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How do I get rid of a baby grand piano

29 replies

NoRomeo · 31/08/2025 08:08

My mother died and left an old Bechstein baby grand piano. The thing is it is not in the greatest of condition. The frame was cracked once and the actual casing is also damaged in places. It plays quite heavily and it can't quite be tuned to perfect pitch. I don't have room for it anymore (downsizing) and no-one in my family plays the piano. It's barely worth anything.

Local school doesn't want it as they don't have space. Put in on Ebay a while back and it didn't get any offers even being on for just £200.

DH won't let me Freecycle because he doesn't like strange people coming into the house.

Ideally I'd like it to be recycled but can't find anyone who recycles pianos.

I'm in Hertfordshire.

OP posts:
TheeNotoriousPIG · 31/08/2025 09:51

Please don't destroy a Bechstein! They are quite highly regarded in the piano world (not quite Steinway, but fairly up there).

I'm not local to Hertfordshire, but internet research throws up somewhere called Oaklands Piano Tuning, which sounds like it might be what you're looking for (as in, they also buy, restore and sell pianos). If they won't have it, you might have to look in surrounding areas. I can recommend an excellent place in Cheshire, but it's a bit far away for you!

EmeraldDreams73 · 31/08/2025 09:55

Ok long post alert! I work for a piano restorer and deal with several dozen calls/emails like this every week. For anyone who's interested, here's my advice:

Bechstein is a very good make but essentially, you'll be lucky to give it away I'm afraid. Anyone interested would have to budget £300 + vat for removal for a start which would more than eat up any residual value from what you've said.

If it can't be tuned to pitch that doesn't have to mean it can't be tuned to itself (and therefore sound fine to anyone without perfect pitch). It may just mean that strings would start breaking if you tried to pull it up too far. However, old Bechsteins are known for needing their wrest (tuning) planks replaced, so there's every chance that's what's needed here, or will be soon. That's entirely feasible but major surgery. So when you do that, to make it worthwhile spending that money (the plank itself can cost us £800 plus before any drilling or fitting, and it takes a lot of time too) you need to replace strings, replace hammers (usually), overhaul the action, refinish case, etc etc. Bechsteins are also prone to cracks in the frame - not ideal but not always a death sentence, can be welded. Obviously v careful transport is always important but they tend to go in the same places.

The sales market (private and dealer) is incredibly slow atm. I doubt an auction house would take it. We find people tend to get bargains at auction/privately and then ask us to restore to order - they end up spending the same as if they'd bought from a dealer, but we haven't had to find the money to speculatively restore. They can take forever to sell as people always want a different leg/wood/whatever to what you've actually got.

Summary: this piano is perfectly possible to restore and would prob be absolutely beautiful once done BUT nobody should spend a penny on it if they're not keeping it long term. I don't know the age/style/wood of it, some are more sought after than others, but that name is well respected for good reason. But it would cost £15k plus VAT to do everything, possibly more, and you obvs wouldn't get that back for private sale. It may be feasible to spend say 5 grand on getting it working well and you could then have it fully restored later if it was an option. Again, you wouldn't get that back so only consider it if able to keep it. Many people put them in storage until someone in the family can afford the space and money to deal with them.

Dealers local to you will probably just say no or if you're lucky they might offer to take it away and dismantle it for you, probably for a fee. We absolutely hate doing this and will always try to persuade people to keep it in the family/give it to a friend with space/store it until the market's better.

They're moved and stored on their sides so IF it's feasible for anyone to keep hold of it, it may not take up quite as much space as you think.

If all else fails, think about keeping the fall (cover over keyboard) and music desk maybe? The fall can look cool as a shelf, we have several in the workshop. Or have the legs wired as lamps, for example.

I could go on but you get the idea. It's really sad, but there are so many of them out there and once work becomes needed it's a LOT of money.

LeafyGreenSalad · 31/08/2025 10:04

Maybe a house staging company, theatre or film props company?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

CaroleLandis · 31/08/2025 11:51

Upcycled it for the home or garden?

How do I get rid of a baby grand piano
How do I get rid of a baby grand piano
How do I get rid of a baby grand piano
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