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I am a new poster to this site, but have been reading through some of the forums for a while now.

I started my search for a piano about 8 months ago. I took lessons for 6 years when I was young. I have a 12 year old daughter now who is taking lessons and I have started playing again. We are currently renting a Kawai K-50, but I think I am ready to purchase a new piano.

I have to get an upright because there is not room in my house for a grand.

I have leaned towards the Yamaha U1 since I first started reading up. And my daughter and I both like the feel of the Yamahas compared to the Kawai we have been using.

I have found a store - in the process of liquidating - that is offering <$8000 for a new mahogany U1.

I was wondering if this was a good price?

Thanks for any input you all may have.

See if you can find an authorized Yamaha dealer in your area that is not going out of business who will match the price and be around to give you post-delivery service and be there for you if warranty issues pop up.

In California's highly competitive market, you should be able to get that same price from a dealer who's not liquidating and who will include delivery and at least one in-home tuning.

IMO the dealer's main value, post sale, is as a conduit to the distributor if warranty problems arise. Those problems are rare. You'll probably be working with your own tech anyway, and techs know how to contact the distributor. That said, I'd be looking for <$7k from a liquidating dealer, to compensate you for the potential extra aggravation.

Yamaha has a Service Bond program, I think it's called, re dealer preparation. No matter whom you buy from, it'd be a good idea to learn what will be done to your piano re preparation.

PS, when you chose your screen name, were you thinking of the novel/film, David and Lisa?

Well, I was finally able to visit an authorized Yamaha dealer and they did beat the price the liquidator was offering. They are a dealer who has been in business for over 30 years so that is re-assuring. I have a strong feeling this will be the purchase I make. However, the very helpful and friendly (no pressure) salesman did show me an Essex and a Boston that were very nice. So I will browse the postings here to see what feedback I can get on those. To FogVilleLad: my screen name has a very personal meaning, not specific to the novel/film/play. However, I am aware of it's existence. It usually tells me something about the person who makes that association!

After reading through a few of the postings here, Essex and Boston may be to "controversial" for my taste.

The Steinway name is impressive, but I don't want that to be the reason I choose that piano. The Essex, while definitely more affordable, doesn't seem to have the long term/respected reputation I am looking for.

However, I do have a concern. I saw a posting from a couple of weeks ago from another California piano shopper who was offered $6000 for a Yamaha U1. The price I was offered today was about $1500 more than that, but includes tuning/prep prior to delivery and one tuning after delivery. FYI - I am shopping in San Diego - not sure if that makes any difference.

If you're still referring to the walnut finish, it's a good price. Satin walnut adds c.$1400 to Fine's List Price for the polished ebony base model. Polished Walnut adds c.$3k. Not sure why that should be. Normally creating a true satin finish requires handwork. Someone else should be able to tell you about the finishes. If you don't get responses here, maybe start a new thread.

(Like other price lists, there are probably occasional errors in the supplement. This could be one of them.)

As always, buy the piano, not the deal. If your ears prefer an Essex or a Boston, buy it. You'll be living with the piano, not the deal. IMO buyers pay a premium for the association with the Steinway name.

Again as always, it's tone, touch, and appearance - to your ears, your fingers, and your eyes. Choosing on that basis greatly reduces the possibility that you'll walk into someone's home and hear a piano that you realize is the one that you should have bought.

Fogville: good advice, although I think the OP was originally looking at mahogany, not walnut.

Yamaha do a polished mahogany and two types of walnut 'satin' - one is 'open grain' where you can feel the grain of the wood with your fingernail - this is a very serviceable, durable and attractive finish. The other 'satin' is a closed grain which means the surface is poly'd - completely smooth, and then given a matt or satin top coat. This finish is less durable, is more difficult to repair, looks rather artificial or plastic-like and areas which are regularly touched or wiped eventually go shiny.

All woods are likely to fade or darken, depending on their particular reaction to sunlight. Obviously, keep the piano out of direct sun, but even so, over the years strong daylight will darken lighter woods such as beech, maple, light walnut, teak and fade darker woods, such as mahogany, dark walnut and rosewood.

Price wise, you pay a high pemium for the wood finishes because Yamaha make so few compared with the polished ebony (all to do with economies of scale)

Yamaha's mahogany polished finishes are stunning. They utilize a Sapeli mahogany that features black or dark ribboning throughout. There is a material cost difference to go from the ebony polish finish to the wood finishes.

Chris, not sure how I managed to read the OP's post twice and still get it wrong;-)


davidnlisa, the price for polished mahogany is the same as that for polished walnut.

Fogville, it's the second bottle of red that does the damage..

Thanks for all the good advice!

I have been trying to decide based on how the piano feels to me (and my daughter also). I will take the time to play the Boston before I really do decide.

Thanks again.

Agreed Marty.

For the benefit of European readers, the Yamaha polished dark mahogany on the British built U1 and British cabineted U3 is even more stunning. They use crown cut mahogany, which has more of an oval figuring. Sadly, production is ending in September.