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I have a 40 year old Kawai KG2 with beautiful tone and zero problem. We will move from Arizona desert to California coastal area in two months. I am debating on moving the piano or selling it.

My new employer will pay the moving expenses, but housing in California will be much more expensive. Selling it and buying an upright after the move make more sense economically. I also worry that moving from the desert to a coastal city will do damage to an old piano.

But I love this piano and feel very hard to let it go. Can’t decide want to do

Why will selling it and buying an upright make more sense economically, especially since your employer will cover moving costs?

Is your economical thinking that you will gain more from the sale of the Kawai than you will have to pay for an upright? If the upright is new, I wouldn't necessarily think that such a sale and purchase is going to be a money-saver.

Check this depreciation schedule from the Piano Buyer to see if you can figure out the market value of your 40-year old Kawai:

https://www.pianobuyer.com/Articles/Detail/ArticleId/261/How-Much-Is-It-Worth

Keep in mind, too, that market value depends to a large part on what the market is for used grands in your particular area. It may be less or more than the estimated value from the Piano Buyer chart. Do some research locally to see if you can find comparable instruments, what they are selling for and how long they have been on the market.

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to sell a grand that you feel "very hard to let go." Other than your piano going through a period of adapting from one climate to another, there should be little fear of "damage" moving to the California coast if the move is made by a reputable piano moving firm. That said, I wouldn't trust the move of my piano to a household furniture mover.

Regards,

A technician would be good to consult with the question. But my observations are that a piano moving from dry to soggy is less of a problem than the opposite. But - some pianos might react differently. Your KAWAI, once settled for a few months might appreciate a regulation by a good technician.

Being 40 years old, being voiced to match the environment would be a good idea - and could soften the tone a little. A grand isn't necessarily any louder than an upright.

If it was me - I'd take it. A 40 yr old <6' grand won't sell for a huge amount - particularly if you're in a hurry to sell. And - if it doesn't work out, sell it then.

Sorry I was not clear in my previous post. The main reason is we want to down size our house, because the housing price is so high in the coastal area. Buying a house with a floor plan fits a grand piano will cost at least $100k more.

I wonder how much less room it will take - an upright needs approx 1.5 metres x 1.5 metres. A grand needs 1.5 metres x about 2.3 metres (depending on bench size and positioning).

But yes, an upright can be squeezed into a corner which a grand mightn't as easily. And some homes make it easier than others.

I guess in many houses I can certainly squeeze in a grand piano, but I would rather not to. My piano is sitting in our living room right now. Most houses I saw in the new city have a big room for both living and dining, and the family room connect to the kitchen. The floor plan means I will either eat next to my piano or cook next to it.

Do not assume that the California location will be excessively humid, despite it being "coastal". The Pacific Ocean in the northern hemisphere, viewed from above, rotates clockwise. So, the water, along that coast, is cool, having come south from the arctic circle.
The air above it is, consequently, also cool. So, even when winds blow inland off the water, they are generally not terribly humid. Contrast this to the southeastern seaboard of the USA, where the ocean water has just turned north from its trans Atlantic, equatorial crossing. Thus, the lush, tropical nature of that area.
Check the humidity statistics. The difference may not be as great as you fear.

My two cents...…

There is no guarantee that you'll be able to sell your grand in two months.

You love the Kawai.

Buy a smaller house in California that you can afford. Move the Kawai grand there and try to make it work in the space. If it ultimately doesn't work, sell the grand and purchase an upright. If you decide to sell the Kawai, you will have time to do so.

Don't worry about how the change in climate might affect your piano.

Also - if you can't afford to use professional piano movers to transport your piano the entire distance, at least hire professional piano movers to load it onto the furniture mover's truck - and professional piano movers to unload and set it up it upon arrival.

There are a lot of different climates between San Diego and Crescent City. However, no matter where you are, if you are near enough to smell the salt air, you may have problems. Otherwise, it is not likely to be so bad.

I moved a Yamaha G2 several years old from Orange County, CA to the Phoenix area. Some thought since its really dry here it would effect the soundboard. Never had a problem with cracking or splitting wood. Occasionally I would put a couple bowls of water near the piano in especially dry weather. Good luck with your move.

We moved to Canada from the UK and before that from a
different country.My Kawai grand came with me on all these
moves.We have been in Canada for 20 years.Last year we sold
the Kawai it was 50 years old.
The Kawai dealer who bought it is having it restored !
So do not be in too much of a rush to sell it.Pianos are stronger
than we think.

After reading the OP's thread, I do believe that his/her concern is more of a space issue than a piano issue. In that case, I agree with Carey. Since the employer is going to pay for the move anyway, why not just take your Kawai KG2 with you, make room and put it somewhere in the house where it will fit, and then see how it goes.

And, if things are just too crowded with the grand in the smaller house, then you can make an effort to sell the Kawai KG2 and buy the upright or trade with a local dealer. Used pianos can take a while to sell, depending on how they are priced.

Good luck!

Rick

JemP, you have my sympathy, I really hate the trend of open floor plans! We just moved and almost everywhere we looked was either a newer home with an open floor plan, or an older home that some idiot had knocked the walls out of to convert to an open floor plan. Ultimately, we got really lucky and found an older home in good shape but which hadn't been remodeled into an open floor plan.

JemP, maybe you can keep looking and will find something that works. Maybe there will be a house with a flex room that would work for your piano. Alternatively, before we found our home, we started looked at open plans where the kitchen and "great room" formed an L so that at least the oven wasn't facing out directly into the area where the piano would go.

But, as others have said, try to keep your piano. You can always sell it later, but once it's gone, it's gone.

Good luck!!

I also hate open floor plans and those people who knock down walls. I’ve seen horrible open kitchens in old Art Deco apartments. One apartment had the stove almost in the living room, with no hood over it. Brilliant move, now you can get cooking grease all over your living room furniture.

Don’t even get me started on the awfulness of open offices. I refuse to work in an office anymore, I work at home. The last place I was in, they put me next to a pool table and blasted Stevie Wonder all day, although we all wore headphones. There is no greater joy than being constantly interrupted by the activity of thirty people.

If selling or moving is not in the cards for you, here is another option.
Donating the piano to a church or pianosforeducation.org
The pianos for education will take donations in all 50 states.

I've had a piano in my apartments or houses for the last 50 years, and when house hunting, room for my piano has taken precedence over everything else...but that's just me and my admittedly over-the-top adoration of my piano (whatever it happened to be at the time).

Your Kawai is not huge as grands go (5'10" I believe), so you don't need a huge space for it. Still, I get it. Houses are almost obscenely expensive along the Caifornia coast, so finding with space for your Kawai is a challenge.

Lots of people on this forum have really wonderful uprights, and there are many threads to follow about them. I have no doubt that you'll be able to find a good vertical piano if that's the more practical solution for you.

I had a POS upright that my employer paid for me to to go from LA to L.A., and then another to go from L.A. back to LA. The place I ended up moving into had too small of a staircase to get it up, so I just donated it, and bought a Charles Walters as a replacement.