How to Donate a Piano

Pianos are not the smallest pieces of furniture in the house. So  when the family piano is no longer used and taking up valuable space, often the thought is to donate the piano to the school, the church or the village hall. Anywhere it can be played and appreciated.  

While donating a piano to a school or college is a generous gesture, the kind of piano and its condition might throw a different light on the gift.

Institutions need any donated piano to be up to scratch, up to pitch and ready for continual and rigorous use without the school having to spend any new money. Pianos of a certain age will never be fully up to scratch, and pianos that are ripe for being donated are often pianos that are simply unloved and unwanted by the owners. In this age of trying to recycle everything, passing on a surplus piano seems a very 'green' thing to do! But not always the most helpful thing to do.

Being given a 'grand' piano seems like manna from heaven to an institution with limited funds. Surely a grand piano can be used for concerts and recitals - what can possibly go wrong? But alas, most of the pianos I have viewed on behalf of hopeful clients, have been poor examples of mediocre manufacture.

It is better to turn down the offer of a poor piano than to be obliged to take it and be forced into paying good money trying to make good an inherently bad piano.

Occasionally there are happy endings:

One was when a parent of a child at a certain school very generously bought a piano for the school. 

Another, an 'old' parent wanted to donate their 1970s Yamaha to the school and even paid to have safety casters fitted, the piano moved and tuned! 

This is how to donate a piano!

So if you are considering gifting a piano to a school of college, be doubly sure the piano would meet the demands expected and actually be a blessing to the school.
    

Tuner's Journal

© Steve Burden

Piano Repairs

Repairing a piano will involve considerable expense - some of the new parts are relatively inexpensive but, for example, if you wanted a set of new hammer-heads fitted, suddenly the price for the work soon begins to look like a serious amount of money. Sentimental reasons may push aside fears of overspending but if, after parting with a whole load of cash, the piano is still an untuneful and uninspiring instrument then the cost to honour a memory will seem to have missed the mark.

 

Of course, opinions will vary from technician to technician, but here are some guidelines for the careful piano owner who wishes to avoid overspending on their piano:

1. Assuming the piano to be repaired is an average, mid-range quality, regularly used and up to pitch. ...in this case there is scope for fairly extensive repair - some refelting, replacing of springs etc. but unless it is a family heirloom, do not have it completely rebuilt.
2. If the piano to be repaired is less than an average piano, straight-strung, overdamped, difficult to keep in tune, has numerous broken parts. ... in this case, spend any money upgrading the piano. If funds really don't stretch that far, find a tuner who will help you keep it going without charging you the earth. Any serious money spent on these pianos is money down the drain!
3. If the piano to be repaired is a top quality, named piano, total rebuilding, though expensive is not out of place. If the existing condition of the piano is tired and worn out, sometimes rebuilding is the only way to restore its sparkle. However, on a personal note, the older the piano, take extra care. ...in my opinion, only this kind of piano stands as a sensible candidate for the cost of rebuilding!

Are there exceptions to the rule?  

As ever, yes! Occasionally I meet with a piano which does not neatly fit into the categories mentioned above, but if it has enough of that difficult-to-define piano charm to set it apart from the ordinary, then go ahead. The last such piano for me was a very fine old French piano. Rare, and well-preserved, it did not need a complete rebuild. New hammerheads, new damper felts, kept the original strings and the result? All things considered, a good value-for-money option for the owners.

© Steve Burden