I own a "Winter" baby grand piano that could very well be 50 years old or more, the keys are yellowed, it is miserably out of tune, and the strings are worn. Could someone estimate the price of replacing the ivory keys with new ones, replacing the strings, getting it tuned, and possibly getting it polished or anything to increase the desirability? We want our piano to look gorgeous just as much as we want the tone to be perfect. Thank you.
2007-09-23 11:06:18 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music ➔ Classical
You could get the ivory replaced, but that alone could run over a thousand. If no pieces are cracked, chipped, or missing, the old ivory can be cleaned for much cheaper.
As for the other repairs, you could easily be investing five thousand and upwards. With the instrument being 50 or more, there are likely problems in the action itself that need to be addressed too. The best way to get an accurate estimate would be to have a professional come in and examine the instrument. You're never going to get an accurate estimate asking for others' experiences. The technician will need to see the instrument to give an accurate estimate.
2007-09-24 12:17:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Refusetbesilent has given you excellent advice. If anything, he underestimated the cost of what you might need to do.
You will never be able to replace the keytops with Ivory, Must use today's plastics. Thats $400.
Restringing will run about $5000, because you will also need new felt on the dampers. One reason it is likely out of tune is that the pin block does not have the ability to grip the pins with the proper torque. So it must be restrung with oversize
pins. In a piano of that age and quality, this could very well compromise the pin block. Replacing the pinblock would be a huge expense.
Rebuilding the action (new hammers and repetitions) will easily excede $3000.
Your piano, even in he best of condition, would never be worth more than $3000 to $4000. It does not make financial sense to restore it.
Pianos of the quality of Winter were designed to have a service life of about 50 years.
2007-09-23 16:42:55 · answer #2 · answered by glinzek 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We had pin block treatment done to an old upright piano once. I won't ever do it again and unless the piano is exceedingly rare or some very unusual quality, I just don't recommend it. The pin block treatment didn't completely take care of the problem.
We had some problems with a few of the hammers too.
The 2 keys we had the most trouble with, which I remember the one was Bflat, above middle C, and the other was above middle C also, all the expense did nothing for those 2 keys.
You are better off to either purchase one that is sitting around in someones house unplaced or getting a new one.
Look at the felt on the hammers and observe how clean everything is.
2007-09-23 18:07:56 · answer #3 · answered by kriend 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
well, I am not a technician but from what I have learned from my technician friends, what you have in mind will cost you at least $5,000 to $8,000 if not more. Also, very likely this piano will need many of the hammers re-surfaced of replaced, or maybe some work needs to be done on the sound board ,.......and it only gets more expensive!!! For a "Winter" baby grand, it's simply a waste of money. you should just save your money towards a new baby grand!!
2007-09-23 16:05:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Almost certainly unrepairable.
2016-05-17 06:08:08 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋