Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Steinway K52: good deal or bad deal

I bought a 2002/ 2003 Steinway K52 for $17,290.00. Ebony finish, lightly used, in overall very good condition.

Good deal, bad deal, fair deal?

I would say that since this is now a "done deal" there is little point in worrying about whether it was good or bad. What difference would it make if someone tells this was not a good deal? Someone else will undoubtedly tell you that it was a fair deal. If the piano pleases you, at this point that is all that should matter.

Regards,

That's what you call "post-purchase" evaluation. Silly as it may appear, we all do that. Do you ever thought whether you got a good after buying a car?

Confucian:
"post-purchase" evaluation
...we all do that.

Not everyone, perhaps only those who purchased in haste instead of researching/reflecting beforehand. If your Steinway turns out (from what people say here) to have been a bad deal, what will you do about it? Go back to the shop and slash the salesperson's tyres[1]? As Bruce says, if you like the piano, just enjoy playing it and consider what you spent on it to have been a good deal. In any case, you can't play music on numbers in a bank account. Congratulations on your (new-to-you) piano.

-Michael B.
[1] The tyres on his/her car, obviously. Though I've seen a few piano salesmen that carry 'spare tyres' as well .

The S&S K52 is probably the ultimate vertical piano in the world. When prepped out it is remarkable. MSRP is $26400. A good deal on a new one would be about $22k. Your price is a fair deal with piano in good condition.

I beg to differ. No piano holds the floor down better than our 1914 M&R. It self adjusts to just the perfect honky-tonk sound in a matter of days if any tuner dares to mess with it. And don't get me started on the action - I mean it, I can't get started on the action.

Take that Steinway!

I disagree.
I like this vertical piano better.

You have to agree with Kenny.

Not wanting to take away from the excitement of your new purchase Confucian, but I will need to add this for the archives...

To many, the Steinway K52 is not the ultimate vertical.

Another nice one? Yes. One to be proud of? Yes.

But there were many more 'ultimates' that had my favor.

Confucian...Enjoy your piano and play the heck out of it and be happy! LL

Edit...I wish that Craigon had not made me post this to ruin your fun, but I couldn't let that statement stand. S S is just one among many nice verticals.

Confucious says:

"Things that are done, it is needless to speak about; things that have had their course, it is needless to remonstrate about; things that are past, it is needless to blame."

You own a great piano, congratulations, subjectively some may prefer others that are great as well. It will become a great deal when it inspires you to become the pianist you want to be.

+1 to the lilylady. But then, at some point, it all becomes subjective, and if you love your piano, the maybe it is the best vertical ever. . .

Congratulations and enjoy it!

Todd

grands increase in price expontentially as their quality increases.

i don't find the price of high quality uprights outrageous..

(you should have heard my 1914 K 52.. it was incredible.. so clear and pure, so strong.

the action was almost 90 years old - it needed new dampers and hammers for a start, but it was intrinsically incredible.

Enjoy and don't worry about the price you paid. You should also take Lillylady seriously as she played A LOT of high end uprights in her search. Steinway is NOT the only game in town.

The ultimate vertical?

Bechstein is quite nice. The Fandrich action mated with the right piano would certainly be interesting. The Petrof 131 may just be the sleeper among the elites.

But...the best vertical I've ever been around was an old K52.

I wouldn't worry about the money, it's a done deal. Enjoy the piano.

Before I go, I will let you in on a secret...Want to know who makes the best piano in the world? Go look at the name on the fallboard of the piano in your house, the one you own, the one you can make music on whenever you choose.

There are times, many times, when it's the best piano in the world...

jolly took the words right out of my mouth. exactly.

my first choice in a vertical would be a bechstein. and for value, you can't beat the petrof. and what darrell fandrich forgot about piano building, most of us never knew.

but it is a dangerous game to ask what we think of your purchase after it is a done deal. this is a pretty opinionated place.

enjoy your new piano. none of us are playing it--you are!

oh, and btw, just for the sake of anybody else in the market for a k52--the old vintage k52s are very different pianos than the new, modern k52s, and i'm speaking strictly from the perspective of how they sound and play. i have no idea if the design has changed or not, though i suspect it has.

"MSRP is $26400. A good deal on a new one would be about $22k"

---and, yet, you will never get this price in my store. How did you arrive at this being a good deal, Craigen? You know and I know that MSRP is not as a reliable figure as some would like it to be. One only needs to read Larry Fine's response to Steve Cohen's post to understand this.

My impression is this is a "bad" deal, but
for reasons that don't have to do with
cost. This sounds like you're making
the the error of trying to improve
your playing by buying a more expensive
piano. This would be understandable,
given your tubulent history with respect
to the piano: you start on an Essex, after
many yrs. away from playing, and immediately
run into problems. Therefore, you
ditch the Essex, thinking that the
more expensive brand will help, but
you can't improve playing by buying
a more expensive piano. I suspect the
former owner sold it for this very
reason, it didn't improve his playing.

Except that he never said he bought it to improve his playing. It could be his (or her) first piano, for all we know.

PianoMadam,

My friends said they bought theirs new for $21,800 (plus tax) just over a year ago. I don't know if prices have gone up since last summer.

It was/is an ok piano. Not spectacular sounding to me, and not as nice (IMO) as the Charles Walter I thought they should go look at. To be fair, when tried it, it still needed a lot of work, and Ruggero's preps their pianos beautifully.

Still, the one who plays piano was happy because it was a Steinway. She wanted a Steinway, they walked in, figured they were offered a good price, and bought it. Hopefully it's a better piano today than in was when new! Either way, it seems 22k should be close to a fair price.

I know Steinway says they don't discount, but my friends got a discount, and I was offered 15% off "retail" prices. I was living in Vermont and shopping in New England. They were here in NC. Maybe fixed overhead is much lower than where you are.
Todd