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I did see Chiltern pianos had some for £3k, as old as 1970 though. It is getting on a bit that is. for 1980's its consistently £4.5-£5k.


Richard Lawson:
£4.5k U3 1984: link
£5.5k U3 UX 1985: Link
£4.7k U3 silent 1980: Link
£2.8k U3 1970: Link

Countrywide pianos:
£5k U3 (age unknown): Link
£4.5k U3 1975: Link
£5k U3 1984: Link

Chiltern pianos (do seem cheaper than others):
£3k U3 1970-1975: Link
£4k U3 1982: Link


I am leaning towards a newer smaller piano now, rather than an older bigger one. The disparity just seems too great. If these were 20 year old pianos, instead of 40-50 year old, then perhaps 50% of new price would be reasonable, but I do feel 50% of price for something 40-50 years old is stretching things. Oddly, there seems to be very few newer used pianos around. Very little 90's, 00's for sale, it's either brand new, or very old.

Anyway I should probably stop looking as its making me want one!

Different country different pianos but with better pianos, folks seem to keep them much longer. Unless they’re doing trade ups like I did. A 2016 Schimmel C189 was sold at the Yamaha dealer in a few weeks. If you’ve got a ton of patience you could wait for a more recent used U1 or U3. Unfortunately you might spend a lot of time playing your digital. You could ask at those dealerships to let you know if they get the Yamahas or Kawai’s in trade.

I think that a forty-year-old piano will likely need a lot "reconditioning", unless that was recently done by the previous owner. A tech can examine the piano to assess that.

But if the condition is typical of a forty-year-old, then I would not buy it. I want to get some use from a piano before I start putting in money for repairs.

The £4-5k U3 pianos are from dealers, so I can only assume that they have been appropriately serviced and reconditioned. However the more I think about it, the more I think that £4-5k for a 40 year old piano compared to £5k for a spanking new K300 is not good value.

I was just browsing U1s, they are around £7800 new, compared to K300 at £4900. That's quite a large difference considering these are equivalent size and quality. And they only come with 5 years warranty compared to 10 years for the Kawai.

I understand that what is implied is something like that: "People usually think that because they are both a) Japanese and b) good quality would come to c) they have to cost the same. But c) is incorrect because one brand has 'more quality' than the other, so it can charge more for their products".

I think this is absurd, for it is highly unlikely that one brand has "more quality than the other". So, danlightbulb, I agree with you and this price difference is very odd, to say the least.

I am by no means an expert, but I have heard a few people (including my piano tuner) say that the Kawai has a warmer tone than the Yamaha. I can notice the difference between my K300 and my teachers U1. Either way, they are both great pianos.

I was in the similar situation four years ago. After using Kawai CA-65 (digital) we wanted to buy "real instrument" for our son, and we started investigation for used Yamaha uprights (U1/U3) ... after a few tryouts, and together with tryouts with new K-300/K-500, even new Essex-123, we decided for a "budget variant" and bought new K-300 (made in Japan) for around 4500E and I am pretty sure that the choice was "the best buy" Nowdays, we have to switch to the grand as it is obviously the best choice for studying piano so my opinion is that every investment over 5-6000E in upright is not good (of course, now I'm not thinking about space issues and similar, just talking about pianos). Of course, selling of K-300, 4 years old, fist owner, is not a problem like resell 40 years old Yamaha U1/3 with unknown origin.

It is worth questioning such certainties, just in case they prove incorrect.

Whereas you can sell most things easily if you price them well below their market value lets say that you want to not lose too much on your "investment" (not that I regard a piano as an investment but we'll continue the theme of the post). Which of those two, the new Kawai and the old Yamaha do you think you are likely to get the highest percentage return of the original capital on?