[chuckles]

Dear All

I happen to be in Oz at present and am shopping around for a proper 'real' piano - on a budget of course, ideally I'd like to spend less than 1500 quid or so.

I went into one of the big dealers locally the other day and they had these Kawai KX21 verticals (studios) on 'sale' which they were heavilly promoting. 'Made in Japan' - line 'discontinuing'.

Here's the model off Oz's kawai site. Strangely enough there's no word about any discontinuation.
http://www.kawai.net.au/main-kx21.html

It's going for AUS$4000 (about 1640 quid or 2463 Euro). Apparently the line is being discontinued hence the 'heavy discount' from about $6000 originally. The entry level kawai kx10 is $3500.

The piano doesn't sound or play bad, the action seems pretty good.

A google search of the internet revealed the following relevant article from 2001

http://www.pianosonline.co.uk/pol/org.paneris.pol.controller.Page/Review//Reviews/Diapason_Sep2001.htm#kawaikx21

The dealer thinks it comes from Japan but the above article suggests otherwise.

I am wondering if it's worthwhile considering getting one of these.

My other alternative was to purchase a Yamaha U1 second hand from a very reputable piano tech's place going for about the same money ($4000) but 30 years old. I am told their pianos are meticulously mantained (and they seem to be to my untrained opinion in terms of their tone, and touch). They promise what sounds like a good 5 year guarantee - they'll voice and tune it for free on install and free tuning x 1 year, parts and labour x 5 years. They seem to genuinely care about their pianos, that's one thing I'll say, I may be naive.

After sales...

The big dealer does not seem too interested in after sales service and will not apparently tune the piano on arrival installation for a few weeks to let the sound settle in. My limited understanding is that a new piano should be tuned and voiced on arrival in it's inteded location.

Basically it's up to this:
$4000 (GBP1640) for either

1. a 30 year old reconditioned U1 with no apparent major issues from a reputable tech who seems genuinely interested in his job and providing aftersales service.

or

2. New Kawai KX21 - I expect little or no after sales service from the big dealer (judging from the vibe I am getting) and I'd expect I'd need the thing tuned at least about 3x in the next year.

I know nothing of any issues regarding Kx21's which apparently originate from China.

Would I be paying too much for a 30 year old U1? The tech says I should be able to get at least 20 years more out of it, probably longer.

What do the more learned and experience of you think?

Many thanks for your advice in advance!

Cheers