Bentley used upright piano 30 years old (1979) - advice

[jjmama]

My friend is interested in a Bentley upright piano model 85c which was made in 1979. It is in good condition. If the price is £400, does it worth? Is it a reliable piano? Any advice? Thanks!

[Pianomate]

Depends on condition. Nobody can tell you that without inspecting it. Take a look at the buying a piano advice detailed under the Piano FAQ to the left of this page.

[Openwood]

Yes, you need to ask a qualified piano tuner to take a look at it. It's a bit like a secondhand car; it could look great and actually be great, or it could look great but have all sorts of hidden problems, or it could look crap but actually be perfectly reliable, or could look crap and be - well - crap! IMO it's worth paying for an hour of a tuner's time in return for knowing you've made the right decision.

[tuna]

Being a late seventies Bentley it probably looks, sounds and is crap

[chrisvenables]

If it's a Bentley, 1979, or in fact an any age Bentley, then it's likely that it's not going to have a good response and/or be reliable, and for £400, you couldn't expect it to be. You'll have to cost in maintenance and transport costs too. A good piano, with a long life ahead of it, is going to cost you at least £1,600 - 2,100. Buy the best quality you can afford, as new as possible and, in that lower price bracket, my advice would be a new or near new Yamaha. Apologies to all the acoustic piano purists, and, personally , I hate digital pianos, but if £4/500 is your budget, you'd probably be better of with a new digital Yamaha, which at least will have an even touch, be in tune and have a guarantee, but bear in mind there's little resale value in any electronic piano. If you appreciate a real acoustic piano, sound and feel, save up, and buy a new acoustic Yamaha. You won't be disappointed!

[PianoGuy]

A '79 Bentley will certainly have the dreadful polypropylene-rich "Richard Harley" action although one of that vintage may simply be labelled "Bentley Check Action" (which I've always considered to be an instruction rather than a branding) which is notorious for unreliability as the plastic components start to warp and turn into granules. A minority of examples will give no trouble, but it takes an expert to tell, and it's probably not worth the risk. A good one *is* worth around £400 in a private sale.

There were some good Bentleys. These are of 1987 to '91 vintage when they started to use up-to-date vacuum-cast frames and Schwander actions, but a factory fire curtailed the production of them and a subsequent takeover by Whelpdale's ensured that the previous Edwardian production methods once again would be employed. Quality dropped, fit and finish suffered and things were never destined to recover.

Bentley is now a brand name owned by Inter-Music and applied to Chinese pianos.

Indeed, a brand new digital may well be a more satisfying instrument than a bad Bentley, although as previously stated, the service life of a digital is short and depreciation is high. A proper acoustic is better. More rewarding to play and with a decent residual value if ever you decide to change or upgrade. If you can't stretch to a new Yamaha, then there are excellent cheaper alternatives from mainly Austro-Chinese factories: Yantai-Perzinas (brands include Eavestaff, Gehr.Steinberg and Sangler) with European design and Austrian soundboards are all seriously good sounding and reliable; Wendl & Lung produce a good sound but build is a bit lightweight; Brodmann (currently with no UK importer but there are a good few still on the shelves) are very well-designed and elegant. An entry-level (Indonesian) Yam will have the advantage of excellent proven design and a beautifully balanced action, but a weedier tone than most of the above owing to its laminated, rather than natural wood, soundboard. If you can stretch to a (British-built) Yamaha P-series or a Kemble then you won't regret it.

[Kemble King]

My Uncle James at Edinburgh Piano Company has got loads of Brodmann's in his store all boxed. We also have heaps in the shop.

No Uk importer is not true!!!

As for Wendl they are the heavy weight of the top end Chinese-Vienna market really.

John Beckingham says.... Hi Piano-Guy. He wont reveal who you are, but I will find out soon enough. lol

Regards

Kemble King ( roar!!!!)

[vernon]

jjmama
As an "expert" I would advise you to ignore the other experts on this forum save for one proviso.---get your local tech to look at the piano for catastrophic defects.
If you only have £400 then a Bent of that vintage should be fine, giving you a good subsequent trade in when you reach your goal. The Bentleys with their Harley-Davidson actions were fine for that place in the marklet in those days. Don't let us get too noffee tosed about this.See me in the two years it takes you to reach Grade 8!
Forget digitals and Chris venables banging on about Mahayas

bw
xx vk

[PianoGuy]

My Uncle James at Edinburgh Piano Company has got loads of Brodmann's in his store all boxed. We also have heaps in the shop.

No Uk importer is not true!!!

As for Wendl they are the heavy weight of the top end Chinese-Vienna market really.

Is your uncle importing Brodmann then? Brodmann UK under the auspices of Colin Taylor is no longer extant.

As for "Lightweight" in my post I was referring to the rather flimsy way that the cabinets are bolted together with bits of ally extrusion and angle iron. Rigidity is not their strong point, although I'd agree that kerb-weight may well be on the heavy side!

[Openwood]

My Uncle James at Edinburgh Piano Company has got loads of Brodmann's in his store all boxed. We also have heaps in the shop.

They're obviously creating a serious storage problem; surely Uncle James wouldn't miss just one little 6ft grand, would he? Can I have one? Can I, Can I, Can I? Face it, he's got them coming out of his ears for Gawd's sake. In fact, look, I'd be doing him a favour; see it as freeing-up valuable floor space.

[David B]

Just how many grand pianos do you need, Mr Openwood?

[Openwood]

Just how many grand pianos do you need, Mr Openwood?

[Barrie Heaton]

Are we going do the opening ceremony at the Olympics then as that has been done with pianos

Barrie,

[Gill the Piano]

No, Barrie, they were Kimballs, not pianos.

[joseph]

never realised you were related to James, Gordon! Small world.

Mind you, why WOULD i have known or realised or even thought of it ?!!

Nice to hear Brodmann are still coming in to the uk as they are great pianos,

[Psycho Pianoman]

Gordon, I've met yer ma and da, so Uncle James must be from your mum's side, cause your dad is quite tall. Is this right?

[Psycho Pianoman]

Joseph, good to hear you'r enjoying your piano, and rightly so, they're good.

From a Brodmann Dealer!

Glyn

[Kemble King]

Mr Cameron is not really my uncle, its just a little joke. But he is coming to my wedding at the end of the month.

[Openwood]

Mr Cameron is not really my uncle, its just a little joke. But he is coming to my wedding at the end of the month.

So the shop will be unattended? He'll never miss just one little 6ft Brodmann, MWAH HAH HAH HAH

[Psycho Pianoman]

And who is going to be a best man at it?

[Psycho Pianoman]

BTW. The Bently in question? Chances are, it should be OK. But like others have said, get it checked out by a reputable tuner first, paying close attention at the plastic damper flanges, if it has.

[jjmama]

Thanks for all your precious opinion.

In fact, after I have reading the replies....I do not have much confidence in Bentley. My friend has just bought a Chappell piano (1985) for 400 pounds from a private seller!! She loves it!!

[vernon]

400£ for a 70s bentley would be a good buy, providing it's ok.
As psycho says, get a tech to check it and you may have a bargain. Otherwise it may be a turkey.