Buying guides
Piano brand guides
One guide per brand: what it is known for, the models worth knowing, honest used price ranges, what to inspect before you buy, and the live listings on US Piano Connection for that brand. 13 brands and 47 model notes so far, written by Joey Bouza · Updated October 19, 2026
Yamaha pianos
Yamaha is the world's largest piano maker, and for used-piano shoppers that's great news: consistent manufacturing means a well-maintained Yamaha from decades ago still plays remarkably close to the day it left the factory.
Models covered: Yamaha U1, Yamaha U3, Yamaha C-series grands, Yamaha GB1 / GC1, Yamaha Clavinova
Model value guides: U1, U3, P22, C1, C2, C3, C7, G2, G3, GH1, GB1, GC1
Steinway & Sons pianos
Steinway & Sons has defined the concert grand since 1853, and no brand holds value like it.
Models covered: Model S, Model M, Model O / L, Model B, Model D
Kawai pianos
Kawai is Japan's other piano giant, and among technicians it's something of an open secret: comparable quality to its more famous rival, usually at a friendlier price.
Models covered: Kawai K-series uprights, Kawai RX-series grands, Kawai GX-series grands, Kawai GL/GM baby grands
Baldwin pianos
Baldwin was for most of the 20th century the great American piano house — the choice of Liberace, Dave Brubeck, and a thousand school music rooms.
Models covered: Baldwin Acrosonic, Baldwin Hamilton, Baldwin R / L grands, Baldwin SD-10
Mason & Hamlin pianos
Mason & Hamlin is the connoisseur's American piano.
Models covered: Model A, Model BB, Model 50
Model value guides: A
Wurlitzer pianos
Wurlitzer built pianos in DeKalb, Illinois from 1919 until Baldwin absorbed the brand in 1988, and for most of the postwar decades it was one of the biggest-selling piano names in America.
Models covered: Wurlitzer spinets, Wurlitzer consoles & studios, Wurlitzer baby grands, Wurlitzer 200 / 200A electric piano
Kimball pianos
W.W.
Models covered: Kimball consoles, Kimball studio uprights, Kimball La Petite / Viennese baby grands
Baldwin Acrosonic pianos
The Acrosonic was Baldwin's small-vertical line from 1936 until the 1990s — spinets and consoles between 36" and 42" tall, and for decades the best-regarded small piano in America.
Models covered: Acrosonic spinet, Acrosonic console
Boston pianos
Boston is Steinway & Sons' mid-priced line: designed in New York by Steinway engineers and built in Japan by Kawai since 1992.
Models covered: Boston GP-156 / GP-163, Boston GP-178, Boston GP-193 / GP-215, Boston UP-118 / UP-126 / UP-132 uprights
Schimmel pianos
Schimmel has built pianos in Braunschweig, Germany since 1885 and is the country's largest piano manufacturer.
Models covered: Schimmel Classic C116 / C120 / C126 uprights, Schimmel Konzert K122 / K132 uprights, Schimmel Classic C169 / C189 grands, Schimmel Konzert K175 – K280 grands
Samick pianos
Samick started in Seoul in 1958 and became one of the world's biggest piano makers, building instruments under its own name and for many others (Kohler & Campbell, Pramberger, Seiler, and various dealer house brands).
Models covered: Samick uprights, Samick SG-150 / SG-155 / SIG-50 baby grands, Samick SG-172 / SG-185 / SIG-61 grands
Young Chang pianos
Young Chang has built pianos in Incheon, South Korea since 1956, and for two decades (1967–1987) it did so under a technical partnership with Yamaha that shaped its designs and quality control.
Models covered: Young Chang uprights, Young Chang G-150 / G-157 baby grands, Young Chang G-175 / G-185 / G-208 grands
Pearl River pianos
Pearl River, based in Guangzhou, China, is the largest piano manufacturer in the world, building well over 100,000 pianos a year under its own name plus the Ritmüller and Kayserburg lines — and, since 2016, majority-owning Schimmel of Germany.
Models covered: Pearl River UP-108 / UP-115 / UP-118 uprights, Pearl River UP-125 / UP-131 uprights, Pearl River GP-150 / GP-160 / GP-170 grands
Keep going
Prices and counts in our guides come from live listings on this site and are recalculated hourly. Where we quote industry-typical figures (mover quotes, tuning fees, rebuild costs) we say so, and we never publish a number we haven't measured or sourced.