Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Looking at used Yamaha GC1

My family is considering buying an acoustic piano - there are no players in the house right now, but my 5 year old and husband both want to learn. We found a very nice used 2007 Yamaha GC1 with a Mark III Disklavier system (serial number 6207463). It’s listed at $12,000. The sound on it is absolutely amazing. We love the player system, and we would be interested in upgrading to the new Disklavier system.

Based on my research, I thought 2007 Yamaha’s came with the Mark IV. The serial number does indicate 2007 and being built in Japan. I am not sure how realistic an upgrade to the new system even is.

How can I tell if a used piano is in good shape? Can it really be upgraded without damaging the piano? Is the price fair?

Thank you for any help!

Hi, welcome!

The answer is you need to hire a piano technician to check if it's in good shape, you can't do it yourself!

Hi
I’m assuming you don’t know any technicians in your area. The Piano Technicians Guild has a search function to locate a tech near you
Ptg.org

@u2ecila:
Yamaha has an upgrade console unit for older Mark systems called DKC-850. It costs about $1400, does not need expert installation, you would simply unhook your old Mark control console and plug in the new one.

It will replace the older unit with capabilities of today's technologies, which means you can say goodbye to floppy disks&CD-ROM ports, the new unit is compatible with USB thumb drives and internet access, it even steps up to the capabilities of the newest ENSPIRE series in terms of functions including Disklavier Radio&TV.

You can get this at any authorized Yamaha dealer(piano) in your area, or simply order them, it comes in two boxes, one is the Upgrade console, the other one the mounting bracket.

A 2007 GC1 with Mark 3 for $12k sounds like a wonderful deal, I would recommend you take action before the piano becomes unavailable. Make sure the dealer has an adequate warranty(hopefully 10 years) to guarantees the quality of the piano.

I wish you the best of luck!

12k for a 12 year old GC1 doesn't seem like a particularly amazing price. A new GC1M SMP is 24k, so 12-14k on a new one would be a good price. For a 12 year old used model, probably 8-10k would be a decent final price.

Are you suggesting close to 50% off SMP on a new GC1M? Has that become normal nowadays? Also did you take into account the player system?

Following. I would like to know what is the realistic price to get from the dealer on a new GC1 (maybe 2019) without a player system. 24k is an asking price pretty much everywhere

Yes, and yes. For example, a 2016 GC1M is for sale for $9k (no player, should be $2-3k to add):

https://www.pianomart.com/buy-a-piano/view?id=39325

Evidence, please for the new piano price that you're saying is attainable?
The ad you linked is for a used piano and is so devoid of information it looks like a typical Craigslist scam ad.

You'll need to make some offers to some dealers, 12-14k for a new gc1m should be do-able. I can't give you proof from pianomart tho

A relative of mine in Utah bought a new GC1 in 2008 for $18K. I am no expert on new piano prices but at least I can share this one data point.

A 42% to 50% discount from SMP isn't do-able in 99% of cases, and suggesting that it is in any way a normal price to expect is, frankly, bad advice to the forum.

I suppose if it were a B-stock warranty return, an institutional loan program piano (used for a year or two, but being sold as new because it's never technically been sold), or a store going out of business (no after-sale support, and needing to liquidate immediately), that could occur. But, in a normal situation, you're dreaming. I'm not just talking about individual retail sales, that's not been my experience in institutional purchases, nor purchases from institutional loan programs (including Yamaha loan programs), and not even among the most price-competitive dealers in the nearest major metropolitan area (Atlanta, which has a lot of new and used piano dealers), or the last place I lived (Minneapolis/St.Paul, with a couple of major players notoriously aggressive about price, but not service). The only purchasing scenario I don't know much about are group buys, but I tend not to suggest people purchase unprepped inventory, straight from the crate.

Three weeks since the OP posted his/her query, and not a word since.

Regards,

Not sure what happened to the OP but thank you. I was readying a bag to put over my head and my dogs head for the shame of overpaying for a new piano