Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Opinions/ experience w/ used Yamaha C2, things to watch for?

Can anyone share opinions about or experience with Yamaha C2 grands built between roughly 1995 and 2005? At 5'8" I know they're probably not as respected as the C3 and larger models, but how is the C2's reputation in terms of reliability, tone, stability with regard to humidity, that kind of thing? Do they tend to tune up nicely and hold their tuning? Are they known for any specific problems?

I have looked at one so far (badly in need of a tuning!) and there is at least one more at a dealer's shop I plan to test-play soon, both of these are between 15 and 25 years old. I've read about various Yamaha models with known issues (I'm thinking it was in the G-series though, maybe something about key discoloring in pianos of a specific year?). So I'm just wondering if any techs here have any experience with C2s from this era and if there are any known issues or other things I should be especially careful to look out for.

If I decide to seriously consider buying one of these, I will have it evaluated by a piano tech first, but at this point I am at the stage of evaluating these on my own (and also evaluating pianos based on the online seller info and deciding whether to drive to go and look at them), so any insight into the C2 models from this era will be greatly appreciated!!

I posted a similar question on the Piano Forum but didn't get any responses from people with experience with the C2s, so I thought I would post here, I hope that's ok! Thanks in advance!

In my experience the C2 is a nice model and I can't think of anything in particular that you would watch out for. This is of course without seeing this piano. Yes, have a tech look at it.

Hello ShiroKuro. We have a C2 built 1999/2000 in one of our ballet studios at work that I like alright. It plays well and holds pitch solidly. Bass is fairly lacking due to the size. It holds up well as it is played a lot for ballet classes. I do think if you can swing the extra cost that the upgrade to the next size up, a C3, is worth it due to the scaling of a piano over 6 feet long (186cm) having a better sound than the 5'8" (172cm) C2. You'd have to decide if the cost is worth it to you though-that's more of a personal decision. Most Yamaha products seem to have a pretty decent baseline quality in my experience. Best of luck.

Thanks for the comments, ThatGuy and heavypiano!

Re your comments, heavypiano, in addition to budget concerns, I also have a small-ish space and if I can find a piano under 6 feet that I like, it would be really helpful in terms of setting up my piano room. But, I can fit a C3 in there if that ends up being the one I choose.... Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to play a C2 and C3 side-by-side. Isn't that always the case when you're shopping for used pianos!

So, on the discussion of C2 vs. C3, I have test-played a 20 y/o C2 and a 40 y/o C3. The C3 has had one owner, is in a dealer's shop and is very nicely tuned and prepped and looks really pristine.The C2 (also single owner) is wonky out of tune but probably will tune up well and looks to be in good condition generally. The C3 is about $5-6000 more than the C2 -- partly because of the size and partly because it's at a dealers's while the C2 is from a private seller. (The C3 comes with warranty, free delivery, first tuning, and will probably take my upright as a trade-in too. And I haven't tried to bargain on that price, I bet they would come down.)

Let's say all things being equal (which they aren't and never will be!) and assuming both instruments fit in my piano room (which they do), and both pianos are in good shape and don't need major work, would you still argue for the C3 even though it's quite a bit older? Or is the C2 a better choice because it's 20 years younger?

ShiroKuro,

Personally I'd shoot for the newer piano, unless the 40-year-old piano has hardly been played and has been kept in a well climate-controlled space. Always have an independent tech check everything out for you, it's well worth the cost as a piano is a bigger purchase. This is just my opinion and I'd have to see them in person to really tell.

I will definitely have the piano inspected when I get closer to pulling the trigger.... But I'm not there yet. We're going to make another trip to play these again, and I have another dealer I plan to visit soon as well. Unless I find a piano that reaches out and grabs, I'm not going to hurry!

Yeah, no rush. The world is full of good pianos, make sure you find one you love! I dug up an older recording on our C2 if you are interested. It's since had the hammers reshaped and voiced a little softer, but this might give you an idea of the sound: https://youtu.be/sVBA_hn6JwA

I apologize that there are a couple of unisons out in this recording. This was before I started tuning and being responsible for the pianos at work.

Take care,

-joshua

OMG I love your arrangements! (Now I'm listening to Lucky/Albinoni
Thank you so much for sharing the recording! It certainly shows the C2 in a very good light as well!

BTW the video info said you used a Zoom, did you just use the internal mic? How did you get that looking down position? (I have an older zoom, not video though, but I'm assuming the H4n has a similar internal mic set up to the older audio only models). The sound quality is sooo good, did you do anything to it after recording, or is that the way the Zoom records? (Once I get a new piano I have on my radar getting a new Zoom, mine must be.... 12+ years old by now!)

Geez Louise, now I'm listening to Carmen Habanera... you are awesome!!!

heavypiano: I'd like to second ShiroKuro's comments - I am greatly enjoying your performances.

ShiroKuro,

Thanks for your compliments-I'm glad you are enjoying my videos.



The Zoom H4n is an audio-only recorder and has a decent built-in stereo mic, if memory serves right I had the lid up and the stereo mic positioned at the other end of the piano pointed towards me. I am using a tripod mounted on top of the piano in that video. I've since moved to using a counter-weighted mic stand with a camera mount to avoid the shaking that can happen when mounting the tripod onto the piano. The camera used was a Canon T2i. I combined audio and video afterwards.

I went back and loaded up the audio project and it looks like I made the following audio post-processing changes:

-24dB cut from 50.5Hz w/ 1.0 Q-factor
-3.6dB at 345.3Hz w/ 0 Q-factor
-24dB cut at 833.2Hz w/ 10.9 Q-factor

I believe I made these cuts to remove a ringing in the high treble.

Compressor set at 3.41 ratio, 15.1ms attack, 0ms hold, auto release, auto makeup. -20.6dB threshold
I used a maximizer set at 40.5% and -.3dB
Slight stereo spread used and a very small amount (1.27secs) of reverb added as well.

Hope that helps! -joshua

Thanks Dave!

Heavypiano, thanks for the explanations! That explains a lot! I was wondering how you got such great sound with the camera placement. I have never tried to do any post-processing, but once I have a nice grand, it's something I'd like to try!

For whatever it's worth I now use some different (better) gear and do way less post-processing. I think the piano had a ring that only showed up on the recording but wasn't noticeable to the ear live so I had to do a little more fixing than normal for that arrangement.