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Most pianos in Singapore homes are uprights, and most of the difference between one and the next is height. A few centimetres change how much bass there is and how long a note carries.
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Upright piano · 121 cmThe Yamaha U1.
The upright most teachers name first and the one most homes in Singapore end up with. If you have asked three people for a recommendation and two of them said U1, this is why.
What it is
The short version.
The U1 is a 121 cm upright and one of the most produced pianos in the world. Yamaha has built it in very large numbers for decades, which is exactly why it turns up in schools, in studios, in practice rooms and in half the living rooms in Singapore.
What you get for that ubiquity is a full size action, a bright and even tone that records well and carries in a room, and a case small enough to get through a flat door and up a lift. It is not the most characterful piano ever built. It is the one that does everything asked of it without complaint, which is a different and more useful quality.
Type
Upright piano
Size
121 cm
Condition
Pre-owned, prepared
Ask for current availability and price
Who it suits
Worth your time if.
- A child starting lessons on an instrument they will not outgrow by Grade 5
- A family that wants one piano, bought once, that holds its value
- A teacher who needs an instrument that behaves the same way every day
- A flat or condo where a taller upright will not fit or will not get in
Buying one used
Four things to check, in order.
The same four we check ourselves before an instrument goes on the floor. Every instrument is an original used piano. Not reconditioned, not rebuilt. Ask us about any of them on a specific piano and you get a straight answer.
- The serial numberIt dates the instrument precisely. With a U1 that matters more than with a rarer piano, because the supply is deep enough that you can afford to be particular.
- Hammer wearDeep grooves in the hammer felt mean heavy use. Hammers can be reshaped or replaced, but it should be reflected in the price rather than discovered afterwards.
- Tuning pin torqueA piano that will not hold a tuning is a piano you will pay for twice a year forever. This is the single most important thing and it cannot be seen in a photograph.
- Where it has livedAn instrument kept in an air conditioned room in Singapore has had an easier life than one that sat in a humid flat with the windows open.
Heard on the floor
Played on our floor.
Filmed on a phone at IMM, so this is close to what the room sounds like rather than a studio recording. Press play, with the sound on.
The other one to hear
Against the U3.
The U3 is ten centimetres taller, which buys longer strings and a noticeably bigger bass. If the room can take it and the budget allows it, most people prefer the U3 once they have heard both.
Both, back to back, in the same room on the same afternoon. That is a fifteen minute job at the viewing gallery and it settles the question far better than any page can.
Questions
The U1, answered.
How much is a second hand Yamaha U1 in Singapore?
It depends on the year, the condition and what has been done to it, and any dealer who gives you one number without asking those things is guessing.
Ask us about a specific instrument and you get a specific figure. If there is nothing on the floor in your range we will say so rather than talk you into something else.
How long does a U1 last?
Properly looked after, decades. The parts that wear are the parts that can be worked on: hammers, dampers, strings and the action can all be serviced or replaced. What cannot be easily fixed is a cracked soundboard or a set of loose tuning pins, which is why those are the first things anyone should check.
Is a used U1 better than a new budget upright?
Usually, yes. A well kept U1 will outplay a new instrument at the same price from a less serious maker, because the money went into the piano rather than into it being new. That is the whole argument for buying pre-owned.
Will it fit in my flat?
At 121 cm tall it fits where taller uprights do not, and it will go through a standard door and into a service lift. Tell us the floor, the lift and the door widths and we will tell you before delivery day, not on it.
The rest of the range
Other uprights people ask about.
Yamaha
U3
131 cm
Ten centimetres taller than a U1, and those ten centimetres are the whole point. Longer strings, a bigger soundboard, and a bass that sounds like a piano rather than a suggestion of one.
Read about it →
Yamaha
YUS5
The top of the U series. Bought by people who have decided they are buying one piano and are not going to do this again.
Read about it →
Boston
UP-132E
132 cm
The tallest upright Steinway and Sons designs, at 132 cm, built for it in Japan by Kawai. A tall case and a long string in a cabinet that still stands against a wall.
Read about it →
Kawai
K300
122 cm
Kawai’s answer to the U1, and the Kawai we are asked about by name more than any other. Warmer than the Yamaha, and built with an action that has a specific argument behind it.
Read about it →
Visit the viewing gallery
Ask what is on the floor today.
Message us with the model and we will tell you what is in, what condition it is in, and what it costs. If we have nothing suitable we will say that instead.