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The OP is not wanting to spend this much.I agree if one
can find a very good used upright like your's Sweelinck
that would be great but these may be difficult to find.
Otherwise a K300 or U1 one are great for someone the
OP's level.
However a U3 or K500 have longer strings, bigger soundboards
So finding a way to get one of these ,used or new would
be great !

Regarding these so-called college/institution sales. They are almost all bogus, and most of us know it. They typically haul in pianos from some warehouse without telling the buyer that these pianos are mixed in with actual pianos from the institution in question...if the sale even includes any pianos from the institution. Who knows? Then there are the high-pressure sales tactics. Ugh. Even if the college or institution was selling only their own used pianos, the question remains why anyone would want a beat-up piano from a practice room or rehearsal space. Of course the people who go to these sales are not, as a rule, educated piano buyers but naives who think they are getting a deal when they are getting junk.

Sorry, Justin, but the skepticism and cynicism about piano dealers is well earned. It used to be the same with car dealers, but now anyone can find what is considered a fair price for a new or used car online, then present that to the dealer who almost always accepts it. We know what the car dealer likely paid for the vehicle, what the "hidden" fees are and how to avoid them, what kick-backs they may be getting from the manufacturer, etc.

There is no such help with pianos, so of course we are skeptical of piano dealers. For instance, Portland Pianos does not provide the price of any of their used piano inventory online. This forces people to call or email you...or come into the store. I understand you want people to come in (so you can "sell" them), but why not be up front about your prices? Just one example of why you see cynicism. The industry is anything but transparent, so of course we are suspicious...and should be. It may be that Portland Pianos is a fine dealership, but that's hard to tell when prices are obscured from the get-go. That doesn't encourage trust.

So all we can do as piano buyers is go to dealerships and try to get a sense of how honest and forthright the dealer is. Does the store look neat and tidy or junky? Are the pianos well prepped (at least tuned)? Does the sales person leave you alone to play or does he/she hover and keep talking? Does the dealer try to guide you toward a specific brand or piano (i.e., are they trying to maximize their profit by "guiding" you to pianos on which they stand to make the most profit)? If you say you want a technician to check out the piano, do they offer you to a technician they "know" who will do it for free? If you say you want to look at a specific size of instrument, do they try to up-sell or down-sell to a different size (i.e., clearing inventory)? Do they tell you that a piano you like has other people interested in it (so you had better act fast)? Do you see any actual technicians in the store, because at good dealerships they are there almost all the time, prepping pianos. Will the sales person let you talk to the technicians? Etc., etc, and so forth.

Look, we all understand that dealers need to sell pianos at a profit to stay in business. No one is begrudging them that. But for heaven's sake be forthright with customers and stop the sleazy sales crap.

For certain there are good, honest dealers and there are not so good, not so honest dealers. Same as in any industry selling to the public. The buying public needs to do some homework so they can be informed shoppers. The good dealers will have no problem dealing with these informed buyers. In this day and age, anyone who doesn't hop online and do some research (maybe landing here on PW and maybe venturing into the Piano Buyer's Guide) is just not trying.

Yeah, that's definitely true. There's so much info available online I don't see how anyone could make that kind of purchase totally uninformed.



That's exactly what I mean. It's a shame that the industry has (probably rightfully) earned that reputation. I guess I shouldn't complain, it does work in my favor. As you pointed out, its not that hard to figure out who the good guys are. Especially in the age of online reviews where you can compare notes with other shoppers and see what their experiences are, word gets around when you stand out by treating people right.

If the alternative is a U1 or K300, I think it is worth looking at some vintage instruments. I might even prefer a Baldwin Acrosonic spinet to a K300 or U1. The shorter keys would be my main issue with one, but they usually have lovely treble tone. Matching or exceeding the quality of a U3 or K500 with a vintage upright would take longer to find it, but that also can be done.

You would take a vintage spinet over a U1 or a K300 ? I think you are either a Romantic
(which is fine)I like some older pianos as well., but a spinet no !
This idea that new Japanese uprights are no good however is incorrect ! I do like your
Idealism Sweelinck,and can relate to it myself in my own search. I had 3 uprights in the
course of a few months.Two were returned, the 3rd one stayed .
I started my own music as a kid with a pre war Seiler, yes it sang but the key resistance was
"slack" but not bad ! (It was even and responsive)Later I needed something with a better action and my parents bought a Kawai grand.
The OP sounds like more or less a beginner and really needs an upright with a good action.
That is important .An old upright with an unequal action needs to be avoided .
A good newer upright piano will provide something for the OP to develop thier technique on.
I am not saying it is not possible with an old upright, but the piano needs to be even and responsive.
I think it is easier to make a mistake with an older upright !
A spinet is no good for developing good tone quality !

I would think a Schimmel 130 Konzert would have a great tone ! I have not tried one ,but yes I cannot
imagine that Schimmel has taken a " nose dive" just because it is owned by PR !
They still make these in Germany do they not !
Boston uprights have a mellow tone but I may as well be talking about the" man in the moon " "Boston pianos "do not seem to have a face ? They should change the name to something else perhaps? They are quite highly priced for a piano on the same level as the Kawai or Yamaha uprights.

I went to a big piano sale about 20 years ago. It wasn't in a school though; it was in the local national guard armory, so I'm pretty sure they were trucked in from elsewhere! Anyway, I was looking at some studio uprights, and the "sales guy" turned out to be a guy I knew from college choir a couple years earlier. So, I thought it was no problem, no pressure etc, and I told him I was just looking. Well, the next thing you know, he turned up again with "the closer." I decided to just keep playing, and they wandered off in search of their next victims.

Not generally, but a Baldwin Acrosonic, potentially yes. Have you ever played one?

With regard to university piano sales, I’m pretty sure that having the university and its music dept lend their name to an annual piano sale to be held at a provided university facility is part of the lease agreement between the university and piano dealer/distributor, and enables the university to get a more attractive price on the lease. That the pianos used by the university are part of the sale is almost incidental, other than creating an aura of authority, that a buyer is purported to be getting an instrument that was selected by university music faculty.

Absolutely. I would not have a piano where that was not the case.

Not sure when Pearl River bought them but I think the one I tried was from before the PR acquisition. These instruments have a very unique action, a kind of manufactured feel to them, only way I can describe it. You probably will either love the action or hate it. I found it very smooth. But the high end sustain was just average on the piano I played. It was not on par with the Bosendorfer or Grotrian verticals that I also tried. I likely would prefer a YUS5 or K800 to any Schimmel upright

The largest Acrosonic is 42.5” vs 48” for a U1. Perhaps I should have said console instead of spinet, but I generally lump those two categories together.

No I have not ever played a console Acrosonic or heard one ,yet I have read that quite a few PW members have had one of these to practice on .I have also heard that yes they were really good.
Baldwin must have been a remarkable manufacturer making wonderful grands and uprights like
these.
I am not from Canada originally but I presume a few of these are still around ?

Tons of them are still around.

Here's the best sounding Acrosonic I've been able to find on youtube. The vast majority of Acrosonics showcased on youtube are much brighter and usually out of tune. Of course, some of those date back to the 1940s and probably have had little to no work done on them.

https://youtu.be/WFNt15GpKRU

In my search for a piano recently, I came across a used Baldwin (not Acrosonic) but maybe 45-46”? Didn’t seem too tall but not a spinet either. The sound was big bold and beautiful. Too bad I didn’t like the look of it though.

And someone mentioned Schimmel above and said it’s a very unique action that you either love or hate. Put me in the hate camp. Hated every one I tried. And I didn’t get it because it was supposed to be high-end.

I ended up with the tried and true, can’t make a mistake with it K500.

So you ultimately bought a K500 ???? Guess I missed that.

Yes I did! I announced it in one of the threads but I guess it was inconspicuous. I think it’s the safest choice for me.

I see you have one too.

It’s not here yet but that’s because my husband needs to fix the piano room first so we can give it a proper welcome.

It's not unique. It's Renner, as used by most of the European makers.

I would characterize them as "less bad" rather than "really good" when it comes to console designs and executions.