UPDATED REVIEW - May 20, 2013- USED DIGITAL PIANOS...SHOULD YOU BUY ONE? What are they worth? Are they a better value than NEW Digital Pianos? Learn the answers HERE from an expert before you buy one!I have worked with and played nearly all of the major brands of digital pianos including
Yamaha, Roland, Casio, Kawai, Kurzweil, Korg, and more for well over 30 years. I have played them professionally, recreationally, taught lessons on them and know how they work. There are always used digital pianos for sale on eBay, CraigsList, in various ads on-line and locally, in piano stores and various music stores. There seems to be no shortage of used digital pianos. A few are good and many are bad, and some are in-between. Some are newer, some are older, some have useful technology but many used digital pianos are outdated along with unseen internal wear and therefore not worth owning.
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| Used digital piano |
When it comes to used digital piano prices, there seems to be no set standard of what they may be worth or what a good deal is...it's whatever the market will bear or however the seller is motivated to sell it. But as with all technology,
new digital pianos keep on improving in nearly every way. And with those improvements come even lower prices in many cases, or at least the prices don't go up much. Although used computers or flat screen TV's are a bit different than used digital pianos, the end result is the same. Over time the new ones get better as in TV's that have gone from thicker and more expensive LCD flat screens to thinner, more advanced LED HD TV's for less money than ever before. In the case of used digital pianos, what used to cost $2000 some years ago in terms trying to duplicate the key action & piano sound of an acoustic piano, has now been replaced by by brand new pianos that are 3 to 4 times as good in that way and cost 1/2 the price or less. Even though the used digital piano may be a good trusted brand name (like Yamaha or Roland, etc) and the used piano may even be physically in good shape, that does not mean it will be a good investment.
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| New digital piano technology |
When it comes to higher quality, name brand
new digital pianos, they are now closer than ever to duplicating the piano keyboard action and piano sound of an acoustic piano. People ask me all the time if they should consider buying a slightly used digital piano over a new one and my answer is "it all depends what you can be happy with?" If you want the best piano tone & touch for yourself and/or your children, then new digital pianos are always going to be better in that way. Based on your personal piano playing experience or skill level, you or your children may not be able to tell the difference right away, but your ability to recreate the song you are playing (or trying to play) in the right way will be helped greatly by the better and newer digital piano technology. If you want the latest in music educational functions on a digital piano, then new pianos will always be better for that as well. Many new digital pianos (not all) have high speed USB to iPad or computer interface connections which are very important in today's world of music education for both kids and adults. Have you seen the available music education, composition, & notation apps for the iPad lately? They are fantastic and so useful in personal music development and understanding. Does the used piano have that ability and function?... maybe and maybe not. There are MIDI connections on many used pianos which can connect to computers, but the high speed,
CoreMIDI compliant USB output to iPad/laptop that many new digital pianos have these days, is the way to go. You shouldn't miss out on super fun and instructive things an iPad/tablet or laptop can do for you with the right apps or music education software programs.
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Other important considerations when shopping for a used digital piano are: how much polyphony piano sound memory does the used piano have? 32, 64, 128, or more and does that matter? Do the pedals support "half-pedaling" for more realistic pedal function and does that matter? Are the keys using the latest in key sound sensors to achieve greater and smoother dynamic range in playing songs and does that matter? What is the piano decay and attack time like in the used piano? Can you do recording on the piano and if so, what kind is it? Does the piano save recordings to a floppy disk drive, USB flash drive or SD card, or does it save songs at all? Is the key action lightweight, medium weight, heavy weight, progressive hammer, and is the key action quiet or noisy along with loose keys, or are key contacts under the keys starting to wear out (which they do)?
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| Bad keys - common problem |
And with all used pianos in private ads, there is no factory warranty so you do take a risk and that risk could cost you hundreds of more dollars in the long run (I have seen this personally). Repairing a digital piano can get quite expensive depending on the problem if it should occur and the cost of a repair can cancel out any savings you may get on a used digital piano. Also, depending on where you live, there may not be a digital piano technician in your area or parts may not be available anymore. Occasionally there is a good deal out there, but not too often. Once again, you take a risk buying a used piano because there is no warranty, and for many people, they think nothing will happen but it only takes one "breakdown" with the piano to make things bad. Digital pianos don't last forever and eventually things start to wear out (on some more than others and some sooner than later). So be very careful when looking to buy a used digital piano.
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| Bad internal circuit board |
One of the problems with used digital pianos for sale on the open market is that many people think their piano is worth a high price when in fact, it may have little or no value at all. This is typical of people who buy something for a lot of money and then still think it's worth a lot of money later on, even after many years. The fact is, digital pianos over some years depreciate in a big way and they can and will also wear out. Also, older digital pianos just don't hold high values and in fact may be almost worthless in comparison to many of the newest lower price new digital pianos.
A false belif that some people have is that if it's
"used" it must be a better deal than new because it's less money, but that's is just not the case any more. You can get a new digital piano now for about $700-$1000 that blows away the keyboard action and piano sound of older digital pianos that were selling for over $2000 just 5 or 6 years ago. Yet, I have seen some piano and/or general music stores offer used pianos sometimes for nearly three times the price than they are worth because they think they can get away with it. Those same stores may offer free delivery, free lessons, free trade-up with your money back on something more expensive, etc and although those "free things" can be good, just remember you may be paying three times more than you should have and so the "free things" don't come close to how much you may have over-paid for that used digital piano as compared with getting a better new one for less money.
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| Broken-loose piano keys |
Call or email me directly if you are in the US and I will be happy to help you but I
don't give advice or price info on individual used digital pianos as they will all differ in usage and wear along with being subject to individual conditions which can be hidden inside the keyboard actions or electronic parts. Establishing a general market value for a used digital piano can be difficult because of these variables as well as the owners recognizing what their used piano is really worth. When you buy used, you also take a risk (as I mentioned earlier) and there is no way to get around that.
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So, are good (and the word "good" is very important) used digital pianos better buys than getting a new one? The answer is..."occasionally," but it depends on many things and you definitely don't want to pay too much or get stuck with something that seems good on the outside but has problems on the inside which you may not see or know about! In fact, it only takes one broken key or bad part on a used piano to potentially add up to hundreds of dollars in repairs (kind of like a used car). A good deal on a used piano is only
good when you are absolutely sure the piano is in perfect working order and you have carefully compared it to new digital pianos in the same price range. In some cases a used digital piano in a lower price range can have a more attractive furniture cabinet than a new one in that same price range. However, the piano sound realism, proper key action movement, and pedal function realism may be much less authentic than an inexpensive new digital piano, so it depends on what is most important to you and your family and what your music expectations are. For more info, you can contact me and I can answer your questions no charge, but I do not help establish values for specific used pianos.
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts on new digital pianos, please email me at... tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
