Pianists! what to look for in a piano

[titchy]

am looking ot spend around £1000 for a 2nd hand piano, probably from a shop so I'll get a guarantee. For dcs to learn on by the way, and me to improve LOL.

I know over strung is better than straight strung, but how many keys is standard piano? What is underdamped? And anythig else we should look out for?

TIA

It should be tuned to concert pitch. That shouldn't be a problem in that price bracket, but something to check. Make sure all the notes sound rich - any 'dead' sounding ones could mean a shot soundboard (ours suffers from this). You could also check the amount of wear on the hammers - it's expensive to have them re-felted, so best if there's not much wear (sort of dents where they hit the wires).

Standard number keys is 7 octaves plus a few.

I'm not really an expert - these are just problems we have with ours!

OK thanks both! Now anyone know what underdamped means?????

Piano FAQhere

I'd add that tonally its best if the bass doesn't overwhelm. Yamaha uprights have a very dominating base (keys to the left). It makes for harder work with the right hand and hearing the higher notes - difficult for children learning and not a good habit to get into if playing any other piano.

I'd also ask about how many owners its had (much like a car) as more owners means more movement - which always unsettles the board. ALso if its been overseas - as dry / humid climate changes can alter the quality of the sound board. I had a piano in the US brought back to the UK. We had humidity issues, but found a standard humidifier fixed it.

Make sure the backboard isn't cracked and the felt isn't worn out.

lots and lots of those white and black thingies
We got adigital piano and its fab.

We bought a secondhand one from a local man who refurbishes pianos, and it's a beauty, a Challen (had same budget as you). Piano teacher friend, recommended a tuner, who then recommended this chap. (I believe he has a few ATM, Lichfield area)

Can you find someone who is a good pianist to go along and play the ones you are interested in?

It's great having a traditional piano becase the DC's can bash on it and you don't have to keep going "don't touch, don't break it".

Oh, titchy - can I tag on to this thread? I've been thinking it would be lovely to have a piano. I grew up with one (sadly no longer available to us) - can't play, but DH does, and I sing. I would like DD to grow up with musical instruments around. Can't really leave DH's cello around... What's a sensible budget for a "hobby" piano? - obv if DD turns out to be really into it, we'd think again, but for now it would just be a fun extravagance. Any ideas welcome. Would prefer a traditional upright, for the "lovely furniture" thing.

Older English Challens are lovely grannyslippers! We have one too - 95 years old!! It has a lovely rich tone and looks gorgeous, but unfortunately some of the notes (the ones with the longer strings that go to the corner of the soundboard) have lost their rich sound. Also the felts will need replacing soonish and that costs more than the piano is worth
It certainly fits into the "lovely furniture" category, but I worry that it's not quite good enough for ds (whose preparing for grade 7 maybe this summer). He's done fine on it so far though, & it's going to have to suffice for now.

Newer Challens are made somewhere else (Japan?) and the quality isn't nearly so good I'm told.

Actually I don't know anything about pianos, it's DH's "toy".

Think what I was suggesting was that if you can ask around friend who are pianists/teachers, you may hear by word of mouth of a nice piano that's been looked after.

A relative said to us, that you're unlikely to get a good piano for under #1000. A piano that's been untuned for a long time could require a complete overhaul and that would be several 100 pounds. Not sure what to suggest for a hobby piano.

If anyone's interested, ours came from here; he had a selection at different prices, and was really helpful.