I dun think it's necessary to buy such ex piano (if you cannot afford it, no offence
)
Cos last time I used to rent those cheapo china made, lousy quality piano and still manage to pass well till the last grade
(not being arrogant or what, just sharing)
But then for diploma, i think frequent playing on Grand Piano or baby grand (not upright grand) would be necessary, though u still can practice on upright ones. Cos all the subtleties, like better touch, sound projection, sound quality, pedal feeling- would kill u if u dun master this.
IMHO, It's not a good idea to invest on piano.. cos value drops, unlike violin or other instr which (depends on the maker) usu getting more valuable as time goes by.
Unless u can afford buying those branded ones like
Steinway and sons or Bosendorfer.
But then again even a concert grand would depreciate.. (cos wear and tear and other factors)
So i guess what most ppl think abt 'investing' on piano is that you buy a piano whose value dun depreciate fast like typical china made ones..
Again u might wanna take into consideration the look of piano, which most likely will 'decorate' one corner of your home.
Basically an upright piano (preferably of min height 120cm) with no broken string, all properly functioning keys and pedals (probably u'll need the middle pedal for mute purpose), and iron cast structure with cross-strung piano (all piano made in the last 30 yrs have this feature) would suffice.
