I have an upright piano from 1835 and it is really out of tune. Hwo much will it!
Question: I have an upright piano from 1835 and it is really out of tune!. Hwo much will it cost to get it tuned!?
Answers:
I used to be in charge of musical instruments at a large museum in Massachusetts, and we had (far too) many early pianos of 1820-1850 vintage!. The best of them could be played, the worst were beyond restoration, strictly study pieces, interesting for their stylish casework or for some forward-looking design feature!. 1835 is, indeed, very early for an upright, but not unknown!.
Others answering this question were right on the money in suggesting that it shouldn't/couldn't be tuned up to pitch, whether A440 or something under!. Strings that old get really fragile!. Re-stringing with strings of identical alloy is a possibility, and probably horribly expensive!. Tuning the piano a step low might be safe, just for fun, tho' you might pop a few strings!. You also might want to see if the instrument is structurally sound, and not warped under 2 centuries of string tension!. There ARE people around who specialize in early piano restoration/manufacture!. Those are the guys (not me) who really know!.
This all sounds rather gloomy, and that's why I'm not in the museum business any more!. I think you're safe in having it tuned VERY flat, so long as you're willing to take some risk!. It's not so much fun in its present state, after all!Www@Enter-QA@Com
Others answering this question were right on the money in suggesting that it shouldn't/couldn't be tuned up to pitch, whether A440 or something under!. Strings that old get really fragile!. Re-stringing with strings of identical alloy is a possibility, and probably horribly expensive!. Tuning the piano a step low might be safe, just for fun, tho' you might pop a few strings!. You also might want to see if the instrument is structurally sound, and not warped under 2 centuries of string tension!. There ARE people around who specialize in early piano restoration/manufacture!. Those are the guys (not me) who really know!.
This all sounds rather gloomy, and that's why I'm not in the museum business any more!. I think you're safe in having it tuned VERY flat, so long as you're willing to take some risk!. It's not so much fun in its present state, after all!Www@Enter-QA@Com
Quite a few bucks:
1!. If this thing hasn't been tuned regularly you can expect to tune it several times in the next few months before it stabilizes
2!. If it's abused enough that the pinblock is cracked or dried out it isn't going to hold a tuning no matter how much you pay for it!. If the pin block is dried/cracked then theres an even greater chance that the bridge caps are cracked, delaminated, pins have worked their way out, rusted, &c!.
3!. A tuner might just opt to walk away from it if he knows (and he does) that you're not going to be happy with the results!.
!.!.!. his reputation is worth more than a couple hundred dollars for tuning an a piano in sorry state!.
On the VERY slight chance this piano may be worth something because of some historical value or that it's a rare sample of a specific builder!. Then it would probably require rebuilding!.
!.!.!. and you're not going to want to go there!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
1!. If this thing hasn't been tuned regularly you can expect to tune it several times in the next few months before it stabilizes
2!. If it's abused enough that the pinblock is cracked or dried out it isn't going to hold a tuning no matter how much you pay for it!. If the pin block is dried/cracked then theres an even greater chance that the bridge caps are cracked, delaminated, pins have worked their way out, rusted, &c!.
3!. A tuner might just opt to walk away from it if he knows (and he does) that you're not going to be happy with the results!.
!.!.!. his reputation is worth more than a couple hundred dollars for tuning an a piano in sorry state!.
On the VERY slight chance this piano may be worth something because of some historical value or that it's a rare sample of a specific builder!. Then it would probably require rebuilding!.
!.!.!. and you're not going to want to go there!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
It depends on who you hire to tune it!. As with anything else, different tuners have different prices!.
I would imagine it will be quite expensive, though, considering how old the piano is!. My piano has not been tuned for 12 years, and already my teacher is saying it may be very difficult to tune it again!.
I am sure it can be done, but you may have to replace some of the parts inside of the piano, such as some of the strings!. It will probably never be suitable to play as an accompaniment or duet with another instrument though!. Playing solo is fine, however!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
I would imagine it will be quite expensive, though, considering how old the piano is!. My piano has not been tuned for 12 years, and already my teacher is saying it may be very difficult to tune it again!.
I am sure it can be done, but you may have to replace some of the parts inside of the piano, such as some of the strings!. It will probably never be suitable to play as an accompaniment or duet with another instrument though!. Playing solo is fine, however!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
I pay around NZ$140 for a tune!. However it might need some voicing and additional work depending on how regularly it was tuned prior to you purchasing it!. Some tuners actually include voicing and additional work as part of their tune, so maybe check with the tuner!.
How exciting - I have a piano from 1900s, however 1835 - that's fantastic, I always think it's so much nicer playing on an older piano - what brand of piano is it!?
Have fun!Www@Enter-QA@Com
How exciting - I have a piano from 1900s, however 1835 - that's fantastic, I always think it's so much nicer playing on an older piano - what brand of piano is it!?
Have fun!Www@Enter-QA@Com
First of all, it is HIGHLY likely that this piano was tuned to A=435, NOT 440!. That means that it will NEVER be comfortable for most other instruments to perform with you!. Singers, fine!. Some string players will give you the fish-eye, but it will work!. So if this is for solo use only, should be OK!. Bear in mind that there are many parts of the mechanism that will POP under the strain of being tuned - especially the strings!. It is likely that the wrestplank (block) will not hold!. It might take more than one tuning to find this out!. You need an EXPERT assessment of this musical artifact before you can think of it being a workable *instrument* again!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Have you thought of having it appraised, purely for its antique or artistic value alone!?
An instrument that old as some of your responders have pointed out, may present unique and probably very expensive repair problems!.
Unless it is an antique, I wouldn't bother with it; contact a museum, and see if they're possibly interested!.
AlberichWww@Enter-QA@Com
An instrument that old as some of your responders have pointed out, may present unique and probably very expensive repair problems!.
Unless it is an antique, I wouldn't bother with it; contact a museum, and see if they're possibly interested!.
AlberichWww@Enter-QA@Com
I would say around ￡50, plus or minus ￡20, on average!. For your description, I'd say probably on the upper bounds!. Try contacting one and finding out =)Www@Enter-QA@Com