Any piano buffs out there

[bearded bloke]

BB, I've seen a couple which come with stools but have no idea if they would be adjustable is that normal?


OH MY ..........BB some of these stools are more expensive than the pianos!!!

Yep they can get a tad pricey,adjustable's got S/H will be anything from £70 upwards.
Circular seats normally have a visible screw thread,square are normally done on "scissor" principle & generally have visible knobs on both sides of the seat to lock it into position.

[Mikey]

I might be in luck, I've found one for sale on an auction site which is in our village. They say it needs tuning, but hopefully I can go and have a chat with them and find out a little more about it. Its a windsor, which mean nothing to me?

[Bren In Pots]

I might be in luck, I've found one for sale on an auction site which is in our village. They say it needs tuning, but hopefully I can go and have a chat with them and find out a little more about it. Its a windsor, which mean nothing to me?

Fingers crossed Mikey

[bearded bloke]

Merrycan from chicago bud stopped production in 1929 (presuming that's the maker not a model name )


Year....Serial #

1901 – 14000
1911 – 31500
1920 – 47200
1929 – 55800


Don't overly worry about the age though,Mrs BB's is 1928 German jobby

[Mikey]

It looks a bit art deco in styling BB, quite plain and dark mahogany colouring. So early 1900's would sort of fit. Chicago!!!, its travelled a bit....

[Mikey]

Ha ha, BB I did a search for merrycan.....D'oh!!!

I'm not all there...

[keen bean]

Hi Mikey
I'm an ex piano teacher but still play a lot and know a bit about pianos. I've just bought myself a piano at auction, had to go four times to get one that was decent. There are a lot of secondhand upright pianos out there where children have just lost interest so you should should be able to pick up a reasonably new one for less than £500. Personally I would not go for an old piano unless you know what you are looking for as you can't know its history. The condition of the case counts for a lot as it shows whether it's been cared for and if you open the lid you can see if the hammers that hit the strings are very worn. Play every note before you buy to see if any are sticking as these will need to be repaired otherwise very annoying for player! Also test the two pedals to see if they are both working - the right pedal lifts the dampers so notes are sustained and the left softens the sound.
You really should be able to get a nice piano in full working order for very little money. And personally I would go for a British or German make over other manufacturers as they are generally well made but not absolutely necessary. If you buy the right instrument you are much more likely to get something back for it when it's time to upgrade.

Good luck!


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[veggiechicken]

We know you're nuts Mikey

Don't worry too much about an adjustable height stool. I'm still using the conventional one that I had when I was 8 ............no rude remarks about not growing much since please
Should add that I need a cushion on it to play the harmonium, so that I can pedal and spread my knees (for volume ) ..............who needs to go to a gym for exercise

[Mikey]

Were you just talking a foreign language VC, is a harmonium some kind of exercise bike? Why do you need to pedal it?

How do I find out out how its strung, and what difference does it make?

[veggiechicken]

This is a harmonium - bit like mine - think of Welsh chapels
Basically, its an organ powered by bellows. if you don't pedal it makes no sound. The bits sticking out below the keyboard are operated by your knees - the further apart they are, the louder the sound
As for string length on a piano, it might say "overstrung" above the keyboard. Otherwise, lift the top of the piano and look inside at the strings (wires!!), if they cross over each other from right to left, its overstrung. If they're all vertical, its not. The longer the string the better the tone.
Think of a piano as a harp in a box - you can pluck the strings on a harp, with a piano you press a key which moves a little felted hammer inside the box, the hammer strikes the string and makes the sound.

And look for woodworm in an old piano!!!

[Kristen]

In case my experience is any help:

If this is more than a passing fad then a half-decent instrument will make a lot of difference to the enjoyment that is got out of the instrument. I have heard many music teachers say "Parents are not sure if the child will enjoy XXX instrument, so they buy a cheap one, it sounds awful and the child doesn't enjoy it enough to make a real stab at it" - obviously with infinite funds a gold plated Rolls Royce would be the first choice

Our #1 daughter had a Casio weighted-key electric piano when she started. She would have had access to a piano at school for practice, but I suspect that all her practice was at home, mornings before school, and the school one was pretty much only used for lessons - so basically she learnt on just that instrument.

We promised her a "Real Piano" when she passed Grade I and started saving up ... she passed Grade II before we had enough funds in the piggy bank . #2 Daughter was more lucky in that the piano was already here when she started learning it.

I do wonder if a decent electric piano (i.e. weighted keys etc.) is sufficient until then? ... it was certainly a lot of fun as it had Midi output so we were able to use some teaching software with it, and computer could also jazz up whatever my daughter was playing and so on. A Real Piano is just that, and nothing else.

We bought our upright from a local piano dealer - he's out in an old industrial estate, so his overheads were not as much as the Hight Street perhaps. We picked one that we liked the sound of - the store owner played some sample stuff on them for us, but as it happens the one we picked has been fine (including some proper musicians who have visited commenting on how nice it sounds) but ... if I was doing it again I would take the music teacher with me and rely heavily on their opinion.

The electric piano we bought looks the same as the Casio CDP-120 which sells for around £290 from memory the one we bought was around £100 back then, but that will be over 10 years ago. It has 88 keys so is in effect "full size".

CDP-120 - Compact Digital Pianos - Musical Instruments - Products - CASIO



The kids, now teenagers and both Grade VIII standard (in other instruments), still use it when they want something portable. I am sure, given the standard they have achieved, they would complain if the tune of our upright piano was off-key, but we only have it tuned less than once a year. Might be that it has a very sturdy frame though, and thus holds its tune well. Pianos aren't hard to tune (just time consuming) if you get an electronic tuner to help - so you might want to consider that instead of paying someone to do it for you - watch how they do it the first time (notes that have 3 strings have to have dampers on two of them whilst the other is being tuned) and then see what you think?

Other option is to see if anyone want to lend you a piano. People posted abroad, or changing circumstances / houses in short term often prefer to house their pianos somewhere, rather than sell and re-buy. Might be worth mailing music teachers in your area to see if any of their pupils are in that situation, or are wanting to upgrade and sell-on their existing instrument?

But I think if I was doing it again I would go with an 88 key Electric Piano whilst looking around for an Upright, and waiting to see if my child stuck with that instrument

[Kristen]

P.S. The Korg electronic tuner is £20 and looks like this:



Korg CA40 Chromatic Electronic Tuner at the Early Music Shop

You play a note / pluck a string and it tells you what note it is, and the needle shows if it is sharp or flat. Adjust the string tension until it is the right note and the needle is in the middle.

[Mikey]

One of the reason we got the keyboard to start with was so as to not spend unnecessarily before she decided she really liked it. To be fair she's dropped a lot of other more sporting activities that she used to do and the OH has tried on numerous occasions to get her to drop this one as it is by no means an inexpensive hobby!!! She is however having none of it, she loves playing the piano!! (which I think is admirable, as I've never had the drive or inclination to learn an instrument)

I can see the advantages of an electric model, as you can plug headphones in, when your parents are fed up listening to the same piece of music over and over again!!!!, but we have the space for an upright and if I can find a good instrument I'm sure it will greatly improve her enjoyment.

I've found a local tuner, which has said he will come an look at a piano for us for a small fee and come and tune it when we get it home. he seems a nice chap, and has given me the following advise when looking for one.

Play each key at least 3 times to make sure none of them stick, look at the line of the keys as see if any sit unevenly, if it fails either of these walk away. If any pass and I'm keen to give him a call and he'll go and check it out.

This seems to take some of the stress out of it for me at least, I'm less worried about buying a dud now.

[Mikey]

P.S. The Korg electronic tuner is £20 and looks like this:



Korg CA40 Chromatic Electronic Tuner at the Early Music Shop

You play a note / pluck a string and it tells you what note it is, and the needle shows if it is sharp or flat. Adjust the string tension until it is the right note and the needle is in the middle.

I tried tuning a guitar using an online guide once and failed miserably, my ear is clearly full of fluff!!!

[Kristen]

we have the space for an upright and if I can find a good instrument I'm sure it will greatly improve her enjoyment.

Its a lovely thing to have IME. My younger daughter is quite good on the piano, has learnt most of the worthwhile pop tunes, and when her mates come round they gather round the piano for a sing song which is a joy to see - and sometimes to hear too! I would say that Grade V is about the breakpoint between playing-to-learn and having enough skill to be able to pick up new pieces quickly enough, and to play original compositions, rather than one-finger tunes. Plenty of enjoyment along the way too of course. My daughters started at about 8 and did about a grade a year (I'm not big on music exams, so they skipped some years, but they did other instruments too so at least one teacher each year got under my radar and put them in for an exam!) so they became competent by the time they got to about age 13.

I've found a local tuner, which has said he will come an look at a piano for us for a small fee

Sounds like an excellent solution

Watch out for what other instruments your daughter takes a fancy to. My eldest took up the Flute, which was fine ... but then she declared it was too thin a sound for solo enjoyment and switched to the Harp instead. Huge expense ... and a nightmare to cart about, although she does make some pin-money playing weddings and so on.

You'd think I would have learnt from that experience! but youngest plays percussion - both Kit and Tuned percussion - and they are vast to cart about. I'm thinking of getting a Luton Bodied Van to replace the people carrier as the family vehicle

Practice is the key; we have our piano in the centre of the house, rather than tucked away, and my youngest can't walk past it without sitting down and having a fiddle, and there is no doubt that that attitude has significantly increased her amount of practice over her peers, and she is now reaping the dividend.

I hope your daughter will enjoy her playing as much too.