Paging Kenny/piano PSers

[vintagelover229]

Hi Kenny

I'm just looking for some feedback on getting a free upright piano. There are a whack of free ones to be had and most of them appear to be well made but since we have to haul it out of there and bring it back to our house I want to be sure I'm getting the best free one out there lol! I know it will need tuning but free is the only budget we have. I would really like a weighted digital piano but for now this will do.

Do you mind going though the links below and telling me which is a waste of my time and which ones look promising? I would really appreciate it

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/upright-piano/1006518034?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/free-old-upright-piano/1006516542?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/heintzman-upright-piano/1006436930?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/oshawa-durham-region/free-walnut-coloured-upright-piano/1006038794?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/mississauga-peel-region/free-newcombe-upright-piano-c1950/1005498478?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/tonk-new-york-upright-piano/1005702875?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/mississauga-peel-region/winter-upright-piano/1002308730?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/piano-for-free/1001598371?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/markham-york-region/free-upright-piano/605791360?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true


http://www.kijiji.ca/v-indoor-decor-accent/mississauga-peel-region/free-beautiful-old-piano/605399020?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/oakville-halton-region/free-upright-piano-new-scale-williams/605389964?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/oakville-halton-region/free-upright-piano-new-scale-williams/605389964?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true



Okay so I realize there are a lot of links but there are a LOT of free pianos out there lol! Any feedback/what I should/shouldn't be looking for would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chrono]

The thing with buying a used piano is the ability to go see and touch/test the piano. Get one where the keys look to be in fair condition (not cracked or chipped) and the gap between the keys are even and small. Play all the black and white keys (chromatic scale) to see which ones get stuck and how quickly/slowly it bounces back into position. Look into the body to make sure nothing is broken or moth eaten. Replacing the felt in a PITA. Check the pedals to make sure it works.

 

[vintagelover229]

The thing with buying a used piano is the ability to go see and touch/test the piano. Get one where the keys look to be in fair condition (not cracked or chipped) and the gap between the keys are even and small. Play all the black and white keys (chromatic scale) to see which ones get stuck and how quickly/slowly it bounces back into position. Look into the body to make sure nothing is broken or moth eaten. Replacing the felt in a PITA. Check the pedals to make sure it works.

Thanks so much for the info Chrono I'll be sure to do that (and ask them too) before going and picking anything up. It's not that I don't want to invest in a good piano (if it was an awesome brand I'm more inclined to restore it) but for free I need to make sure I'm getting the one that works the best lol!

I did find this one which from my readings the brand itself is worth my time/money. We'll see if they'll barter for it since it's got some beautiful history to it and it's a nice looking piano!

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-piano-keyboard/city-of-toronto/antique-gold-medal-piano-upright-wm-knabe-co-from-1885-1890/1003394561

 

[ksinger]

And for heaven's sake, spring for a REAL piano mover. Trust me and my permanently CREASED oak floor when I say this. And I even knew better.

Moving a piano is NOT like moving just any old heavy thing, and they are very heavy and unwieldy indeed. It will be money well spent, I promise you, if for nothing else than to watch the pros hoik it about like it's so much gossamer.

 

[monarch64]

The Newcombe or the Winter. Mostly because I dislike the look of the very old style, tall pianos, not because I know that much about them.

We recently acquired a freebie upright ourselves. My husband is sanding the case in the garage now because it needed some work and he wanted to refinish it. I am trying to convince him that we should just paint it with chalkboard paint so we can write music on it, and teach the kiddo. He wants to know why I want to paint everything. I want to know why everything has to be boring old wood.

 

[kenny]

Step 1 ... STOP everything!

Step 2 ... There are a zillion things to pay attention to. Too many to list. Solution: Buy this book! http://www.amazon.com/The-Piano-Book-Buying-Owning/dp/1929145012



Step 3 ... Read it, especially the parts about examining a used piano.

Step 4 ... Decide whether you want to hire/pay a piano tech local to check out the piano, or inspect it yourself.

Step 5 ... Inspect piano

Step 6 ... Hire/pay real piano movers with insurance to move the piano.
There are countless stories of destroyed pianos/human bodies/homes of people trying to save a buck by moving a piano themselves.
Yes, it usually goes okay, but the consequences when it does not go okay are quiet serious.

You are considering what better-informed people often call "Landfill Pianos" because that is where is where most of them belong.
Some of them may keep limping along as marginal instruments for owners who have low musical demands and and low expectations.
All 88 notes of a landfill piano may make some kind of sound but that's about it.
They cannot meet the demands of serious music.
It's not a snob thing; it's a music thing.
God help a poor child who is condemned to learn on one.

Reject the smallest pianos on your list, the spinets, those waist-high pianos.
They should never have been designed or manufactured ... they have the dreaded drop actions.
All spinets should be put to death, along with the engineers and companies who made them.
(My apologies to anyone who owns and loves their spinet.)
Size matters.
With pianos bigger is better, for many many reasons.

There is no way to know much from what's revealed in your links.
Buy Larry Fine's Piano Book and read it.
Take it from there.

Brand matters more when a piano is new but time has a way of converting almost all old pianos into these ... erm ... free pianos.
Often a meticulously maintained no-name piano is a much better instrument that top-brand piano that went 50 years without tuning, or spent a generation in a garage, or was located in a sunny window or next to a furnace, fireplace, aquarium, or AC vent.
And that BS about old wood being better than new is ... BS.

Pianos last about as long as human bodies.
And, as with human bodies, pianos that were taken better care of, as in humidity control and tuning twice a year and repairs when needed, live longer and are healthier in their old age.

Sorry if I sound discouraging ... just piano truths.
Read that book, do your homework, don't rush, and you'll find a good piano for free, but pay to move it ... and find a good local tech to tune it.

Expecting everything related to pianos to be free free free is not reasonable ... and you get what you pay for.

 

[arkieb1]

If you decide to work on it do it quickly. I bought an Antique Germany baby grand piano cheaply off ebay had it moved here from another state via proper piano people, my husband decided he would restore the wood and pulled it all apart after a couple of months he decided it all got too hard and left it. It has been sitting in our shed for years literally, it now has a cracked sound board and I think is pretty well good for fire wood only which is a shame because it came out of a studio, had a decent sound and would have been a nice piano. Moral of the story do not let it deteriorate and if it needs work pay someone who knows what they are doing to do it. And I agree with Kenny, do some research and make sure you are getting a piano that is worth getting, not one that will never have a decent sound or one that is going to cost you too much to repair.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Step 1 ... STOP everything!


Buy Larry Fine's Piano Book and read it.
Take it from there.

I have the book and if any PSer wanted it for free please let me know..

 

[kenny]

Thanks DF.

BTW, it's is also in many libraries if someone wanted to save a few bucks.

Be sure to read the 4th edition with the red cover.
The earlier 3 editions have green, blue and (I think) yellow covers.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Thanks DF.

BTW, it's is also in many libraries if someone wanted to save a few bucks.

Be sure to read the 4th edition with the red cover.
The earlier 3 editions have green, blue and (I think) yellow covers.

mine is green I think it is 20 yrs old...

 

[kenny]

Even the latest edition, the red one, is 14 years old so the prices on new pianos is outdated.
But all the info about examining a used piano is still groovy.

 

[vintagelover229]

Step 1 ... STOP everything!

Step 2 ... There are a zillion things to pay attention to. Too many to list. Solution: Buy this book! http://www.amazon.com/The-Piano-Book-Buying-Owning/dp/1929145012



Step 3 ... Read it, especially the parts about examining a used piano.

Step 4 ... Decide whether you want to hire/pay a piano tech local to check out the piano, or inspect it yourself.

Step 5 ... Inspect piano

Step 6 ... Hire/pay real piano movers with insurance to move the piano.
There are countless stories of destroyed pianos/human bodies/homes of people trying to save a buck by moving a piano themselves.
Yes, it usually goes okay, but the consequences when it does not go okay are quiet serious.

You are considering what better-informed people often call "Landfill Pianos" because that is where is where most of them belong.
Some of them may keep limping along as marginal instruments for owners who have low musical demands and and low expectations.
All 88 notes of a landfill piano may make some kind of sound but that's about it.
They cannot meet the demands of serious music.
It's not a snob thing; it's a music thing.
God help a poor child who is condemned to learn on one.

Reject the smallest pianos on your list, the spinets, those waist-high pianos.
They should never have been designed or manufactured ... they have the dreaded drop actions.
All spinets should be put to death, along with the engineers and companies who made them.
(My apologies to anyone who owns and loves their spinet.)
Size matters.
With pianos bigger is better, for many many reasons.

There is no way to know much from what's revealed in your links.
Buy Larry Fine's Piano Book and read it.
Take it from there.

Brand matters more when a piano is new but time has a way of converting almost all old pianos into these ... erm ... free pianos.
Often a meticulously maintained no-name piano is a much better instrument that top-brand piano that went 50 years without tuning, or spent a generation in a garage, or was located in a sunny window or next to a furnace, fireplace, aquarium, or AC vent.
And that BS about old wood being better than new is ... BS.

Pianos last about as long as human bodies.
And, as with human bodies, pianos that were taken better care of, as in humidity control and tuning twice a year and repairs when needed, live longer and are healthier in their old age.

Sorry if I sound discouraging ... just piano truths.
Read that book, do your homework, don't rush, and you'll find a good piano for free, but pay to move it ... and find a good local tech to tune it.

Expecting everything related to pianos to be free free free is not reasonable ... and you get what you pay for.

THANK YOU KENNY I have decided to wait to get something until I read this book. I'm super busy and will be MIA for a bit and will check to see if I can find it online cheaply if the library doesn't have it. Good excuse to take my 21 month old on a bike ride.

Thank you for your feedback everyone I'll report back when life gives me a bit more time