While I've been playing/focusing on guitar for many years, I still consider myself a piano player first. I started lessons when I was six, was a very serious student, went to competitions, studied it in college, etc. But for the last ten years or so, as I've tried to get my adult life together, it was never practical or affordable to have an acoustic. I moved too often and my apartments were too small, and it has always been a real bummer to have to play and write on my old digital piano, which was annoying enough to have to move around and repair all the time. Finally, my circumstances have afforded me the ability and space to adopt a real-live piano, a 1997 Yamaha P22.
I stumbled upon the (local to me) eBay auction for this thing with 0 bids and less than an hour left - this particular model is actually built and designed for institutions like schools, churches, and university practice rooms in mind so I knew it was able to withstand abuse and the photos appeared to show it in good shape, so I took a gamble and made a lowball best offer (like 50% of asking price), thinking that it would probably be rejected, but it was accepted!! This is quite literally the only model of piano that I would even consider buying without playing first, and only then if it seemed just right.
It arrived on Thursday and I couldn't be happier with it. Plays and sounds like a dream. I hope I get to keep it forever. Here it is with some of its fewer-stringed brethren:
