I'm trying to picture turning brass telecaster saddles in a 16" chuck. Would look like Shaq drinking from a water bottle.
Piano value…
- Thread starter Jimclarke100
- Start date
slauson slim
Poster Extraordinaire
I posted this a few years ago:
My late mother-in-law owned a high quality Yamaha baby grand - a good one made in Japan. Beautifully figured satin finish mahogany case, played well, sounded good, well maintained. No bites on Craigslist when we tried to sell it - asking price based on ebay and what sale prices I could find online. I talked to a couple of piano stores about consignment and they told me there was no market for quality baby grands because nearly all baby grand sales were for decorative purposes and quality did not matter. And, their stores were full of new non-name brand or used lower end name brand instruments. On consignment I would have cleared $1,500 or less. They would not buy the piano outright either. We decided to donate the instrument to a church - several refused, an assisted living center - had one or did not want to deal with it. The piano got donated to a college for use in a common room, where we have been told that students and faculty regularly play it.
My late mother-in-law owned a high quality Yamaha baby grand - a good one made in Japan. Beautifully figured satin finish mahogany case, played well, sounded good, well maintained. No bites on Craigslist when we tried to sell it - asking price based on ebay and what sale prices I could find online. I talked to a couple of piano stores about consignment and they told me there was no market for quality baby grands because nearly all baby grand sales were for decorative purposes and quality did not matter. And, their stores were full of new non-name brand or used lower end name brand instruments. On consignment I would have cleared $1,500 or less. They would not buy the piano outright either. We decided to donate the instrument to a church - several refused, an assisted living center - had one or did not want to deal with it. The piano got donated to a college for use in a common room, where we have been told that students and faculty regularly play it.
WingedWords
Friend of Leo's
Have you got a local model engineering society? They might be interested. The one my dad belonged to had a club workshop with some big machinery members could use.
Or a preserved steam railway or something like that might be happy to give it a home.
john_cribbin
Friend of Leo's
Nothing new there OP.
When I took piano lessons in the 80's the household clearance places all had uprights they couldn't give away. Thousands of them must have ended up being scrapped for the metal.
Haven't seen a second hand one for sale in a shop this century. Things are as popular as a fart in a space suit.
When I took piano lessons in the 80's the household clearance places all had uprights they couldn't give away. Thousands of them must have ended up being scrapped for the metal.
Haven't seen a second hand one for sale in a shop this century. Things are as popular as a fart in a space suit.
tintag27
Friend of Leo's
In the 70's I lived in London's East End for a while with a few friends - we were all into music of some degree and one day the most musically trained of us (OK the ONLY musically trained of us) announced he had bought an upright piano and we should go get it, bring it back to our flat and sort of get a band started together... what could possibly go wrong!
Well we were young and a bit stupid, so the fact we didn't have any transport did not deter us from our worthy quest. Fortunately, the piano was only a quarter of a mile away and on the ground floor! - the 4 of us trundled the beast (very noisily) back along the streets and the odd main road only resting now and then so Pete could have a tinkle on the keys to check the tuning... (what tuning)...
Finally we reached our building and now nobody could ignore the big ugly fly in the ointment of our well crafted plan - we had to get the piano up two (very narrow) flights of stairs - yes, our flat was on the second floor...
Well, it took over two hours and left some huge divots in the plaster and a shattered spindle, but eventually we reached our floor and the final few yards to our door. In a rather hysterical outburst of enegy we put everything into that last push. For a few seconds the castor got tangled in the carpet, then broke loose and the piano hurtled along the hallway, complely snapping off our front door handle and firing it like howitzer shell into the neighours wall (fortunately they were out)...
Well we were young and a bit stupid, so the fact we didn't have any transport did not deter us from our worthy quest. Fortunately, the piano was only a quarter of a mile away and on the ground floor! - the 4 of us trundled the beast (very noisily) back along the streets and the odd main road only resting now and then so Pete could have a tinkle on the keys to check the tuning... (what tuning)...
Finally we reached our building and now nobody could ignore the big ugly fly in the ointment of our well crafted plan - we had to get the piano up two (very narrow) flights of stairs - yes, our flat was on the second floor...
Well, it took over two hours and left some huge divots in the plaster and a shattered spindle, but eventually we reached our floor and the final few yards to our door. In a rather hysterical outburst of enegy we put everything into that last push. For a few seconds the castor got tangled in the carpet, then broke loose and the piano hurtled along the hallway, complely snapping off our front door handle and firing it like howitzer shell into the neighours wall (fortunately they were out)...
Telekarster
Poster Extraordinaire
Yep and that's why I'm hoping the OP's piano is something like a Steinway etc. cause at least they'd be able to move it, or should be able too. I suspect that you still got something in the 4 figures at least. What it an M by chance?
raito
Poster Extraordinaire
Find your local makerspace. If they're a non-profit, you might even get to deduct it.
As a baby grand you may find a buyer. IF it's tunable etc.
Finding that buyer is the issue.
I see them advertised on CL all the time. $3500-5000 for a good BG.
I would find a piano store and ask if they can sell at commission.
It's very much about brand. I had an old Wurlitzer BG 30 years ago. it was only worth $400 because it was untunable, something about how it was built and the main beam the tuning pegs were in.
A Steinway OTOH..... big bucks.
Finding that buyer is the issue.
I see them advertised on CL all the time. $3500-5000 for a good BG.
I would find a piano store and ask if they can sell at commission.
It's very much about brand. I had an old Wurlitzer BG 30 years ago. it was only worth $400 because it was untunable, something about how it was built and the main beam the tuning pegs were in.
A Steinway OTOH..... big bucks.
I’d give it away without hesitation. It has intrinsic value but it’s also an instrument meant to give joy.
My dad played a 9’ grand until he passed and my brother has it only because at the time I had no house.
Find a family in need or a school.
My dad played a 9’ grand until he passed and my brother has it only because at the time I had no house.
Find a family in need or a school.
When I was a "no-income" college music major, I bought an old upright practice piano. Turned out, it was un-tunable due to the tuning peg holes being worn, and the pegs would slip. The pegs "could" be retrofitted with larger pegs, but that would have cost far more than the piano was worth. Sad fact of many older pianos.
You can donate it to a church or a school and take a tax write-off for it.....Also Goodwill will pick it up and even give you a receipt for it and you can use the receipt for a tax write-off.
RodeoTex
Doctor of Teleocity
After my parents were gone, the only way I could get rid of the old upright was to re-purpose into an SG, but at least it's still making music.
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I think you'll find that it's tough to find a church or school that will even ACCEPT an old piano. Same with Goodwill or Salvation Army.....they have trouble selling or dealing with old pianos, and many locations won't even pick them up at all. There really is a glut of discarded pianos in the U.S.
slauson slim
Poster Extraordinaire
SlideGuy123
Tele-Meister
My wife works for an auction house and estate sales company. Pianos are nearly impossible to sell and generally go for low dollars if they do (exceptions: Steinways in great shape).
And forget about selling or auctioning any large wood furniture, especially brown woodI leaned that painful lesson when my mom passed a couple years ago. Auction houses wouldn’t look twice. Armoires? No interest.
And forget about selling or auctioning any large wood furniture, especially brown woodI leaned that painful lesson when my mom passed a couple years ago. Auction houses wouldn’t look twice. Armoires? No interest.
BatUtilityBelt
TDPRI Member
It's a sad but common reality. I play, but prefer digital pianos to real pianos. Despite the nuanced differences, never needing tuning and being able to carry it are amazing upgrades. My sister (who doesn't play) has our family piano, and it is so out of tune it disgusts me. For the most part, I think aside from concert grands, we're talking about a bygone era.
lil scotty
Tele-Holic
The man who moved, and now tunes my piano, is the best. If I could not keep my piano for whatever reason, I would ask him if he had any ideas. So, maybe, ask the person who has been taking care of that piano?
PhoenixBill
Tele-Holic
Maybe if I won a bazillion dollars on the lottery, I would buy a mansion with a grand piano, complete with a blonde lounge singer to look fabulous as she crooned love songs to me…. Curses, someone just woke me up from my daydream.
Jimclarke100
Friend of Leo's
Reminds me of picking up a piano for the Scout hut in the 80s. We picked it up on a trailer behind a land rover from a farm. It a clear night and I remember them setting off up the drive with my dad sitting at the piano on the trailer playing Moonlight Sonata.…. well maybe you had to be there, but that was typical of dads sense of humour. I still miss the old sod!
