Why Is It Almost Impossible to Find a Later-Model Used Yamaha U1 or U3?

If you’ve been shopping for a used Yamaha U1 or U3, you may have started out thinking you would find one from the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, or perhaps even newer.

Then you started looking—and discovered there simply aren’t many out there.

Customers frequently ask us why. After more than 25 years of buying and selling used Yamaha U-Series pianos, we’ve learned that there are several very logical reasons.

1. Far More Acoustic Pianos Were Sold in the 1970s and 1980s

The 1970s were boom years for the acoustic piano industry. Yamaha and other manufacturers were producing and selling enormous numbers of pianos.

By the 1990s and 2000s, however, digital pianos had become a major part of the piano market, while sales of traditional acoustic uprights declined dramatically. As a result, there are simply far fewer newer acoustic uprights available to eventually enter the used-piano market.

During the years when annual upright piano sales were much higher, Yamaha U1s and U3s represented only a portion of a very large market that included a wide variety of spinets, consoles and other upright pianos. Today, the overall acoustic upright market is much smaller, while the Yamaha U1 and U3 have remained two of the most recognized and desirable choices for buyers looking for a serious acoustic upright. As a result, they likely represent a greater share of today’s upright market than they did decades ago.

What is important is that while the overall acoustic piano market has declined dramatically,
the Yamaha U1 and U3 have remained two of the most recognized and desirable choices for someone who wants a serious acoustic upright piano.  In fact, Yamaha describes the U Series as “the world’s most popular upright” and says it has held that distinction for more than half a century.

That is one of the biggest reasons the used market contains so many more U-Series pianos from the late 1970s and 1980s than from the 1990s, 2000s, or later.

2. A Newer Used Yamaha U3 Is Especially Difficult to Find

When purchased new, Yamaha sells more U1s than U3s. There’s a logical reason for that. The U3 is a larger, more expensive piano and is generally purchased by serious pianists, teachers, institutions, or families already committed to playing piano long-term. It is much less common for someone to purchase a new U3 for a beginning student.

Those owners also tend to keep their pianos.

So there were fewer U3s sold in the first place, and fewer of those pianos eventually make their way onto the used market. That makes a newer used U3 particularly difficult to find.

3. The U1 and U3 Are Famous—but They Are Still a Small Part of Today’s Piano Market

The Yamaha U1 and U3 are two of the best-known upright pianos in the world, but today most piano buyers purchase digital pianos rather than acoustic uprights.

Within the acoustic piano market, however, used Yamaha U1s and U3s remain extremely desirable. That creates an unusual situation:
relatively limited supply combined with consistently strong demand.

4. So Why Consider a Yamaha from the Late 1970s or 1980s?

This is where the age of a piano can sometimes be misleading.

Many Yamaha U1s and U3s manufactured during this period were exceptionally well-built instruments. Yamaha produced them with remarkable consistency, and a piano that has been properly maintained—and, when necessary, professionally refurbished—can still be an outstanding instrument decades later.

A carefully selected and properly refurbished older U1 or U3 can provide the touch, tone, appearance, and performance that attracts people to these pianos in the first place, while costing substantially less than a new one.

5. We’ve Watched This Happen for More Than 25 Years

Perhaps the best example comes from our own experience at Capital Music Center.

We have been selling refurbished Yamaha U1s and U3s for more than 25 years.

Back around 2001, we regularly had access to U3s from the mid-1980s. At that time, a 1986 Yamaha U3 was only about 15 years old. In fact,
1986 is still the newest used U3 we have ever had the opportunity to purchase for resale.

Now it’s 2026.

That same 1986 U3 is now 40 years old—and after another 25 years in the piano business, the reality is that a meaningful supply of newer used U3s simply does not exist. There just weren’t enough of them sold in later years to create the kind of used inventory that once existed with U3s from the 1970s and 1980s.

That tells you something important about the market.

If you’re waiting for a nice selection of used U3s from the 1990s, 2000s, or 2010s to suddenly become available, you may be waiting a very long time.

Does a Refurbished Yamaha U1 or U3 Make Sense?

For many customers who want the experience of a Yamaha U-Series acoustic piano without purchasing a brand-new one,
a carefully selected and properly refurbished U1 or U3 from the late 1970s through the 1980s can make tremendous sense.

Rather than concentrating primarily on the date stamped on the piano, look at the things that really determine what you’re buying: its condition, how it has been maintained, the quality of the refurbishment, and—most importantly—how the piano actually sounds and feels when you play it.

We’ve been selecting and selling refurbished Yamaha U1 and U3 pianos in Austin for more than 25 years, and we’d be happy to show you the differences in person at Capital Music Center.

*Source: The Music Trades Magazine, published in Englewood, New Jersey. Since the mid-1970s, the publication has covered domestic and international music commerce, including industry trends, sales data, and retail performance. Edited by Brian Majeski.

*Yamaha describes its U Series as “the world’s most popular upright” and reports selling more than four million upright pianos since 1967.