hammers, action parts, and action movement are in extremely good condition. The piano has been well-maintained over it’s life, but it is interesting that it has been played so lightly based on “hammer wear.” The serial number is 302081. The manufacture date is fall of 1968. Probably first sold in 1970-1971 (at that time, shipment from Japan was painfully slow - Yamaha and Kawai has been recently introduced to the USA, and Japanese products were “suspect” to many Americans.”

My main concern as a teacher is that I’ve heard that these early Kawais are sometimes known to not hold a tune well. Do you all have any insight on that at all? Or if any technicians are out there, have you experienced that with this time frame for this brand.

Thanks for any help you can give. Any time I have any suggestion that something might not hold a tune, I take a hard pass, regardless of the price. My friend that is very knowledgeable suggested I ask the question here.

Although the seller is more specific than many others and seems to know something about what makes a good piano, there is no way of knowing anything he says is true without an inspection, first by you and your student, and then probably by a tech unless you are extremely knowledgeable about pianos.

A fifty year old and pretty short Kawai should not be fairly expensive unless one has a pretty low budget.

Thanks so much, pianoloverus. They are asking $1200 and even though that includes moving, a tuning and year of mechanical warranty, for a 50 year old piano, it seemed a little high to me for a peer to peer sale verses coming from a store. They are a “company” but not a music storefront. “Expensive” may not have been the best word choice on my part. Let’s just say this student is unfortunately playing on a keyboard right now, so anything is really a step up. We have been looking more at spinets that are older and still good quality than are significantly less expensive. They just found this one themselves and Kawai’s are very loved right now. But they have come a long way since ‘68.

Mum&Dad bought a new KAWAI upright in about 1967, but wasn't a console, taller than 42" - probably about 45-47".

Mum played it every night for at least an hour, us 5 children/teenagers all played it extensively - some days it would seem to be going all day (before and after school). About 2000, she bought another new piano and the KAWAI went to my brother's house. Sadly, he doesn't play it much, but last time I played it, it was still going well. It has always been quite stable as far as holding his tune.

I have an older Kawai K48A (48") upright piano from 1969 and it holds a tuning like a rock. I purchased it from a professional piano teacher's estate and you could easily tell it had been maintained very well during its life-time. I agree that the price may be a little high coming from a private seller, but it may be a very nice piano for a student.

In my view, older Kawai and Yamaha pianos made in Japan are very good pianos and can last a long time and take a beating. Any acoustic piano can be used-up and warn out, but Kawai and Yamaha pianos have a good reputation for longevity and holding up to harsh treatment. One that hasn't been played much and taken care of may be even better.

Just my .02.

Good luck!

Rick