Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Beginner: Boston GB156 or Yamaha GC1?

Hello all,

I’m a beginner player and is taking 1:1 classes. I currently have a Yamaha digital piano that I bought 10 years ago and I am thinking to get a real piano. I’m considering these two below, what do you guys think? Which one will you pick? Are the prices fair Or are there other models you all can recommend? Thank you in advance for all the feedbacks. 😊

1. Boston GB 156 from 2021 model (basically new) for $19,900
2. Yamaha GC1 Brand new for $20,000

I have tried them both and they are really great pianos. I do think the Boston might have the edge for me and it also has some really nice details and I think it’s places one step above the GC1 when it comes to features.

But I would pick the one that feels best for you to play on and the sound you like the best ☺️

Hi Emeraldwynn, welcome to Piano World! 🥳

Make sure to play each piano for a while, go to dealers and look on Craigslist, Offerup, and whatever.
Basically make sure you like the tone and touch of the piano.

On this forum we VERY HEAVILY (I’m serious)
recommend having a independent piano tech inspect the piano, personally I did not but it was a risk.

Would the Boston be better because it’s basically new? Does the price go down that fast after buying new?

Are both of theses from a dealer? Piano dealers usually charge more but IMO they are usually more trustworthy than private.

Hope you get a good piano 🎹

Thanks!! Yes these two pianos are selling by the same dealer (shop) 😊

For me the Boston will have more harmonic richness, with a deeper bass. The Yamaha will be lighter and clearer. But at the end it comes down to what you like best.

I should add that the Boston 156 is NOT the same quality as the larger Boston pianos.

I prefer the Yamaha line musically - and more importantly - if there is a service issue. Yamaha is the company that all others compare themselves to in that regard. (That is a quote from PianoBuyer)

Your preference should guide you, but I personally would choose the GC-1.

(Full Disclosure - I chose to sell Yamaha 5 years ago and I love the way they support me as a dealer and my clients.)

Good luck,

I am also a fan of the Boston grands, but I agree, there's a big jump in going to the next one up in size (163) or the one above that (178).

I actually don't think I played the 156 very much... the 163 and 178 I have multiple models because I visited two different dealers who sell Boston, and they each had several instruments, but I didn't spend much time on the 156.

I have a Yamaha C2 (5'8", so very close to the Boston 178, like maybe only half an inch size difference? Someone else do that math).

Anyway, my piano was 20 y/o when I bought it, and at the time there were no used Bostons for me to consider. But I would have really struggled to choose if the Boston 178 was in within my budget. Because I loved the Bostons I played. But I also loved my Yamaha and of course now that I've had it for almost three years, I know exactly what a great instrument it is....

Back to your choices... The sound/tone/feel of the Boston and the Yamaha were totally different in my experience, so I would say, go and play them again and try to pay attention to how each sounds and feels.

This should give you your answer.

But if you still can't decide, buy the Yamaha.

Rich - Just curious. The specs for the 156 seem identical to those of the 163 and 178, and all three models are built in Japan. Why would the quality differ?

I’d go with Yamaha. But I’d probably also consider some preowned instruments. You might end up with a better piano for your money by sacrificing the brand-newness.

Yamaha piano is always famous by its durability like a workhorse but Boston is also not a low quality one if we don’t want to say “premium level” as Piano Buyer magazine. Therefore the key thing is your favorite touch and tone. As my view, Yamaha and Boston are totally in opposite sides of touch and tone so I think you should spend sufficient time to try both. A few minute playing won’t help. We should try to avoid to buy a piano then recognize we cannot tolerate its sounds (for example my wife cannot stand for Yamaha piano sounds .

This cannot be stressed enough! When I was piano shopping, I brought my sheet music and I spent 20+ minutes on any piano that I liked.

At some point I also decided to avoid buying anything on the first visit. IOW, if I went to a dealer's and liked a piano there, I made a rule for myself that I had to wait a few days or a week and go back and play it again. That worked well for me, esp. early on in my piano shopping when I was less confident in making a selection. (This was also pre-covid and I didn't feel like it was very likely that someone would come along and buy something before I had a chance to.)

20k seems like a reasonable price for the gc1. The SMP (suggested maximum price) on PianoBuyer is 24.4K, so the quoted price is about 20% off the SMP. This is in the expected ballpark, especially as it seems it is a seller’s market and people are not getting as much of a discount as they used to. The SMP of the Boston is about the same as the Yamaha. If the piano is from 2021 but has not been sold previously, it is still considered a new piano. If it was sold previously, I would ask myself why it’s back with the dealers (it would be strange to me that it’s no longer with its original owner). If you’re interested in buying it, I might have it checked by an independent technician, particularly as it was turned back to the store so quickly. Also, make sure that you get the manufacturer’s warranty… some of them don’t convey after the first owner.

But before all this, I would maybe take a couple steps back and think about other options. Some people very strongly feel they want a grand piano, even a small one, rather than a vertical/upright piano, and that’s totally fine if you’re one of those people. But as you haven’t indicated that this is the case, I would recommend at least considering upright pianos. A $20k budget will go a very long way with upright pianos, and you can get a really really nice upright with this budget. Also with this budget, you may be able to find a lightly used but somewhat longer grand. If you’ve got the space, some extra inches will really help with the bass of the piano.

I think this article from PianoBuyer is really great: https://www.pianobuyer.com/article/five-mistakes-first-time-piano-buyers-make/
I’d pay particular attention to #2, Shopping Backwards.

Best wishes with your piano shopping! Have fun!