How to Visually Assess A Used Piano

You've decided to purchase a piano for your child to take lessons, and during your shopping excursion you've come across a nice-looking, preowned instrument - or at least it appears so on the outside. How can you tell if the piano's interior matches its well-polished cabinet? Here are five visual things that might clue you in to a great deal or warn you of a real lemon.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    
   A diagram of a grand piano. An upright piano is a vertical version of this.

   Inspect the pinblock. This is the piece of wood into which are imbedded all of the pins that hold the piano strings tight and secure. If the pinblock looks messy or if the pins are at many different heights instead of being uniform, forget the thing. The instrument probably won't hold a decent tune for more than thirty seconds.

2. Now check the strings. Are they thickly encrusted in rust? Are there a good number of shiny strings mixed in with the old ones? You don't want a piano that will be snapping its strings all the time.

3. Look at the soundboard, the long, thin piece of wood that's at the bottom of a grand piano or the back of an upright. Make sure its still glued in its place and that it doesn't have any big cracks. Little cracks are generally all right, but shy away from pianos with large cracks in their soundboards.

4. Check the action of the piano. The action is the mechanism that sends the hammer flying towards its strings every time you press a key. See if all of the keys sound. If they don't, that often can be easily and inexpensively remedied by a piano technician. If the hammers are very worn down with deep grooves and flat faces, then you should either forgo the piano or have the hammers replaced (a moderate expense which is not practical on many smaller used uprights).

5. It's time to have a look at the pedals. Do all of the pedals work? Sometimes a nonfunctional pedal can be fixed without too much expense.

6. Although it's always wise to consult with a seasoned piano technician before you purchase a piano, if the instrument you're looking at passes this inspection, chance is that it's a piano with potential that will provide your child with many hours of playing pleasure.

[Ansha]

on 10/28/2009 This is exactly what I need. Thank you for the wonderful advice. I'll be shopping for a used piano soon. I plan to print this and take it with me!! 5*

[emilywhitby1]

on 10/13/2009 Great advice--I wish I'd had it when I bought my upright. I just went with my instinct, and it turned out fine, but I would have felt much more confident in my purchase if I'd had some guidelines. Thanks for the advice!

[forrests]

on 10/10/2009 Great info on How To Visually Assess A Piano. Thanks! Recommend.