Barratt and Robison upright

[lilybloom]

Hello,

We acquired an 1906 Barratt and Robinson upright. It is very out of tune, one key is not working as the pin has snapped (not too sure about the terminology but it is the "stick" holding the hammer) and the felt on the dampners are worn. Is it repairable?
Not needed for a concert pitch tuning just children learning.

Would appreciate some enlightment...

[Rick Patten]

Yes, the broken hammer shank, as we call them in the USA, is repairable, and so are the dampers. I would suggest hiring a local tech to do the work because after the relatively easy repairs are completed the piano should then be regulated to be sure the damper action timing is correct for your piano. Incorrect damper timing can cause the touch of the piano to be very heavy to very light. Both of these incorrect timings can cause playing problems.

[Barrie Heaton]

As Rick as pointed out As Rick as pointed out it is reparable. However, as to “just children learning” is not good young children learn faster if the pitch is the same as the music teacher s piano and it teaches them the correct sense of pitch for the start so if the piano will come up I would pay the extra

Barrie,

[lilybloom]

Thank you both for your replies.

So I take it that it can be worthwhile getting that piano into some sort of health? I am a tad weary of spending an enormous amount of money and then be told that it will never keep its tune. But I guess it is a bit like old cars..

Please can you clarify the "the piano will come up I would pay the extra " section of your answer Barrie, I am not too sure what it means...

A tuner told me (without actually coming to see the piano) that it was waste of time and money to get old junk like that fixed (called the repairs extensive repairs - are they?). Said that Barratt & Robinson pianos were not a good brand at all and were seldom worth to be repaired. Is that true?

Apologies about the number of question, I so appreciate your wisdom!

[Barrie Heaton]

Hi

“piano will come up” = come up to concert pitch. However, as to spending lots of money then no - if you piano is a good player and you only need to do the hammer shank and a bit of regulating fine but not more that £300.00 any more that that would be better spent on a newer piano you can pick up a second hand Zender for £8000 from quite a few shops in the UK with a guarantee

Barratt & Robinson made mid range pianos there are issues with the pianos from the 70s floating centres


Don’t Apologies about the number of question better to ask than to proceed blindly and waste money

Barrie,

[lilybloom]

Hehehe, I do hope you meant to write £800!

Will the tuner be able to tell me if he can take it up before works need being done, or will I have to do the repairs and then find out?

Would £300 be a rough estimate of how much repairing the shank and regulate would be?

Out of interest , how do you know if it is a good player when it is out of tune?

Steep learning curve!

[Barrie Heaton]

No the 300 is the max I would let any of my clients spend on a old piano that is not of sentimental value more than that is just not worth it

Say I was doing it if the piano will not come up to pitch then a Standard tuning would be £40.00 the shank would £10.00

If the piano was a semi tone flat that would be £100.00 + a second tuning in 4 weeks £40.00 + repairs I live in the North so you can add 40% for down south there about

A tuner will know if the piano is worth spending money and if it plays OK

And yes £800

[Bill Kibby]

I can never understand why people spend so much time and energy discussing on the internet something which cannot possibly be resolved until the tuner is there on the spot! It can be very misleading to the customer to offer advice based on the customer's view of the instrument.