The Definitive Piano Buying Guide for

Buying New, Used, and Restored Acoustic Pianos and Digital Pianos

A piano is one of the most expensive purchases a household will ever make, and buying a piano can be difficult, confusing, and time consuming.

Piano Buyer is a free, 280-page, semiannual piano buying guide that will help you make a fast informed decision concerning the purchase of a piano or digital piano.

Editorially independent of any manufacturer or dealer.

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FEAURE ARTICLES IN THE SPRING 2016 ISSUE

Review: Roland FP-30

by Owen Lovell

For decades, Roland Corporation has enjoyed well-deserved recognition among quality digital pianos for product lines such as the powerful and reliable HP series, the RD stage pianos, and especially the V-Piano, a pioneer in hardware-based, physically modeled piano sound. Until recently, Roland had not made significant inroads into the market for entry-level pianos. In 2016, Roland introduced the FP-30 digital piano slab and  the FP-30C console.   MORE

Review: Casio CGP-700 and Privia PX-560

by Owen Lovell

My history with Casio keyboards is long. I remember riding the bus to school in sixth grade with my Casio VLTone keyboard and picking out melodies of pop songs by ear. In junior high, I saved birthday and holiday checks to buy my first full-size keyboard, a Casio with touch sensitivity. Two decades later, I needed an inexpensive, portable, lightweight, 88-key digital piano for practicing on the road, and bought a Casio Privia PX-200.   MORE

Advice About Used Pianos for Parents of Young Beginning Piano Students

by Sally Phillips

There are many common misconceptions about buying pianos for young students, and one of them is that a suitable piano can be had for only a few hundred dollars. The truth is that, to progress, young students need better pianos, not worse.   MORE

The Uncompromising World of High-End Pianos

by Sally Phillips

Those who’ve found themselves in a showroom full of beautifully crafted, prestige and high-performance pianos know that the experience can be both impressive and unnerving—impressive for obvious reasons, unnerving because of the extraordinary prices these instruments command. In this article, I explain what sets high-end pianos apart from less costly ones that might, at least superficially, look the same, and why the higher price can be justified.   MORE

Review: August Förster

by David J. Korevaar

When I was asked to review some new instruments from the German piano maker August Förster, I recalled my last encounter with this brand. Several years ago, I made two trips to Tajikistan, a country that had been riven by low-grade civil conflict, and from which many of the Russians who had supported musical culture had fled. August Förster had been one of the main suppliers of better-quality instruments to the farther reaches of the Soviet Union; these were still around but unmaintained.   MORE

PIANO-BUYING STORIES

LAST RITES
by Steve Cohen

I get a phone call from someone selling an old no-name upright in "decent" condition but that "hasn't been played or tuned for many years." I explain that there simply is no market for this kind of piano, and recommend junking it..   MORE ...

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Piano Ratings and Piano Quality • New Piano Prices, Models, and Specifications • Used Piano Blue Book Values • Piano Rebuilding • Piano Dealers, Piano Manufacturers

New Pianos, Used Pianos, Upright Pianos, Grand Pianos, Player Pianos, Hybrid Pianos • Acoustic vs. Digital • Digital Piano Reviews

Piano Benches, Lamps, and Accessories

Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer is published by:

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      P.O. Box 601041

      San Diego, CA 92160 USA

 

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