Buying a Piano

Buying a piano can be a daunting process for some. It's
often difficult to get reliable information from the seller,
whether it be a dealer or a private individual. We're here to
help with honest, unbiased information. Rule number one:
Always have a piano inspected by a qualified technician,
whether it's a new or used instrument. And if you're buying
an instrument from us, we welcome you and your
independent technician to come and spend as much time
as you like before you make a decision. Rule number two:
Size does matter! Bigger pianos, whether they are grands
or verticals, have longer strings and larger soundboards.
Also, since bigger pianos are the flagship products of any
manufacturer, they tend to receive a lot more attention to
detail at the factory, both in the design and quality control.

Don't bother with these unless all you're looking for is a plant
stand. Poor tonal quality, bad designs, and un-serviceability
are the hallmarks of these pianos. Less than 40" tall, these
"pianos" are characterized by a drop action, where the
action is fit into the case behind the keyboard, rather than
on top of it.

Only marginally better than spinets, and generally only a
couple of inches taller, these pianos often have a
condensed or compressed action. This essentially
means that all of the action parts have been shrunk to fit
into the smaller case, albeit on top of the keyboard.
Compressing the action in this way increases the angles
that the parts must rotate through which in turn increases
friction, sometimes to the point where the action will
barely function correctly. Again - stay away from these!

These pianos are in the range of 45" tall, give or take a
couple of inches. They should have full-sized actions and
full-length keys, as well as a somewhat bigger soundboard
and longer strings than spinets or consoles. Theses are the
smallest vertical pianos anyone should consider buying.

It's hard to define a size range here. The term "baby" was
coined by marketing departments and defined to mean
whatever suited them. Generally, you can consider
anything under 6' in length to be a baby grand. Like
vertical pianos, the tonal quality of a grand is determined
largely by its size so the smaller grands (especially those
under 5') can be pretty awful sounding. If space is at a
premium you may want to consider a good full-sized
upright instead. As they approach 6', though, grands start
to come into their own and may be suited for serious
music-making. The action mechanism on a grand piano
functions very differently than that of a vertical and gives
the player much more control over tone and dynamics.