![]() In my experience, if the client expects to recoup rebuilding costs should there be a need to liquidate, the least-expensive instruments that should be considered as candidates for rebuilding are models that currently retail new for over $60,000. Piano dealers who sell rebuilt pianos choose candidates very carefully in order to get a return from their investment in parts and labor, and the private owner should be just as wary. Putting thousands of dollars into a low-quality instrument won’t increase its value by much, and there’s no guarantee that any of the cost of rebuilding can be recouped in resale. It turns out that, from a financial point of view, except for premium-quality instruments, most pianos are not worth a private owner’s investment in their rebuilding. You may immediately find that pianos like yours sell for premium prices - or that similar models are being given away cheap or for free on Craigslist. Although an inspection by a qualified technician or rebuilder is necessary to confirm the cost of repairs and the potential value of your instrument when rebuilt, the most important factors in determining its potential value after restoration are its brand and model.īefore contacting a technician for an estimate, an Internet search for examples of your model of instrument for sale, restored or unrestored, will likely give you a good dose of reality. If the cost of rebuilding the piano exceeds its potential resale value when rebuilt, then rebuilding is usually not a wise investment - for less money, the owner could buy a better-quality instrument. The main reason a piano may not be a good candidate for rebuilding is that it simply is not a good enough instrument, something that’s usually indicated by the potential resale value of the instrument after rebuilding. Why Most Pianos Are Not Good Candidates For Rebuilding If you own what is essentially a core piano, and intend to use it other than as a piece of furniture, you’ll have to have it rebuilt or replaced. ![]() ![]() For the reasons mentioned above, these instruments are usually untunable and/or unplayable, and thus unusable as is. ![]() Technicians refer to instruments that are candidates for rebuilding as “core pianos.” This means that the only possible use for the piano is to rebuild it. Refinishing the cabinet is a very expensive part of the restoration process - in some cases as much as a third of the cost. The cabinet, including cosmetic repair and refinishing of the case and of the nonstructural cabinet parts and hardware.In better pianos that must be tuned accurately for professional use, even though the tuning pins are still tight, the strings may require replacing simply to restore the instrument’s tone or its ability to be accurately tuned. Although this is the most common reason for restringing a piano, the strings themselves can become compromised with rust, pitting, or metal fatigue. The pin block, a plank of laminated wood in which the tuning pins are embedded, often becomes cracked or worn, and can no longer hold the tuning pins tightly enough to keep the strings in tune. Bridges crack from the pressure of the strings on the bridge pins. Soundboards dry out, crack, lose their crown, and no longer transmit tone well. The soundbox, also known as the strung back or belly, including the soundboard, ribs, bridges, strings, pin block, tuning pins, plate the damper felts, heads, and wires and the structural parts of the case.Restoring the action also includes the regulation or adjustment of those parts. As many as 8,000 of a piano’s parts are in its action. These parts get worn with use, causing noisy movement and poor touch and tone. The action, including the keyframe and action frame, keys and keytops, hammers, damper underlevers, trap work, and all other moving action parts.Most aspects of the rebuilding process fall into three main areas: Quality rebuilding work is very expensive, easily ranging from $25,000 to $40,000, or even more, for a first-class restoration of a high-quality instrument. Rebuilding a piano is a large, time-consuming project that can take almost as much time as the construction of a new instrument by the original manufacturer. As a rule of thumb, most pianos become ready for rebuilding somewhere between 40 and 60 years of age. On the other hand, a seldom-used piano in a living room in a mild climate may go 100 years before being rebuilt. Over time, many of these parts are affected by wear and environmental changes to the point of being unrepairable without completely rebuilding the piano.Ī piano that sees constant use in a school or performance venue with poor climate control might need partial rebuilding in as little as 10 years. Shopping For Rebuilding Why Do Pianos Need To Be Rebuiltĭepending on how you count them, a piano has as many as 12,000 parts.
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