23 - Friday, March 23, 1990 - North Shore News

Second-hand piano can be a sound investment

THE TERM ‘‘used piano’’ usually conjures up an image of
a basement-banished. coffee-ringed clunker.

In fact, a used or properly
restored piano can be as sound as a
new one.

If your budget groans at the
price of a new piano. vou might
consider purchasing a recondition-
ed, rebuilt or remanufactured one.

A reconditioned piano normally
has had its original parts refur-
bished, with little actual replace-
ment of original parts. A rebuilt
piano might have new hammers or
dampers, some refurbishing and be

By BARBARA BLACK
News Reporter

regulated.

Finally, a remanufactured piano
has a new soundboard and may be
resirung, have new bridges, a new
pinblock and a refinished exterior.

You can always buy a used
piano from the want-ads, although
many private sellers are uninform-
ed about their piano’s condition
(this could work both for and

against you). Stores which
specialize in restoring used pianos
usually provide at least a one-year
warranty. if not considerably
more. Most piano technicians and
tuners will do appraisals .

North Vancouver's Johann
Krebs, who has been servicing
North Shore and Vancouver
pianos since 1972, estimates that a
decent used piano can be had for
about $1,800, and with restora-
tion, that value could appreciate to
well over $2,000.

There are a number of ways to
restore a piano. One of the most

Check for piano warranties

From page 22
difference that quality can make.

‘“*When a customer comes in |
ask them what their budget is. The
average person says $2.000, but
they usually end up spending
more,’’ he says. But with the wider
foreign market and improved
computerized manufacturing some
new pianos are more affordable
than ever before.

McMahon points out that pianos
from newer markets are not always
of the same durability as other
makes and therefore not as secure
an investment, but “‘there is a
place for them in the market,’’ he
adds, and their quality appears to
be improving as the manufacturing
process is refined.

Shop around and test many dif-
ferent makes. You can expect to
pay anywhere from $4,000 to
$15,000, or even over $50.000 for a
top-of-the-line model. But famous
brand names aside, advises
MzeMahon, a piano is only as good
as its condition.

How do you test a piano other
than plunking out a few notes on
the keyboard? First, do some
homework. An excellent guide is
The Piano Book by Larry Fine,
which explains clearly how a piano
works and how to buy one, new or
used. If you play, bring some
music with you to the store which
expresses a variety of moods and
play the piece on different models,
even those you think you can’t af-
ford.

There are many things to look
for in craftsmanship, but the most
basic are action and tone. Be
snoopy and lift the lid — look out
for hammers out of alignment,
hammers which don’t hit all the
strings, unevenly worn feits,
warped keys, noisy pedals, and ask
about anything you believe looks
or sounds faulty.

. To test for action play the piano
from top to bottom. There is
nothing more frustrating to a
pianist than playing a key or keys

for a certain response and getting
something else. Unresponsive or
ureven action can interfere with
proper playing technique and cause
uneven wearing of the keys.

Testing for tone is trickier. Here
you must rely on your ear (hope-
fully it is not wooden) and on your
own preference for a certain type
of sound. Some people like the
tone to be bright and crisp, with a
short sustain (how long the note
lasts after playing) and others
prefer longer sustain and more
volume. It helps immensely if the
piano is in tune. In this case, favor
the leanings of your heart over the
recommendations of the salesper-
son.

North Vancouver piano techni-
cian Johann Krebs believes a new
piano should be “‘in a state of
readiness’? in the store. In other
words, the final preparation it
received from the manufacturer
before being shipped to the store
should include all those things you
are testing for. The better the
preparation, the less servicing re-
quired in your home.

Check if the store follows up
with in-home servicing after
delivery.

Also of great importance is the
warranty. You might want to call
the Better Business Bureau to
check the company’s service
background. Look for transferable
warranties, and those clearly
marked ‘‘full’? or ‘‘limited.”
Avoid the ‘‘parts only’? warranty,
since a part might be inexpensive
but the labor required costly.

When you get the piano home
observe the golden rule: what is
good for a human being is good
for a piano. Would you flourish
under a piping hot skylight, near
intermittent drafts, or on the darnp
concrete floor of a basement? Nei-
ther would a piano. Have the
piano tuned about twice yearly,
and find a reputable technician
who can inspect the working
mechanisms regularly to avoid un-

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due wear.

Pianos, if properly treated, and
of good quality to start with, will
generally outlive their original
owners.

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basic is to file the feit tips of the
hammers. Years of use might leave
deep, sometimes uneven grooves in
the hammer heads where they
strike the strings. If most of the
felts are worn it may be worth hav-
ing all of the hammers replaced.
Krebs roughly estimates that for a
piano played one hour a day the
hammers will last about 50 years.

On an upright model, key tops
can be replaced with plastic ones
for about $200-250, bass strings
can be replaced for around $500
and new hammers can cost about
$600 to $1,000. Soundboards,
Kreb maintains, are better replaced
than restored in uprights.

A technician can improve a
piano’s playing quality by
regulating it. Regulation consists
of ‘‘the action of the moving parts
that need to be precisely timed,”
says Krebs. Wear and tear to the
cloth and wooden parts of the
piano can affect the action. It can

mean anything from delaved and
absent notes, to hammers double
striking the strings. Each note may
require more than ten adjustments
to achieve proper regulation.

A technician can also **voice’’
your piano to change the tone or
clarity by altering the shape and
density of the hammer felt. For a
brighter sound the felts are pricked
or fluffed up with special needles
to create ‘‘a bouncing charac-
teristic,’’ as Krebs puts it. Also,
rusty or dirty strings on older
pianos can be cleaned to liven up
the sound, or strings replaced.

Finally, if the inside of the piano
is relatively sound but the outside
looks ravaged, the cabinet can be
refinished. This, however, can be a
daunting job for a do-it-yourselfer.

If attention is paid to proper
maintenance and restccation, a us-
ed piano can be a ‘‘sound’’ in-
vestment, in both senses of the
word.

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