Hey Jim...Do you tune any really old pianos?

I have tuned numerous pianos older than me. Average age of pianos I've worked on is 49.8, Oldest was 115 and newest was 3. I was asked to tune a 120 year old piano, but pin block was shot and could not tune it. Pianos are like people...when they get really old they wear out. I am starting to experience that at 63...hips are sore from about 50,000 miles on the bicycle since 2006. Left shoulder is sore where I hit a tree at 18 mph on a mountain bike...partially torn labrum. Broke the handlebar clean off. Old pianos have a lot of wood, felt, leather parts that wear out. They can be rehabilitated but can be very expensive.

This is a restored 1860 Steinway Square Grand...beautiful piano.

http://www.historicpianos.com/pages/steinway3861.html

If your piano is over 70, 80...maybe even 60...it probably needs a lot of work to sound really good. It can be a tough decision to retire an old piano. They are usually a beautiful piece of furniture, and you hate to see it sent to the piano graveyard. Especially if it is a family heirloom. It was grandma's piano! Well, most likely grandma would have traded it in for a nicer piano by now if she still had it.

If you would like to see some really old, operational pianos...there are a handful of piano museums that I would like to visit at some point. Here are a few I'm interested in:

Ashburnham, Mass About hour and a half NW of Boston

https://www.frederickcollection.org/

Hunter, NY About an hour south of Albany

https://www.catskillmtn.org/piano-performance-museum/

Greenville, SC

https://sigalmusicmuseum.org/

Kansas City

https://ptgfoundation.org/museum/

If you visit one, let me know and tell me if you think it is worth seeing.

Contact us for all your piano tuning and repair needs in the St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri area.