5 Friendly tips we offer to make YOU the informed buyer.
- If a listing claims a piano was purchased new for $ X,XXX, then you should ask to see that invoice. It is possible, the seller is inflating its value to make their selling price look better.
- Acoustic Pianos require maintenance. Ask for these records (as you would oil changes, tires, and mechanic records for a used car.) Pianos are the best thing a tree could hope to become, but there are some parts that are better off not made of wood. Ask any engineer. Pianos have thousands of moving parts and hundreds of joints. These things need regulating every now and then. A responsible owner will have records of this maintenance with their piano. Or ask to contact their technician for records. (Jim's Pianos keeps great service records of pianos both purchased from us and/or serviced by us.)
- Ask "Where was this piano made?" It should be inside the lid, on the back of an upright, or behind the keybed on the treble end of a grand. Foreign can be a good thing, if it is a reputable brand AND factory. (For example, most newer Baldwins are NOT made in the US and quality control in recent years has not been consistent. Used Baldwins should at least be "Made in the U.S.A." and will say so. KAWAI was the first piano company to be awarded both the ISO9001 and ISO14001 recognizing their environmental responsibility. They were "green" before green was cool!)
- If you want a Steinway piano, then buy a Steinway. "Steinway Designed" pianos are NOT made in the U.S.A. and they are NOT built with the same quality of engineering and materials found in Steinways. Again, beware of inflated value on pianos that do not have the quality build that other brands do.
- Ask to see the INSIDE of the piano. Under the hood, so to speak. This is best done with a reputable technician there to point out things that their expert eyes will see.
"If this piano doesn't have what the others do, why are they priced so high?"
If you don't want to pay full price for half the quality, call Jim's Pianos.
You 'll pay a fraction of the price for a TOP quality piano!
