OUR QUICK OPINION If your budget is around £4,000 to £6,000, don’t assume a brand new piano is automatically the best choice. Before making a decision, spend half an hour playing a professionally reconditioned Japanese Yamaha U1 or U3 alongside a brand new Yamaha B1, B2 or similar. I think you’ll find the comparison interesting. If you have any technical info or corrections for this article, please email mgpianos@gmail.com.
Why Japanese Yamaha Pianos Are Better Than New Budget Pianos
One of the conversations I have most weeks goes something like this.
A customer walks into the showroom looking for a brand new Yamaha B1, B2 or perhaps a Kawai K200. They’ve spent hours researching online, they’ve decided they want a new piano and they’ve got a budget of around £5,000.
I completely understand the thinking.
Buying something brand new feels sensible. You know where it’s been, it comes with a warranty and nobody else has owned it. Those are all perfectly reasonable reasons for leaning towards a new piano.
The only thing I ask is that, before making a final decision, they spend ten minutes playing a Japanese Yamaha U1.
Not because I’m trying to change their mind.
Simply because I don’t think many people realise that the U1 and the B1 were designed to do completely different jobs.
They were never meant to be the same piano
The Yamaha B1 exists because Yamaha wanted to make acoustic piano ownership affordable. That’s a good thing. Without pianos like the B1, many families would never own an acoustic piano at all.
The U1 had a different brief.
It wasn’t designed to reach a particular selling price. It was designed to become one of Yamaha’s finest production upright pianos. That’s why it has longer strings, a larger soundboard, longer keys and fewer of the compromises that inevitably appear when a manufacturer has to build to a budget.
Neither approach is right or wrong.
They’re simply different.
The interesting part comes when the two pianos end up costing similar money. That’s when I think the comparison becomes worthwhile.
Bigger isn’t just about volume
People often hear dealers saying that bigger pianos sound better. That’s true, but it doesn’t really explain why.
A longer string simply has more potential than a shorter one. A larger soundboard moves more air than a smaller one. Longer keys give the player more control and sensitivity than shorter keys.
Those aren’t clever marketing ideas.
They’re just engineering.
It’s one of the reasons a U1 feels so different to play. The touch has a little more depth, the tone has a little more warmth and the whole instrument feels like it was designed with fewer compromises.
The newness wears off surprisingly quickly
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that people often buy with their eyes before they buy with their ears.
That’s perfectly natural.
A brand new cabinet looks beautiful. Everything is spotless and polished. You’re the first owner and there’s something satisfying about that.
Six months later, though, none of that really matters.
By then you’re simply living with the piano you’ve bought.
This is where we regularly meet customers who tell us they wish they’d started with a U1 or U3. Their B1 hasn’t let them down. It hasn’t developed faults. They’ve simply reached the point where they want a bigger sound and a better touch.
The upgrade path from a B1 to a U1 is a familiar one.
I can’t remember the last time somebody asked to swap their U1 for a B1.
The technicians tend to say the same thing
I spend a lot of time talking to piano technicians.
One comment comes up again and again.
Entry-level pianos can be more fiddly to tune and regulate because everything has been engineered to a tighter budget. The Japanese U-series generally feels more substantial and more refined to work on.
That shouldn’t really surprise anyone.
The B1 was designed to make acoustic pianos affordable.
The U1 was designed to be as good as Yamaha could make it.
Those are two very different design objectives.
What do customers notice first?
Interestingly, it usually isn’t the sound.
Most people notice the touch before anything else.
The keys feel a little more responsive, a little easier to control and a little more forgiving when playing quietly. Then, after a few minutes, they begin noticing the extra warmth and depth of tone as well.
It’s difficult to describe on a website.
It’s much easier to hear when the two pianos are sitting next to each other.
What about longevity?
Another question we hear regularly is whether buying new means the piano will last longer.
Japanese Yamaha U1s and U3s answer that question rather well.
Many of the pianos we import are already fifty years old. After reconditioning they’re ready for another chapter of life and, with sensible maintenance, I see no reason why they shouldn’t continue giving excellent service for decades to come.
Eventually they’ll need a new set of bass strings.
Everything mechanical wears eventually.
But the piano itself has already demonstrated how well it was built.
Would I ever recommend a B1?
Certainly.
If you’ve got an exceptionally tight staircase and a U1 simply won’t fit into your house, then a B1 becomes an obvious choice. I’d much rather somebody owned a Yamaha B1 than a poor-quality alternative.
But if you’ve got the room for a U1, I honestly think it’s worth playing one before making your decision.
You might still prefer the B1.
At least you’ll know what you’re comparing it against.
So which would I buy?
For a smaller room I’d probably be looking at a Yamaha U1A, U10A or U10BL.
If I had a dedicated music room, I’d almost certainly choose a U3.
Not because they’re older.
Not because they’re Japanese.
Simply because I think they’re better pianos.
Final thoughts
The purpose of this article isn’t to persuade you not to buy a Yamaha B1.
It’s simply to encourage you to compare it with something different before making your decision.
If, after playing a professionally reconditioned Japanese U1 and a brand new B1 back to back, you still prefer the B1, then you’ve made an informed decision and I genuinely hope you enjoy it.
My suspicion, though, is that you’ll leave with a rather different view of what £5,000 can buy.
Created: 17 June 2026
Modified: 17 June 2026