For £1000 less than a new Chinese Yamaha B10 you might be surprised that you can buy a professionally reconditioned high-end Japanese Yamaha U1. When you combine the lower price and higher quality of the U1, you suddenly have no good reason to be even considering the little Chinese-made B10 over the U1.

Let’s take a closer look at why;

The U1 is built stronger, has a deeper, richer tone, is built to a far higher standard, and has a much more responsive and sensitive action. In short, the U1 is a much better piano than the B10 and is a lot more satisfying to play.

The B10 is built in China as Yamaha’s cheapest acoustic piano. Should you really be buying the cheapest-built piano that Yamaha produces? Why not aim a little higher?

The Yamaha U1 was built in Japan’s famous factory in Hamamatsu where they build all of their high-end piano including their £140,000 CFX concert grand piano.

If you can play the B10 and U1 side-by-side, the difference becomes obvious quite quickly. You would hear and feel the difference in less than 5 seconds and take the U1 home.

The B10 Exists to Be Cheap

That is the whole point of the piano.

The B10 was designed to hit the lowest price point possible.

To achieve that, you have to cut costs, such as;

• smaller cabinet
• lighter structure
• shorter keys
• shorter strings
• less substantial action
• cheaper labour
• cheaper factory location

The older Yamaha B1 pianos were built in Indonesia but Yamaha closed that factory in 2024 and moved production of the replacement B10 model to China.

Meanwhile, the U1 was (and still is) built in Japan in the same factory where Yamaha achieved global respect for producing high-end pianos for sensible prices.

The U1 Sounds Better Because It Is Taller

The U1 is around 11cm taller than the B10.

That extra height matters.

It gives:

• longer bass strings
• larger soundboard area
• more depth of tone
• more tonal warmth
• better tone projection

By comparison, the B10 sounds thin, harsh, and feels awkward to play.

And that’s because it is too small to produce a high-end sound and provide a high-end quality of touch.

The U1 has the scale and authority people expect from a serious upright piano.

The U1 Action Is in Another League

So why would you still consider buying a B10 when you know that the U1 has:

• longer keys
• more control
• more stability
• a more substantial touch

The B10 feels lighter, shallower and less precise.

Some beginners mistake that for “easy to play” or “good for a starter piano”

But even a beginner realises very quickly that the U1 feels and sounds a league (or 2) above the B10. And that’s because it is.

“Spruce Core” Says Everything

Even Yamaha’s own specifications quietly reveal where the money was saved.

The B10 uses a “spruce core” soundboard, whereas the U1 uses a solid spruce soundboard design associated with proper professional uprights and grand pianos.

That helps explain why the U1 produces a fuller and richer tone and, again, this comes back to what each piano was originally designed to be.

• The B10 was designed to reach a budget.
• The U1 was designed to impress pianists.

Japanese Yamaha Pianos Have a Reputation for a Reason

There is a reason piano teachers, technicians and serious players still recommend Japanese Yamaha pianos.

That reputation was not built by accident and it isn’t clever marketing. The Japanese-built U1 became one of the most successful upright pianos in the world because:

• they last a lifetime (literally, no exaggeration)
• they hold tune very well
• they survive heavy use
• they still feel solid decades later

The B10 and its predecessor, the B1, has nowhere near that reputation.

Resale Value Tells the Truth

The used piano market already understands this comparison. That is why professionally reconditioned Japanese U1 pianos made in the 1970, 1980s, 1990s, often sell for similar money to brand new B10 pianos.

The U1 holds value because pianists continue wanting to buy them.

The Only Genuine Advantage of the B10

Some buyers prefer the longer modern music desk design and that’s fair enough. It is a new design feature that was not found on the old B1 models and it is a genuinely good feature. Many older pianos had this same design. We had a Fazer piano with the same style of extra-wide music desk

We can easily convert any of our Yamaha U1 pianos to have the same extra-wide music desk if that’s important to you. So even that advantage is not difficult to overcome.

Which Piano Would We Buy?

For similar money?

The Japanese Yamaha U1 every single time.

Not because it is newer.
Not because it is shinier.
Because it is simply the better piano.

We’ve sold thousands of Yamaha U1 pianos since 2003 and the quality is always so consistently high that we ended up offering them with a lifetime warranty.

We often have a good handful of Yamaha U1 pianos in stock which you can see on our pianos for sale page