An opinion on this piano

Mark2229

Hey there,
Iv been wanting to take up piano for a good while now and I said that I'm going to do it before the summer ends but due to very low income i haven't even been able to get a piano or anything like that

But I have been keeping my eye out for bargains and stuff and I have just run into this


http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/14/62818414.html

Do you say its a piece of crap or would it be something i could start out on?

I just wanna get an opinion before i waste money

Cheers,
Mark

Oink

I'll say straight away that I'm no expert, but it's very surprising to see an upright piano go for that price...

You definitely need to try it, but if it's completely out of tune then you may not actually know what you're buying until AFTER you've got a tuner in?? You'd be paying the tuner some good money (don't know how much, but it's not €20 anyway), and then you might have a piano that plays so bad it puts you off playing. Some pianos simply cannot be tuned properly anymore because of the state they're in, so... I don't know.

Unless anyone has better advice, I'd say talk to the seller, ask them what kind of work needs to be done, if any. At least you'll have an idea.

Best of luck with that.

Fyan

Hi Mark,

For me, I really need to try it before I buy an acoustic piano. Usually a piano like this old (looks like over 50 years old) would be very loud and sounds muddy because the wood pieces and strings are loose and sometimes it's not possible to tune back to pitches precisely. I would really take care of my ears so I won't go for an old piano that cannot be tuned to standard pitch. I would also not buy a piano that is too loud and blurring because I need to practice and teach a lot (playing finger exercises strongly over 2 hours on that kind of piano will drive me mad).

If you are going to play piano seriously, you'd better get a nice piano. However if you just want to amuse yourself when you are getting bored, it doesn't matter I guess.

Good luck!

Let me know if you have other questions, I'd love to tell you my opinions.

Fyan

For tuning a "well tuned" piano is about 90Euro but for a "hard to be tuned" piano could be up to 300Euro or more because they might need to fix or change parts.

Fyan

And...... another suggestion, if you are just beginner level and you don't want to spend much money before you really take piano seriously, you can buy a second hand digital piano (not a keyboard) so you don't have any cost on tuning. There are also very cheap new digital pianos you can find on the website e.g. Gear4music.com, those cheap ones just differ from dear ones in terms of sound and touching but it might not be a big issue for you I guess.

kawaii

Fyan wrote: »

And...... another suggestion, if you are just beginner level and you don't want to spend much money before you really take piano seriously, you can buy a second hand digital piano (not a keyboard) so you don't have any cost on tuning. There are also very cheap new digital pianos you can find on the website e.g. Gear4music.com, those cheap ones just differ from dear ones in terms of sound and touching but it might not be a big issue for you I guess.

+1

I'll add that a decent digital piano will probably feel and sound better than a poor upright. Some awful yokes out there!

The Raven.

Mark2229 wrote: »

Hey there,
Iv been wanting to take up piano for a good while now and I said that I'm going to do it before the summer ends but due to very low income i haven't even been able to get a piano or anything like that

But I have been keeping my eye out for bargains and stuff and I have just run into this


http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/14/62818414.html

Do you say its a piece of crap or would it be something i could start out on?

I just wanna get an opinion before i waste money

Cheers,
Mark

It is impossible to judge a piano without playing it. You can get a reasonably good second-hand piano if you shop around. It would be wise to bring an experienced pianist or piano tuner with you when choosing one.

If you are serious about learning to play the piano, I would advise against buying a digital one, especially starting out, as there are disadvantages in terms of the quality of playing. They lack sensitivity and are lighter to the touch. This will cause problems later on when you try to play an acoustic piano as it requires more strength in the fingers.

Digital pianos have the advantage of being more portable, having different voices, and never needing to be tuned. However, they are limited in terms of tone and dynamics, and they inhibit technique.

OldStavros

6/10

Mark2229

Thanks for all the advice given. After seeing all the things that could be wrong with buying an upright piano second hand iv decided to go with a digital piano
Is there anyone that would come recommended for a beginner?

Also would it be good to start out on something with 88 keys?

Cheers,
Mark

rcaz

Mark2229 wrote: »

Also would it be good to start out on something with 88 keys?

I'm not a very experienced pianist (been playing seriously for around a year, but that's self-taught seriously ), but 88 keys would be ideal - that's a real piano size. But if you can't afford it (like me), I haven't had any need for more than my 73 keys.

I reckon you could get away with 73 keys for starting, but if you get serious, I guess you'll want 88. But anyway, if you get serious, you'll be wanting a high end digital piano or an acoustic one

kawaii

Yamaha's P 60-85 range are good. (P 60 being the oldest (I think) and P 85 being the newest).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-P-85-Digital-Stage-Piano/dp/B001BWQXUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1281433836&sr=8-1

I've been using a P 70 for the past few years and it does the job better than a lot of real pianos I've played. It has weighted keys - the sound and feel are better than any of Roland's digital pianos which I've tried.

You should be able to pick them up for cheap if you look second hand; and they're common enough so you should find one easily!