Piano smashed into pieces

[Adinol]

Two days ago I was riding my bike next to a dumpster and noticed piano parts thrown with all the trash. I stopped to look and saw that they were parts form a piano that was sledge hammered into pieced. It actually looked like a decent upright piano, not even that old. The felts on the hammers were not too worn and there were no visible dust settlements on the action.

As I was looking at this thing, in total disbelief, I noticed a couple of guys carrying the metal harp out of the building and putting it into their van with other scrap metal. I had to ask, "What did you guys do?"

Well, they were starting demo work on an old house and one of them had the bright idea to smash the leftover piano into pieces and remove the harp, to scrap it for 3c per pound. I'm sure they'll make 6 or 7 dollars in cash and I'm also sure the guy that came up with this idea will get the lion share of that cash.

I was hoping to salvage pieces of the spruce soundboard but it was shattered into pieces not even big enough for a ukulele top.

 

[needforspeed]

Someone got a lot of joy playing that. Not cool IMO. Thankfully they did'nt find a couple strats hanging around.

 

[Pio1980]

All too common, acoustic pianos have become white elephants due to lack of interest and cost of maintainance. A one time luxury become a cultural commodity in the 20th century, even intact rebuildable player pianos can go unwanted nowadays.

 

[dondoucette]

I see offers of free pianos weekly, I could fill a warehouse. The cost to move them and the upkeep is prohibitive. Very sad.

 

[leesonic]

I have a piano harp in my basement right now, from the Schomaker piano company Philadelphia PA and Brockport NY. There are two dates written by hand on it, 8/1/13 and 2/11/19, so according to that it's over 100 years old. I've had it listed on Craigslist, I've even called up piano restoration companies to see if they want to come and take it away for free. There hasn't been a rush of people...

Lee.

 

[RossW]

Unfortunately scrapping it for $6 or $7 was probably the most financially responsible decision. You can't give old pianos away, a nice keyboard with weighted keys isn't all that expensive and it's much more portable and never needs tuning

 

[blhagstrom]

Last time I looked at CL, "free piano" was very common. 14 free ones, local and 19 nearby now.

I have hauled 2 to the thrift stores and luckily, they took them.

One I got free just to snag the glass ball foot stool. The other was an "extra" my wife had to have, then rarely used.

We had a piano tuner over once and he said to properly tune the piano we would need to replace all the strings.

They are a major pain to deal with and eliminate.

 

[willyrover]

No one wants them. Easier to move in pieces. More money for the soundboard in scrap than for the whole piano.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[Djcoolray]

I feel lucky....

I sold an old Steinhauser upright for $500 !

 

[KingBubba]

Willyrover is right. No one wants them. The thing those guy did not know is how dangerous the loaded harp of a piano is. The pressure of the tightened strings is in the thousand of psi. An indiscriminate error or a weakness in the harp could lead to serious injury, including decapitation. One of my best friends is a Steinway technician/tuner and he had some astonishing stories to tell. Before a harp is moved or repaired, all the strings must be wound down to make it safe. Busting up an old piano is, no joke, a killer.

 

[hjames]

A church member is moving to NC and did not want to pay to move a Samick grand piano his uncle gave him many years ago (and he had moved it then from Chicago to NoVA)
So he donated it to the church, paid for the local move AND having it tuned - recurved the hammers and "voiced" it. The rework made a world of difference in clarity and sharpness, and it sounds gorgeous during the sunday service - and we know there will be periodic maintenance.

But a few months back I saw another (an upright) locally on the curb, waiting for trash day and ... it was out in the rain. Very sad.

Pianos are free like a puppy ...

 

[Pio1980]

Last time I looked at CL, "free piano" was very common. 14 free ones, local and 19 nearby now.

I have hauled 2 to the thrift stores and luckily, they took them.

One I got free just to snag the glass ball foot stool. The other was an "extra" my wife had to have, then rarely used.

We had a piano tuner over once and he said to properly tune the piano we would need to replace all the strings.

They are a major pain to deal with and eliminate.

The industrial solution.

 

[blhagstrom]

Willyrover is right. No one wants them. The thing those guy did not know is how dangerous the loaded harp of a piano is. The pressure of the tightened strings is in the thousand of psi. An indiscriminate error or a weakness in the harp could lead to serious injury, including decapitation. One of my best friends is a Steinway technician/tuner and he had some astonishing stories to tell. Before a harp is moved or repaired, all the strings must be wound down to make it safe. Busting up an old piano is, no joke, a killer.

I think I was told there is 20 tons of pressure from the strings. 40,000 pounds?

GTS = 18-30 tons.
http://www.kenfoster.com/PianoTuning/Facts.html

 

[toxcrusadr]

If you're a woodworker, that wood can be great stuff. I'd like to see them left in one piece but if one has a chance to salvage oak and hard maple, it can give new life to parts of it anyway.

Keys may be real ivory, I would save those. If nothing else a piano restorer may need them.

I'm making a Wall of Doors in my shop and one will be an abstract piano with keys, strings strung over saw blades and such.

Always wondered if a harp wouldn't make a dandy way to hang pots over a kitchen island. Hang it from the ceiling with some strong cables and add pot hooks. Beats melting it down.

 

[Adinol]

I always assumed that pianos are a niche, just like analog audio is here. I did notice a decline in free piano listings in Craigs List in my area (NYC).

I actually dismantled a very old piano not so long ago. My friend who is a serious pianist/organist said the piano was beyond repair and I also agreed with that assessment. So, I dismantled it, saved the cabinet wood, the spruce and removed all the ivory from the keys. I am actually planning to build a harpsichord for my kid and plan to use some of the materials salvaged from the piano. Give those materials a second life.

That piano was in too poor condition for repair. But the piano that was smashed into pieces was not that old. The keys were not ivory (if they were I would have pulled the k-board out of the dumpster) and there was no visible dust on the hammers. Whatever was left of the cabinet also looked very clean and not really aged.

I'm not a fan of ivory at all, but if it's already part of an old piano I just feel it's not the right thing to throw it into the trash.

 

[Dennis Gardner]

If you think pianos are worthless, try electronic solid state organs that were all the rage in the late 70s and 80s. I have stacks of them in a warehouse.....Baldwin, Wurlitzer, Kimball, etc.

 

[blhagstrom]

If you think pianos are worthless, try electronic solid state organs that were all the rage in the late 70s and 80s. I have stacks of them in a warehouse.....Baldwin, Wurlitzer, Kimball, etc.

Yes those are just as bad.

Why are you storing them?

 

[valvenator]

No pianos here but I had an old Hammond that wound up in the trash. Unfortunately the person that "salvaged" it tossed the Leslie cabinet.
The tone wheels were frozen and by the time we got them working the rest had been dismantled with no way of getting it back together.
A solid state Baldwin someone else gifted me got donated to a local AMVETS. Might still be in service somewhere.
Some of the smaller portable keyboards did have some charm. Back in my Band days someone left a keyboard at my home for a few months.
It had four draw bars for four different sounds: piano, harpsichord, violin and cello, and you could play any combination of the four.
The strings had that very distinct Mellotron sound. That was one fun to play keyboard I'd love to get my hands on again.

 

[Dennis Gardner]

Yes those are just as bad.

Why are you storing them?

Family owned music store that never sold the trade ins, so hundreds of instruments of all kinds got stacked up over 35 years.

 

[Adinol]

The laws of supply and demand never change.

One day people are going to realize that there are no more old pianos left and people will be willing to pay top dollar to acquire an original one. Then people will post comments on online forums, saying that back in the day people had trouble giving them away and some got gutted for scrapping a metal harp. People will say, "Can you believe it?" And now you have to pay $100,000 to get one that needs repair." It might happen one day.