Antique Pianos – How Much is a Vintage Piano Worth?

An Antique Piano, when restored, can be worth a lot more and can sound just as a new one. Read more to know answers to all your queries about antique vintage pianos and how much I could be worth.

Thinking of buying an antique piano?

or you been gifted one that is several years old and are not sure what to do next?

Though it could involve some expenses initially to rebuild the antique piano, it could well worth be your money.

Age of a Vintage Piano

If you have an old piano but can’t figure out how old it is, then there are ways to find out. The best way to do it is by tracking its serial number and the brand name. You can find the serial number and the brand name inside the instrument, mostly close to the soundboard or strings.

However, in different pianos, the serial number could be printed in different parts of the piano, so look carefully and check it inside out. Once you’ve found out the details, there are many historical publications that can help you find the age of your piano.

How to Determine the Value of a Piano?

The value of the antique piano is subject to many factors:

• Firstly, on an average a piano loses 2/3rds its value after 25 years.

• Secondly, a piano in itself is very difficult to maintain. It has 1,200 parts and to ensure that all the parts are working well and in good condition for decades together is impossible. Hence, the condition of the piano at the time you sell it determines its value.

• As a seller, you may attach sentimental value to the piano and hike the price but for a seller, the piano is only worth as much as its market value. Unless the buyer is a collector of antique pianos with some great history behind it, you may not get as much price as you expect.

• Another factor that determines the value of your piano is its action. The “English Action” as popularly known, is a double escapement mechanism that allows notes to be repeated very rapidly without releasing the key all the way. It is a complicated mechanism compared to the traditional Viennese action which is normally seen in antique pianos. Hence the cost of the antique piano is valued less because of the simplicity of mechanism involved.

Serial Number, Manufacturer, Date of Manufacturer

If you have inherited the piano, chances are that you may not even know the name of the manufacturer, especially if you yourself don’t play the piano. but if you want to sell it, you should try to find out as much information as possible about the instrument.

For most acoustic pianos (good ones), knowing the Serial Number, Manufacturer & the Date of Manufacture can help you determine the value of your piano.

Manufacturer’s Name – This is easily visible on the front, usually a notch above or below the keyboard. If you don’t find it there, check behind (for uprights) or below (for grand pianos). If not even there, just open the lid and have a look at the soundboard. It should definitely be there at one of these locations.

Serial Number – Its usually engraved on a metal plate located near the keys or on the pinblock. On grand pianos, it could be underneath the keyslip. This is another reason you may want to hire the services of a piano technician/appraiser so that he/she can safely navigate the various piano parts to access the serial code.

Date of Manufacture – Once you have the two, its easier to figure out the date of manufacturer. Its usually not printed on the piano, though some pianos may have it next to the name of the manufacturer. Some piano manufacturers have this information listed on their websites so you may try to find it out from there (just do a search), else just look for it in the Pierce Piano Atlas.

Vintage piano turned into analog Hybrid of 20 Instruments, each connected to the Piano Keys

Musicians are appreciating vintage gear right now, be it synths, drum machines or any other instrument. Old grand pianos have always been a prized possession if they are of the right age and have been properly taken care of. And if they don’t work, this band shows how to take an old, broken grand piano convert it into something really innovative.

Ukrainian band Brunettes Shoot Blondes have transformed their 19th-century vintage broken piano into a big machine (an analog hybrid instrument) that houses 20 different instruments, each connected and controlled by the piano keys.

The new instrument has three sections: the central one has the actual piano; the left section has the violas, cello, organ and xylophone; and the right section has the percussive instruments. The right section uses the same mechanism as the one used for the piano section: on pressing the keys, the hammers strike the various percussive instruments. The left section uses special mechanical devices that allow for the playing of cello, violins and organ. It works through a rotating mechanism that imitates the bow rubbing.

The band used this unique instrument for their latest music song “Houston”. For the video, the band used 17 small and mid-sized microphones to records the various instruments simultaneously. The design is indeed creative but I find the composition to be very good – its melodious and relaxing. Awesome job, guys.

Brunettes Shoot Blondes – Houston (LIVE)

Resources

Some of the best resources to help you in estimating the Current Value of your Piano is The Piano Book: Buying & Owning a New or Used Piano, its a goldmine for any piano owner).

So the resources that I recommend are:

• The Piano Book: Buying & Owning
• Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer: Supplement to ‘The Piano Book’
• Pierce Piano Atlas

If you find a buyer and are unable to decide on a suitable price, it makes sense to hire a Piano Technician and receive a note of appraisal so that both of you know what a fair price should be. This way, its fair to both the parties involved.

How to Identify Pure Ivory Keys

To find out if your key is made of pure ivory or not, you can use the following methods:

• You can test the keys with UV light used as a backlight and if your keys glow, then it is pure ivory. Pure ivory will glow in UV light and a fake will remain dull.
• Pure ivory can also be identified if you look at the keys and if you find a fine straight split on the key. The split is from the ivory which is molded together, you won’t find that in other materials.

At any cost, don’t use a wet cloth or scrub the ivory keys hard. Use soft cloth and gently rub the key top surface.

Piano Maintenance – Ivory Keys
Maintaining vintage pianos is a challenging task. If not taken care of properly, you may find its parts getting worn off or damaged, especially the key-tops.

The key-tops in an antique piano were made of ivory in the earlier times, but it is difficult to find those now. Ivory key tops tend to become yellow when kept it the dark, hence proper care should be taken to maintain them.

You can whiten yellow stained ivory keytops in the following way:

• To whiten it, carefully scrap it with scraper or a flat, chiseled, sharp blade. It is best to ask a professional to scrape it as you may damage it further if you scrape it hard.
• You can also try to whiten it with lemon juice or milk. Milk is a better alternative since lemon may wear it down over a period of time.
• Alternatively, you can keep the fallboards up or install flood lamps on the ceiling above the keyboards to avoid it from turning yellow.

Where to Buy Antique Piano

You can look for antique piano online which is the easiest way but be sure to purchase it from a reputed dealer. Be careful of replicas and make sure you study and know more about its history.

Alternatively you can also look out for reputed dealers and experts from whom you can purchase the piano. Books and factory visits also help you to gain enough information about the piano by which you can make an informed choice.

Summary

A piano can last decades (generally when it becomes around 20-25 years it is considered as antique) and it may not be entirely possible to maintain it on your own. Depending on its condition, you may have to rebuild the piano. Though refurbishing vintage pianos can be expensive, its value will increase manifold and sound just like a new acoustic piano. And if you decided to keep it for yourself with proper care and maintenance, your antique piano will last for decades together.