Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Yamaha M302 vs. M304T vs. M306T

Hello everyone. In my search for a sub-$5k upright I've come across these three models. I haven't been able to find any specific information regarding the differences between them. Does anyone have any information on this?

Probably the ages, I think they're typically furniture-style consoles. It's possible the "T" means that it was made in their former factory in Thomaston, Georgia, rather than Japan.

The dealers here are likely the most knowledgeable about these pianos. When I started taking lessons in the early 90s, my parents bought me an M306. All of these pianos were definitely built as ‘entry level’ console pianos with ‘decorator’ cases — so they each have a particular design aesthetic. The 302 and 304 were 42”. When I pick up the 306, I find numbers between 42 and 44”, so it might be a little taller than the other two models. The cases have different furniture styles in all of them. You can Google them to see what they look like.

I think TerminalDegree is correct about the T designating that the pianos were built in Thomaston, GA.

I don’t think Yamaha has made these pianos for quite some time, so my guess is that these pianos are 20-40 years old. I don’t think you should be paying anything close to $5000 for one of these pianos.
Also, if you budget is up to $5000, I would think that there are better pianos at this price point that you could find.

Thanks! Yeah, I've gathered that they are entry level. The three I've found are not quite $5000:

M302 1985 - $3700
M304T 1988 - $4000
M306T 1989 - $3300

I've found some better pianos closer to the $5k mark that I am leaning towards. I don't think the above pianos are bad necessarily, they had a nice, light action, but they lacked low end and resonance compared to the larger models.

On the topic of Yamaha's, what do you think of the M500's? I've also found a few of those. The most promising is a 2004 M500G for $4900.

Those M30X pianos seem overpriced to me given their age and given what they are, with the caveat that it seems to be a seller’s market. Check out PianoBuyer’s ‘what’s it worth?’ Article; you can use the price of an M560 as the closest comparable for a new piano, and based on this, I’m calculating somewhere in the ball park of 1500 to 2000, if the piano is in good condition. If it’s being sold by a dealer, you could add 20% to this, which would get you to a max price of $2400.

I think the M500s are the successor of these earlier decorator models. Using the same kind of price analysis, $4900 again seems a little high to me. I would think you could reasonably negotiate to $3000 for a private sale and $3500 from a dealer. Again with the caveat that it’s a seller’s market, inflation is high, and there may just be someone who’s willing to pay nearly $5000 for this almost 20 year old M500.