Baby Grand Pianos
- Thread starter 96Horn
- Start date
You would be very lucky to find a good used upright piano for $2,500. A baby grand is going to cost more. Furthermore, most baby grands aren't very good pianos -- they're furniture. My sister is a professional pianist, and back in the day when I had some disposable income, I bought her a new Steinway "B" piano, which as a "music room grand" is bigger than a baby grand but not a full concert grand. It's 6' 11" long. I paid $52,000 for it. The point? Good pianos are VERY expensive.
As far as good brands, the top major brands would probably be Steinway & Bosendorfer, followed by Yamaha, Baldwin, and maybe Kawai. Very good values can be had in pianos made by Young Chang, Boston (designed by Steinway for Kawai), and Petrov. There are probably a few others I am not aware of, and then there are legions of crap out there.
Do you want a good instrument or pretty furniture? If the former, I'd look hard for a used Yamaha or Baldwin upright. The former will likely be very bright sounding with somewhat limited dynamic range, and the latter will likely be darker sounding with somewhat more dynamic range. If you want pretty furniture, then just go to a bunch of piano shops and get what you like.
As far as good brands, the top major brands would probably be Steinway & Bosendorfer, followed by Yamaha, Baldwin, and maybe Kawai. Very good values can be had in pianos made by Young Chang, Boston (designed by Steinway for Kawai), and Petrov. There are probably a few others I am not aware of, and then there are legions of crap out there.
Do you want a good instrument or pretty furniture? If the former, I'd look hard for a used Yamaha or Baldwin upright. The former will likely be very bright sounding with somewhat limited dynamic range, and the latter will likely be darker sounding with somewhat more dynamic range. If you want pretty furniture, then just go to a bunch of piano shops and get what you like.
PatBateman
25+ Posts
I have a Yamaha baby grand and it sounds great. I am not a professional but have played for more than a decade. It's used for entertaining when having people over and just general use by myself. I agree with JJ that it will be difficult to find a decent BG in your price range. Buying a used one for that amount could cost your more in the long run with repairs, etc...
Unless you are a professional and absolutely need top-notch sound quality and/or you want to waste money, don't go for anything too extravagant - to an average person, most good quality pianos sound just as fine as their concert grand counterparts.
Unless you are a professional and absolutely need top-notch sound quality and/or you want to waste money, don't go for anything too extravagant - to an average person, most good quality pianos sound just as fine as their concert grand counterparts.
wow, jimmyjazz is more of a piano elitist than I could have ever imagined.
Here's my take: I agree that it's going to be difficult to get a good quality baby grand for $2,500.
Last year, I actually bought a Petrof. It's a 5'3", so it's clearly very small. And yes, there are going to be limitations to how good a piano that length can sound.
That said, I absolutely love the piano. It has a rich sound. I found Yamahas (which are less expensive) to be too "trebley" and kind of harsh on the ears. I think the Petrof is a good blend, and sounds pretty solid across the low octaves and the high octaves.
I'm not sold on the way Kawai or the other Steinway lower end offerings sound.
If you are going to be making a signif piano purchase of any kind, I highly recommend purchasing the Larry Fine book (Piano Book? I honestly can't remember what it's called).
And definitely don't rush the process. I ended up spending a lot more than I was planning on originally, but after test-playing dozens of pianos and researching as much as I could, I feel generally OK that I got a good deal. And I definitely love the Petrof.
Here's my take: I agree that it's going to be difficult to get a good quality baby grand for $2,500.
Last year, I actually bought a Petrof. It's a 5'3", so it's clearly very small. And yes, there are going to be limitations to how good a piano that length can sound.
That said, I absolutely love the piano. It has a rich sound. I found Yamahas (which are less expensive) to be too "trebley" and kind of harsh on the ears. I think the Petrof is a good blend, and sounds pretty solid across the low octaves and the high octaves.
I'm not sold on the way Kawai or the other Steinway lower end offerings sound.
If you are going to be making a signif piano purchase of any kind, I highly recommend purchasing the Larry Fine book (Piano Book? I honestly can't remember what it's called).
And definitely don't rush the process. I ended up spending a lot more than I was planning on originally, but after test-playing dozens of pianos and researching as much as I could, I feel generally OK that I got a good deal. And I definitely love the Petrof.
LazyEngineer
500+ Posts
In the meantime, you should buy a cheap used upgright piano. You can play it and get better. Then, when you fork over the cash for your nice baby grand it will sound even better. You should be able to sell the used piano for about what you paid for it and you will have something to enjoy while you save up the money.
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