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Original poster

To take on an untunable piano

67 replies

Shazafied · 23/02/2019 17:37

Hello all,

In a bit of a quandary and need to be told if I'm being batshit or not.

My beloved grandmother whom I was incredibly close to has passed away. For about the last 20 years she has been telling me every time I see her "I want you to have the piano". And she has actually written into her will that I am to have the piano plus money to have it moved to my house.

My gran had dementia for the last 5 years or so and the piano has been sat out of tune for years. She did have it tuned twice in the last 10 years prior to getting ill, and it went out of tune within a month or so. I've had a piano tuner look at it and his view is that the pegs / mechanics inside are too worn out and it cannot be tuned. I'm gutted.

It's a fairly bog standard upright piano but my grandmother and I used to play together on it. It was my great grandfathers piano, he was a piano tuner and concert hall pianist.

My aunt and mother have said I'm silly to take it and it should be scrapped but I just cannot bear it.

I have a big enough house to find a space for it, but it is very badly out of tune.

I've had an idea to repurpose it into something else that usable ... see attached images. The harp inside is beautiful once revealed and I have some carpenter contacts - it could perhaps be partially stripped down and made into a dresser / bar for the dining room.

But that might cost a bomb (even if DH and i stripped it down ourselves). ... I'll need to get some ideas of cost to repurpose it .... but is it a crazy idea? Is it a project that might just never get completed? Is it wrong to dismantle my grandmothers precious piano?

What would you do?

Ps - we have a dd14 months and another baby due in 2 months so we don't have shedloads of money / time... which also concerns me. But it could be a long term idea......

Any other suggestions welcomed !!

OP posts:
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Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:01

Thanks for all the comments! I'm not sure on the make but can find out. I do know that it's not a super high end one.

I agree that some of the bar images can be tacky (particularly wen they put lights in and stuff ) but I quite like some of the lower key ideas . Though it seems a shame to remove the keys etc......

So torn but really appreciating the responses x

OP posts:
Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:01

Yeah I like the desk too.x

OP posts:
slipperywhensparticus · 23/02/2019 18:04

I would repurpose the keys what you actually played and let the rest go

MitziK · 23/02/2019 18:06

You could get the internals put into a frame and put on a wall (large hallway, perhaps?), but I absolutely hate the idea of turning it into a cabinet.

Maybe even make a point of getting a piano yourself at some point in the future, but if it genuinely cannot be rendered even vaguely playable, it's just going to break your heart and cost an fortune to move/eventually dispose of.

billybagpuss · 23/02/2019 18:07

I totally get the sentimental value of pianos, if it has any decorative plates could you get them removed and use them as pictures?

However I do think your GPs would be happy if your own DC's learnt (no pressure obviously) but they are far more likely to practice and enjoy playing if they have something nice (and in tune) to play on. Maybe ask if you could pop the removal money into an account to start to save for something better for your DC's in due course.

Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:13

Thanks guys. I get the impression that the money is only for moving this piano, I wouldn't get it for anything else as the other grandchildren have been left items rather than cash. However I could ask.

Yeah the other idea is to have the harps framed / keys framed - I've seen this done.

Xx

OP posts:
Piewacket · 23/02/2019 18:19

I'm not terribly keen on the bars, but I think they look quite interesting when they get turned into desks.

www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/141019032061740289/

cobblett36 · 23/02/2019 18:24

Have you ever heard of a piano bed? Google it, there's a video of a woman who had one repurposed. They're fab, essentially a sofa bed inside of a piano. Keep it and in years to come think of something. My grandma could play but sadly didn't have the money to have her piano brought from her mum's house to her marital home from up north, I've always wished we could have gotten her a piano. Flowers

mawbroon · 23/02/2019 18:25

How badly out of tune did it go? And did it stay in tune with itself IYSWIM?

I learned on an old banger piano that was apparently rescued from a piano smashing competition and I got the whole way to Grade 8 on that same piano.

I would maybe get another opinion on the tuning. If it's not horrendous and you're not planning duetting with a fixed pitch instrument then it might be good enough, especially if it is a choice between that piano or no piano.

Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:29

It's hard to describe the out of tune-ness , but it has not stayed in tune with itself ... and deteriorated quickly after having c. £600 spent on it, twice.

You could have a plonk on it for fun but if you actually wanted to get through a piece of music it would sound awful!

My poor gran... it must have meant a lot to get that I take it. She literally mentioned it every time I saw her

OP posts:
PineappleTart · 23/02/2019 18:30

Take it, live with it and love it. Don't rush into a decision to repurpose it

daisypond · 23/02/2019 18:42

I'd get rid of it, I'm afraid. Pianos do not have an indefinite lifespan - even 30 years would be pushing it for an ordinary piano. You've already had it tuned twice and had quite a sum spent on it. Buy another piano, or a decent electronic keyboard, instead, if you want one - that way the link to your grandma still exists. It's better to regard it as more the music that you made with your grandma rather than the actual piano.

HelenaNightSoilCart · 23/02/2019 18:44

There are companies that take the innards out of acoustic pianos and and install a digital one. Might be worth considering seeing as you play and you might like your kids to learn some day. Depends on the cabinet though - some are gorgeous and lovely pieces of furniture.

NoCauseRebel · 23/02/2019 18:44

My DP is a piano tuner...

He said that he absolutely understands the sentimental value of it as he sees pianos like this all the time, but all too often sadly old equals just that and to repair them is extortionately expensive. You only have to look at freecycle to see just how many pianos are out there being got rid of. He does sadly often advise clients that it’s not worth tuning a piano when it’s in such a bad state of disrepair.

In the beginning of this thread he was totally on board with the idea of repurposing it, but the more I’ve read the more he says that the likelihood is that all it’s good for is the skip which is sad as it obviously holds sentimental value for you.

Can I ask though, what did she pay £600 a time for? Because if that was just for a tuning,even if it was badly out of tune that is extortionate, and if the piano tuner felt it would never hold its tune he shouldn’t have offered to take her money to tune it.

Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:46

I have to say that the idea of taking the stool (and having it reupholstered) and sheet music seems like the least complicated option. I like the idea of having a photo of the piano /my gran framed too.

Or I could take it and let it sit there for a few years and eventually get rid if I really can't salvage a use for it.

I'll have to give it plenty more thought

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Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:48

Thanks @NoCauseRebel ... re what she paid for , I'm not sure as I wasn't the re, but I do know the tuner stayed for a very long time each time he came (DM says)... perhaps he shouldn't have taken her money should have been honest with her

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Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 18:50

It was a different tuner we had out recently that basically said "don't bother"

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ICouldBeSomebodyYouKnow · 23/02/2019 18:50

If you can find another piano tuner or two (not easy these days I know) get another opinion. Even if you don't have the money at the moment, perhaps you could have the innards rebuilt in the future. A good piano tuner will be honest with you about what's achievable on your budget / on any budget.

barleyreed · 23/02/2019 18:54

I would be tempted to try another tuner for a second opinion. Did he know how sentimentally valuable it is to you? Just wondering if that would have affected the prognosis!

NoCauseRebel · 23/02/2019 19:04

The sentimentality wouldn’t affect the prognosis.

It is incredibly hard to tell someone that a family heirloom isn’t actually worth saving, but it’s not worth paying the money to tune a piano which is A, so out of tune that it likely won’t hold its tune, and B, is in such a bad state of disrepair that tuning could cause further damage to it.

DP has previously been to see people with pianos which have been left to them and others which they’ve purely obtained from freecycle and has essentially told them that the piano is in a bad state of repair and it’s not worth throwing money at it.

Can I ask, where about a in the country are you?

Original poster
Shazafied · 23/02/2019 19:10

I'm in the north east @NoCauseRebel

OP posts:
MrsWillGardner · 23/02/2019 19:20

??

To take on an untunable piano
LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 23/02/2019 19:23

@HelenaNightSoilCart's idea is great - just highlighting it in case you missed it.

alittlequinnie · 23/02/2019 19:24

I purchased an antique piano that was impossible to tune - I know exactly what you mean about the sound of the out of tune-ness.

if you play and you liked playing on that particular piano then I agree with the previous poster who said to have a digital piano inserted - it owuld still work and sound like a piano and when the lid was shut it would look exactly like it always did and when you were sat at it playign looking at the front it would be "just like old times"

My husband brought me a piano for valentines day one year - I was so touched - I upgraded to a baby grand but I part exchanged the upright and it always feels like it is part of the new piano.

BikeRunSki · 23/02/2019 19:26

Helena’s idea is excellent, but the desk/bureau idea is also nice.

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