Big Wrench comes recommended by Jason Sagebiel (founder of Sage Music School), Porter, Cohen, and Buishas, all of whom mention its tuners’ and technicians’ skills. Once you buy a piano, you’ll want to have it tuned twice a year (Ying gets hers tuned in the fall and spring to adjust to temperature changes). “If it’s 30 cents or more off from the concert pitch, walk away,” he says, as the piano likely won’t hold a tuning. Tuner Mike Buishas recommends downloading a tuning app (like Pano) and playing the A4 key. Because hammers, strings, and keys wear down over time, any piano more than 20 years old should have had these replaced. Ask the owner if the piano has been tuned at least once a year and if it has been kept in a humid environment. When it comes to Craigslist, there are gems to be found but more duds. For “restored lyrical Steinways,” Arefy turns to Klavierhaus in Hell’s Kitchen, where Sujatri Reisinger has been rebuilding pianos since 1993. For the former, the process is similar to shopping for a new piano (go to a showroom and pick one out), but Faust says she would be skeptical of anything cheaper than $3,000. There are two routes here: Buy a restored model from a dealer (like Steinway) or try your luck getting a secondhand piano through Craigslist. Some questions to ask: Is the bench included? Does the store have a trade-in policy? And if you’re looking to play a specific type of music, you should ask if the piano lends itself to that genre. For a wider variety of high-end brands (like Bechstein, Bösendorfer, and Fazioli), most everyone we spoke with recommended Faust Harrison in midtown for more affordable options, there’s Bondy Piano in Hell’s Kitchen. Even if they’re out of your budget, it’s worth visiting Steinway Hall in midtown to test out the company’s made-in-Astoria pianos. “Even two pianos that came off the assembly line the same day from the same factory will feel and sound different,” says Sarah Binder Mehta, president of rental shop PianoPiano.
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It’s always best to try out a piano in person. Grands produce a deeper sound and a wider range of tones but are more expensive (at least $10,000, generally, whereas uprights start around $5,000) and have larger soundboards (the wooden piece that transmits the vibration of the strings). The first thing you want to consider is whether you want an upright or a grand. We’ve also included expert-recommended options across all different price ranges.
Weber upright piano stick out from the wall how to#
With the help of pianists, teachers, tuners, and other piano experts, we’ve broken down all of the options below - from how to navigate high-end showrooms to the things to consider when perusing preowned Baby Baldwins on Craigslist. Do you have the budget and space for a new baby grand? Or are you more concerned about finding a deal on a used upright? Maybe your kids are taking lessons and you’d rather buy a keyboard in case they don’t stick with it. Buying your first piano is a particularly complicated process.