Knocking a piano in the head

[BrianT]

I've owned the same Baldwin since I was 13. Can't hardly play a lick, but it's fun to look at.

 

[Newbomb Turk]

We have a beautiful old mahogany upright. A 1909 Price and Teeple. Made in Chicago. It need some work and tuning. Finding someone to fix and tune it will cost upwards of $1000 we found out. The wife plays and asked for a keyboard last Christmas. Lauren and I wouldn't mind plinking around on one either. Next Christmas there will be one here.

We have a 1912…I’m in the shop and I can’t remember now but it’s a baby grand upright IIRC. It came with the wife when we got married.

It’s in pretty nice condition but it was out of tune. We were on a fairly long car ride and I wanted to get rid of it (second year we were married) because the wife never played.

She said it’s so far out of tune it’s not fun to play. Me, being the guy I am ask why don’t we get it tuned up? It can’t be that big of a deal?

I got a full 20 mile lecture about how we live in a very small town next to a relatively small town and she tried to find someone who would tune it but couldn’t. The closest guy was in Seattle (about 2.5 hours away) and he wanted some crazy amount to tune it plus another bunch of money for travel time.

When the wife went to work the next day, I got on the internet and found a local guy who said he’d tune it for 200 bucks and he would be able to be here by noon.

I was stunned when he opened it up. There was an old mode nest in there. The guy was in his 70’s and he said who didn’t take care of this piano? I said I’m not sure where the thing even came from.

He cleaned it up and tuned it up and I gave him an extra hundred for the cleaning. The piano sounded perfect.

The wife gets home and I tell her about it all. She sits down and plays it and is almost in tears she’s so happy.

The end.

Of course that’s never the end. I found out the piano was given to my sister in law almost 30 years ago. It got moved around, stored under a tarp and actually sat outside for several months. She was going to take it to the dump but my wife said she’d take it.

And…true to form, as soon as the SIL heard it was tuned up and playable she says she wanted it back!

I very clearly explained to her it was now MY piano and she wasn’t getting anything back. If she and her hubby wanted to come over and try and get it to come on over.

My father in law stepped in and told my SIL to sit down and shut her mouth, and that she didn’t deserve to own it just by the way she treated it over the years.

And so we have a well over 100 years old Piano that plays very well when the wife sits down to play it. And the SIL didn’t speak to me for several months. It was a glorious several months.

That is the end.

I hope the OP saves his piano.

 

[Daves69]

A couple years back my neighbor asked me to help him load up an upright that he bought.
Thing weighed a ton! I told him to hire movers when he sells it.
Even my brothers Baby Grand took two people loading and setting up for gigs in the '80s.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

The old free Krell upright I have has several broken strings and Middle “C” doesn’t function. It too was a victim of outside storage at some point, too. There’s some impressive oak construction in it, though!

 

[Dartswinger70]

There was once a time people didn't watch TV on Sat night they had drinks and listened to the kid play piano ...