A piano is one of most stable, secure and satisfying investments you can make. But more importantly, it’s one of the most popular and long lasting musical instruments as well as, of course, being a very beautiful and prominent piece of furniture in whatever setting. It is an educational investment as well. As a musical instrument it’s one of the easiest to learn and yet remains infinitely challenging to accomplished artists. Playing the piano can bring endless personal pleasure, develop the student’s mind and coordination and helps people to socialize. What other single activity can you commence at the Kindergarten age (or at any other age for that matter) and continue practicing and enjoying right into old age, and never feel out of place?
Not only has this complex but yet durable instrument stood the test of time, but music lovers around the world have recognized and appreciated the fact that pianos simply don’t change from decade to decade as other trendy or high-tech items do. Not many products give you that kind of security these days. In fact, the piano hasn’t really undergone any fundamental changes in over a hundred years and this is probably the reason that most well maintained pianos, over time, at the least, hold and often exceed their original value.
To suggest that the piano is a traditional instrument in today’s fast changing world would be an understatement. With all the brilliant innovations over the last 10 decades it’s interesting to note that: a) pianos are still in demand and b) no one has really come up with any significant changes or improvements on their basic design and function.
Is it any wonder that most musicians consider the piano to be the “King of Instruments”. And rightly so. You have the whole range of the orchestra on your keyboard. You can play melody, harmony and rhythm all at the same time. Many instruments utilize only single notes. The piano allows you to express a large variety of musical nuances, is extremely versatile and lends itself to performing any kind of musical style you can think of.
Not only does it sound pleasant as a solo instrument, but the piano is particularly well suited for accompanying singers as well as most other instruments. Also, you don’t need to be an accomplished pianist to play “perfectly well”. You can achieve any level of proficiency that your talent allows and keep playing well at that level, or keep advancing at your own pace, even until you are able to perform publicly or at concerts. The sky’s the limit. Because of all the notes on a piano being so visual, and relatively easy to learn, it enables the student to get a better understanding of music in addition to making it an ideal springboard to learning other instruments.
Pianos that are reasonably well maintained have shown to hold their value over the years. The reason for this is that pianos are not as susceptible to obsolescence as most other consumer items. The basic design and construction of pianos is generally very durable and has not changed much over the last century. Unlike electronic consumer items, for example, which change and become obsolete almost by the hour.
What has changed in the manufacture of pianos are some of the modernized manufacturing methods and globalization, making it possible to produce them in various parts of the world using very efficient means of production. Globalization also refers to the securing certain components from other parts of the world that meet the manufacturer’s specifications. This even applies, to some degree, to the largely hand crafted pianos.
History has shown that a decent quality piano is an extremely durable product. After all, how many items do you own, including furniture, that have to withstand over 20 tons of combined tension (caused by the strings in this case). Most older pianos can be restored depending on the level of use they’ve had. The restoration costs will depend on 1) the original quality of the piano, 2) the degree of use (or abuse) it’s had and 3) the degree of restoration desired. This makes pianos quite predictable and a solid investment.
If you buy a new piano today and sell it in one year, chances are you’re probably going to suffer a loss even though some merchants may tell you otherwise. The same model that you’re trying to sell can be bought new for a small percentage more. However, if you try and sell your well maintained piano in about 10 years, the similar new model will have jumped considerably in price. But yours, being in good or perhaps even excellent condition, will get you close to, if not even more than what you originally paid because you’re saving the buyer a substantial sum of money. The trick is keeping your piano well maintained and serviced. Also, certain pianos, because of their reputation and brand, will have a higher resale value than others. With certain “investment grade” pianos you can even realize a fair amount of appreciation.
It is a well established fact that pianos can last a long time. “It’s the nature of the beast”. Pianos have always been constructed to withstand a lot of use and frequent moves. Some of the old uprights, which have now reached an age of 80-100 years and beyond, were almost over-designed and have proven to be extremely rugged and durable. Even many of the newer modern brands are still designed with easily 30-50 years of use in mind. With proper care and maintenance a piano can last almost indefinitely. Very few items you’ll ever buy, with even much less complexity, will last this long. Of course with abuse and neglect you can shorten the life of your piano greatly, or perhaps some future owner can expect to spend a substantial amount of dollars restoring and rebuilding it.
Generally grands tend to last longer than verticals. They’re simply built to withstand more playing. The reason being is that grands are designed more for the serious piano student and as a result are constructed using more and heavier materials, built to finer tolerances, have more sensitive, faster and considerably more complicated and sophisticated actions.
Finding a dealer that is knowledgeable and trustworthy is of paramount importance since they can be largely responsible for your satisfactory purchase.
The price you should pay for your piano will depend largely on how you answer the questions below.
- Do you have a fixed budget in mind or is there some flexibility?
- Will it be a grand or vertical piano?
- What size of grand or vertical?
- What is your choice of cabinet style and wood finish?
- Are you able to distinguish sound and touch differences between makes and models?
- Will it be a new or used piano?
- Are you able to appreciate the subtle quality differences between makes and models?
- What use will the piano be put to now?
- What possible use will it be put to in the future?
- Will this be a long term investment?
- Who will be playing it?
- Is the person buying the instrument also a player?
- What are your pre
- conceived biases (if any)? And why?
- Do you have a preference toward a particular brand? Why?
- Do you have any preference as to country of origin (America, Europe, Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia) and if so, why? This will also affect the price.
- Will brand name identification be an issue? Or is it price/value relationship?
- Have you done some objective research into pianos and piano buying? If so, how have you done this?
- Has your research been through visiting piano stores, reading or personal consultation?
- If your research has been through personal consultation , are these individuals qualified experts, are they objective, just friends trying to be helpful or someone with an agenda?
- How much space do you have for a piano?
- What have you seen and been impressed with so far? Why?
- Will you be basing your decision mostly on technical data, consumer ratings, reputation of the store, referral or are you also expecting to “fall in love” with the piano you decide upon?
Because most of us are more familiar with the prices of items such as clothing, appliances, vehicles, electronics and homes, the prospect of determining the price that should be paid for a piano, which for many of us, is a once in a life-time purchase, can be a little scary to say the least. But it doesn’t need to be. It can also be a fun experience.
Even many teachers and musicians don’t necessarily have a good understanding of what the current cost of pianos are. New pianos can range anywhere from about $2400 - $260,000. That’s obviously a huge range. A more relevant question to ask than how much pianos cost, is how does the industry establish its pricing in the first place and is the price for a given piano necessarily in keeping with the piano being considered? Other than the manufacturers suggested list price, there is no mechanism in place to govern the selling price of pianos. It’s a good idea for you to visit a dealer you can trust and verify what he is telling you.
A reputable piano dealer should be able to show you the MSLP on any given brand. MSLP prices are usually a percentage of the true cost of producing that particular piano even if the dealer should decide to sell below that price. Let’s face it, some pianos have the advantage of being mass produced at a quality and price level that is perfectly acceptable to the average consumer. Other brands, which belong in the high to ultra high end category have much lower production volumes, employ the use of more hand crafting, more stringent quality control and therefore produce a much superior instrument built to altogether different standards. These differences cannot always be recognized by everyone.
But let’s just express it in more practical terms. The average customer when buying a new grand piano, for example, is going to invest about $12,000 – $25,000. For the customer looking for a medium quality consumer grade grand they’re going to invest between $8000 - $17,000 (depending on the size and brand). For grand customers looking for the higher end it’s going to be between $20,000 - $40,000 (depending on the size and brand) and for the absolute ultra high-end high performance grands anywhere from $ 33,000 - $159,000 (depending on the size and brand). For a new vertical piano the average customer will invest about $3900 - $7500. Prices for entry level to medium quality verticals can range from about $2300 - $7000. For the higher end verticals the range is about $7000 - $10,000 and for the ultimate top tier high performance verticals (usually German) prices can vary anywhere from $17,000 - $39,000.
So, in comparing “apples to apples” one must do the same with pianos in establishing their price and value. It would make no sense for two customers to compare their recent piano purchases with one another as one of them thinks he got a super deal while the other thinks he vastly overpaid. If one of them bought a used bottom end baby grand piano (4ft. 7in.) in polished ebony advertised in the paper and paid $5900 with no guarantee and the other person bought a brand new ultra high end (6ft. 3in.) Bechstein German grand in pyramid mahogany with artisan inlays and paid $59,000, then what do these 2 piano purchases have in common with each other than that they both have 88 black and white keys and make a sound? Therefore this comparison becomes absurd, and the conclusions that these 2 customers have drawn from their comparison becomes equally absurd.
In order to make a fair cost comparison, one must first take the following into consideration:
- Country of origin (this will have a bearing on the price)
- New or used?
- Which brand?
- If grand piano, which size, finish and cabinet style?
- If vertical piano, which size, finish and cabinet style
- Which manufacturer? Reputation and history of manufacturer.
- Newer factory or old established one?
- Mass produced or mostly hand crafted?
- How has the particular manufacturer (including the various models they produce) been rated in consumer reports and other more objective sources?
- Does the manufacturer produce only their one “flagship” series or do they offer less expensive series under different brand names that they own and control as well?
- Selection of models at dealership, pricing, quality of information dispensed, reputation and service of dealership?
- How do you FEEL when playing and looking at the piano you are considering?
As mentioned above, another area to be careful about, is for example, taking two manufacturers of the highest quality performance pianos where one or perhaps both also produce themselves (or have produced for them) several series of pianos less expensive and of lesser quality than their flagship series, and then comparing these particular models belonging to the different categories.
For example, it would be unfair to compare an “Essex” brand grand piano (an economy series made for Steinway by Pearl River in China and sold only through Steinway dealers) in a given size with a Mason and Hamlin grand of the same size and then suggest that you can buy a “Steinway” for a fraction of the price of a “Mason and Hamlin”? Or conversely suggest, that, after this unfair comparison, Mason and Hamlins are much more expensive than Steinways. How erroneous. So to be realistic you would have to say, compare a Mason and Hamlin model “AA” (6ft. 4in.) in satin ebony with a Steinway model “A” (6 ft. 2in.) in satin ebony. These instruments are at least in a similar category even though there are differences.. See Mason and Hamlin vs. Steinway comparison…..
Within a given manufacturer pricing will be largely determined by size. The larger the piano, the greater the price. Although there are exceptions, the larger the piano, the better the sound. Sometimes a higher quality 48 in. vertical piano form one manufacturer can sound better and demonstrate better overall performance than a 52 in. vertical from another factory. The same applies to grands.
- Cabinet style — Fancier cabinets simply cost more to produce.
- Wood finish — This will also affect price. Certain exotic finishes, sometimes including artisan inlays, on grands can increase the price by thousands of dollars.
- Country of origin — The most extreme example would be to compare a 185 cm. famous German brand (largely hand crafted) grand piano having an exotic finish, with a mass produced 185 cm. Chinese grand in plain black polish having no particular brand recognition.
- Standards — Some models (even from a given manufacturer) are built to higher standards than their lower priced models. The standards (many of them unseen) to which some manufacturers produce all of their instruments are much higher than other manufacturers and will invariably have an affect on price. An example would be the type of “center pins” and “bushing cloth” used in production of their actions and the precision with which they are implemented.
- Special Components — Certain components from high end manufacturers such as “Renner” for example will increase the value of a piano.
