Can't give them away: Vintage upright pianos are meeting a sorry end

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Can't give them away: Vintage upright pianos are meeting a sorry end

‘The era for old uprights is coming to a close,' P.E.I. tuner says with regret

Sara Fraser, Stephen Brun · CBC News · Posted: Dec 26, 2024 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: December 26

https://i.cbc.ca/1.7405353.1733765388!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_1180/piano-players.jpg

Janine Gosbee was surprised there were no takers for her vintage upright piano, 'considering I'm trying to give it away for free.' (Laura Meader/CBC)

Scroll through an online for-sale site like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace and you will almost always spot old upright pianos on offer, either for free or for a very, very low price.

The wooden pianos can be beautiful, but the ads tend to stay up a while because the instruments are very heavy to move and often out of tune.

"At one point in time, I thought at least every other home had a piano, because I could drive down the street and say, 'I've been there, I've been there, I've been there,'" says Mike Klomp, who has been tuning and repairing pianos on Prince Edward Island for more than 35 years.

Klomp used to take free upright pianos, fix them up and sell them. Now he won't take them, because there is no market for them. ... "I couldn't even resell it, because the amount that I would have to put into it would exceed the amount I would ever get for it. It's unfortunate," he said.

{snip}

[JoeOtterbein]

1. Yep!

I have one that I've been trying to give away for free for about a year now. Instead, I get messages form firms that will take it away for 2 to 3 hundred bucks!

[blm]

4. Find piano teachers/programs for underprivileged kids

and match up a piano with a student whose family can’t afford one.

[LNM]

8. I donated mine to "Keys for Kids" in St Paul

I had to pay a monetary “donation” to cover the movers. It was well worth it to give to someone in need and get rid of it. It was a nice, but old piano.

[Paladin]

10. We gave ours to the local high school.

They were in need of another piano, and were profoundly grateful to us.

[mopinko]

2. new piano sells arent hot either. even tho

piano makers r refusing to promote the 1st innovation on the instrument in 100 yrs, the reduced size keyboard.
i’ve been trying to buy 1. steinway invented them about 100 yrs ago, but they keep it a secret. they made 1 for barenboim, but made him sign an nda. it did finally expire.
an advocate for this works w piano makers, including steinway. she talked to them, and others. steinway wd only do an upright, w a $10k upcharge, even tho it costs basically nothing.
there is a company in germany who makes them. i cd have gotten 1 from them. $60k including shipping here. similar upcharge.

i talked to the steinway dealer here. he’d never heard of it. tried to tell him that every suburban dad wd have a reason to buy a NEW steinway for their gifted daughters, but nah, not interested.
yamaha dealer was equally uninterested.

longtime big new/used piano store here just went out of biz. and it’s def true there r free pianos everywhere. but it’s been like that for quite a while. a big moving company by me has a ‘piano orphanage’ cuz they couldnt bare to always dump them.

i am getting a digital 1. finally going into production. $2500, which is 3x what i paid for my yamaha. there’s a company in europe that makes a rly beautiful 1 for $5k. no idea how they r selling, but they’re also starting to make replacement boards.
atm, it costs about $10k to convert.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. I Had An Old Upright

Got it for free. It was made just after WW1. 1920, as I recall.
It was in bad shape. Took the whole thing apart, did some key sanding, (especially near the back of the keys) reglued some key tops, acid washed the strings, lubed the pedal mechanisms, and put a ¼# strip of maple over a tiny soundboard crack.
Played it for around 15 years. The pinblock started to shrink, so pegs wouldn't stay tight. I didn't have the gear to inject polymer to expand the pinblock. So, I got a new Baldwin console, which I still have.
I gave the old one to a guy that made a salt water aquarium out of it.
If a pro did what I did today, it would probably cost 3 grand, which would have been more than the think was worth.
New pianos are VERY expensive. Baldwin still makes the model I have and new, it lists at nearly $17k. People could buy one heckuva digital piano for 20% of that.

[Gore1FL]

5. Call Mattias Krantz!

https://www.youtube.com/@Mattiaskrantz

[chowder66]

17. He's nuts! What a fun channel!

[mainer]

6. I had an old Chickering upright that I learned on as a child

A great piano, in great shape. Thank god my son took it for my grandson (2 years old ) to learn on. We had it tuned for them after it was moved.

Now I have a grand piano.

I've played on electronic keyboards, but they just can't compare. They don't have the keyboard touch or the sound of a real piano. When I was growing up, every other kid I knew was taking piano lessons. Now, too many kids are musically illiterate.

[Elessar Zappa]

7. There's a lot of kids

who create music with their computer. It’s not playing but it is figuring out the sound you want, melody, chords, harmony, etc. I think it’s as valid as playing an old school instrument.

[mainer]

19. Electronic keyboards are good to learn on

But for serious pianists interested in performance, real keyboards have the dynamic range and touch of the hammer striking the string. It doesn’t compare. The same way a synthesizer can never match the sound of a real violin. Not important to most casual listeners, but very important to a musician.

[elleng]

9. Good yours is in good shape!

My brother has ours, one Dad got our family years ago, and my BROTHER has it now! Uses it rarely, but still useable, baby GRAND Steinway.

Happy MNew Year.

[LiberalArkie]

11. The economical portable electronic piano/organ/sythn took away the standup market.

Or for 4 grand you can have a Hammond Electronic with Leslie jack



Probably sounds just like the B3

[Festivito]

21. Makes more sense to buy that electric piano/organ/synthesizer.

I have a cheaper electric piano. Had to destroy my upright.

Did have one guy in college who pulled back the hammers and played the strings like a harp. Can't do that with the electric.

[highplainsdem]

12. So sad to read.

But some people are still buying them. I gave a small keyboard to my favorite niece's kids years ago, and she and her husband soon bought them an old upright piano.

[SWBTATTReg]

13. It is sad. I had an old upright piano, that a friend of mine gave to me, and then 10-15 years later, tried to sell

it, get it out of the house (they do take up room), no takers, so I gave it away, they paid for the move. Was very happy...the buyers got it for their daughter's music lessons, so it was a win/win for all involved.

[Jean Genie]

14. Korg?

I bought a Korg a few years back. I HATE it! I never play anymore. It sounds fine. It can sound like an organ, or a piano. You can strike the keys like a piano. It wasn't cheap. The quality is good. But ... I HATE the damn thing! Maybe it's because I gave up a 1925 Steinway grand? Boy, do I miss THAT piano!

[maxsolomon]

15. I tried to talk my brother out of keeping his upright when he moved.

It's absurdly heavy, and he doesn't play, and it's in shit shape, and it belonged to his religious fanatic ex-MIL. But he's a hoarder so no, I had to help him move it, twice now.

Whereas we got a nice little MCM Baldwin Acrosonic spinet when our daughter was learning. Still heavy, full keyboard, but not as much of an intimidating burden.

[Punx]

16. My wife and I have an old upright

That's been in the family for decades. My wife's aunt was a piano teacher. It was probably made in the late 1800's, though don't quote me on that. With an Emerson sound board and when in tune it sounds great. Some speculation that it came from a saloon, but who knows.

I'm afraid what will come of it when we pass or have to downsize. Unlikely my kids will have room for it.

[Lancero]

18. Most people can't afford their own house now and need to rent instead. Makes larger luxury items rather unattractive.

Rent goes up, gotta move again to somewhere cheaper. Most likely, somewhere smaller.

I ended up having to break apart the old uprights my dad had collected after he'd died. To big for me to move myself, not worth the cost to store it. I'm lucky enough to own my own house, but it's still a big ol case of "Yeah, but I don't need or want this.".

So, yeah. They got broke up and tossed in a roll off. Whatever money I could have sold them for wouldn't have covered the costs of moving and storing them, and well... My dad got them for free from other people who gave up trying to sell em themselves.

I did keep a couple of his electronic keyboards though. I had the room to store them, but honestly? I don't have any real need or desire for them. Deep down I know that it's just going to be something that whoever clears out my shit after I die will end up tossing.

[applegrove]

20. We gave our upright piano to a second cousin of my Dad. We had to hire piano movers at thousands of dollars.

They pulled up in front of our house. Three huge guys walked up the walkway and put a ramp on our front steps. They went inside. The three lifted the upright piano up and into the front hall (5 feet). Then onto the ramp. They rolled it down the walkway and to a ramp at the back of their truck. It took all of 2 minutes.