Don't Fall for a Cheap Bargain

A Tuner is no stranger to surprises:

Some people, in their search for a cheap piano, are very unfortunate. Hoping for a valuable and useable piano, they look for an advert that says 'free to collect' or perhaps, they are willing to spend £10. Excitedly they get the piano delivered and expect the tuner work a miracle! 

When a tuner is called in to choose the better of 2 such pianos, the chances of finding a half-sensible piano are slightly enhanced. But a good outcome was not to be: neither piano was of any use - one was a curious relic, the other a bad example of a mini-piano. There is no polite way of telling an optimistic piano-hunter that their find would never make a useable piano without spending the kind of money they didn't want to spend in the first place! 

A 100 year-old piano has had plenty of time to develop problems that would depress the keenest technician. It is a mistake to imagine that old is always good. This is not Piano agism, rather it is realistic reflection of fact. 

Unless it is top make to begin with, do not consider spending your hard-earned cash on improving it.

Tuner's tip: Don't fall for a cheap bargain!

Tuner's Journal

© Steve Burden

  

Beware of Old Pianos

An antique piano with enormous sentimental value presents the owner with a considerable dilemma! Should you be guided by your heart, or by your head? Antique pianos are often wonderful pieces of furniture - superb examples of exquisite woodworking craftsmanship, but they are really not suitable as a working instrument for a keen pianist.

Different tuners and technicians have their own default position on this kind of scenario - some would rebuild the thing, hoping that the finished piano will play and sound well enough to justify the expense. Others would think twice - knowing how brittle these old actions can be. The chances are pretty high that there will be many added workshop hours simply repairing broken parts or making good the extremes of prolonged wear and tear.

In the course of a normal year's tuning, tuners meet with plenty of rebuilt pianos and while there is no doubt these pianos are better for the work having been done, the piano is still an old piano.  

Meeting a rebuilt piano for the first time, a piano tuner can have an awkward time trying on the one hand to be kind, and on the other hand, to be honest. Invariably, the truth is not easy to convey. The piano can have all new parts fitted, new strings and felts, it can look like the classic showroom piano, but get it delivered back to your home, play it for a few weeks and all too often, small problems become too large to ignore.

Are there exceptions to the rule? Fortunately, yes, but the conditions are hard to meet! Firstly, the piano has to be one of the top names. Secondly, the piano should not be too old. Anything manufactured before 1900, and you are really wasting your money on any work beyond regulating. Rebuilding a piano made in the late 1800s, should be done purely for serious sentimental reasons. 

Pianos are to be used and enjoyed - they should be an absolute pleasure to play. You cannot enjoy one that has a heavy action and is unresponsive or stays in tune for less than a couple of weeks. The idea that 'Old is beautiful' does not apply to pianos - unless of course, you really don't care how it plays, and are interested only in what it looks like. 


The Piano World

© Steve Burden 

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