Second hand pianos - the good the bad and the ugly

If I had $1 for every time I heard the phrase “Old piano for sale - just needs a tune”, I would be able to retire by now.

If somebody said to you “50 year old car for sale - works fine just needs a service”, you would probably be slightly more skeptical!

However there are more moving parts subject to wear and tear in a piano action than in a car.

As I have mentioned before, pianos - like us and cars - have a life time and that life time is dependent primarily on three things:

1. The quality of the piano in the first instance
2. How well it has been maintained 
3. How much use the piano has had

If considering a second hand piano, there is quite a bit to take into consideration, and remember, if you buy privately you don’t get a warranty and you are not covered by the consumer guarantees act. So be cautious and do your homework.

Here are some basic rules that should be observed:

1. Check the brand and serial number of the piano and give us a call at Lewis Eady Ltd to determine the age.
2. Never buy a piano over 70 years of age, no matter how nice it might look. There are some obvious exceptions such as Steinway.
3. Spend $80 on getting a qualified technician (not your husband’s second cousin who once played the piano) to do a report on the piano. This could save you thousands of dollars.
4. Remember that Trademe is a wonderful place to pick up bargains as well as other people’s junk.
5. Be very wary of Japanese made pianos over 30 years old and in particular of used Japanese imports. These should only be purchased from reputable companies that carry out the service work and offer a comprehensive warranty.
6. Factory warranties are NOT transferable and only apply to the initial purchaser.
7. Do your research on the Internet to find out if the piano you are looking at is good quality. Quite often they were bad when they were made.

I have never bought or traded a second hand piano that didn’t require some sort of service work and on the odd occasion that I have purchased ‘sight un seen’ without getting our technicians to check it out - I have been burned.

Then guess what - we sell them on Trademe with no warranty!

If in doubt, please call us at Lewis Eady Ltd. Yes, we sell pianos however we are also more than happy to offer any advice you need and can at the very least suggest a good technician to view the piano or movers to shift it.

Lewis Eady blogs about pianos in general and in particular Steinway pianos are our passion.  New Zealand Pianos specialist Lewis Eady have been passionate about pianos since 1884.