HELP PLEASE!

[billymitchell90]

Hi can anyone please tell me absolute ANYTHING about my piano please I don't know much about it other than its old..
Thanks. Also how much can it be worth aprox??

[Peter Smith@PSPianos]

Hi billymitchell90,
I concur, you have an old piano.
I would suggest it's possibly nearing 100 yrs.
The pictures also tell me that it's ' over strung '

With regard to value.....it's worth as little or as much as someone is prepared to pay you for it.

All sort of people can and will tell you what they think it's worth, however, thats all well and fine.....but when you you ask them to put their hand in their pocket and pay you that amount...it's amazing their reluctance.

Without actually being in front of the piano...playing and trying it......it's impossible to put a price on it.

If I was to be selling a piano similar to your piano...I would possibly be asking £500.
My piano would have been overhauled and tuned. And transportation and VAT is included in the selling price.

The condition of the inner working of your piano, the tone....and also where the piano is located, both within your house as well as your location in the UK...will all have an influence of value.
Cost of transportation of pianos can be expensive....so it's always a consideration.

My best advice would be to contact your local piano shop and ask if they are on the market to buy your piano.

You can also ask the local auction house....and then there's E-bay and gumtree.

Good luck.

[billymitchell90]

Thank you ever so much for your help !

[Colin Nicholson]

Many pianos like this were shipped over from Germany about a century ago - with no name on the fallboard.... then for the wholesaler/tradesman to add their own name to it. Often many 'London' based companies chose affiliated names from families, and even chose names from districts of London - and others chose names that 'sounded' German. The true name and identity of a piano can only be revealed if the SAME makers name is printed inside the piano, aswell as on the fallboard.

It is a 'Lambert London' piano?? .... if so, not a well known name, but a standard piano shipped from Germany with the usual blue cloth for stringing, ogee shaped back checks, and ornamental/ artwork occasionally done on the top of the cast frame.

A tuner will need to inspect your piano and partially tune it to assess its pitch & tuning stability. Most pianos like this just go on Ebay - starting bid £10, no reserve, and see what happens.

If you can remove the fallboard altogether (it just lifts off) - this is the lid that covers the keys - then send a photo of the lower portion of the mechanism showing the back-checks, tapes, back of the keys (capstans usually rockers) - we may be able to tell you more. That also may be a date on the bottom of the cast frame, and if you tilt the mechanism forward/ remove the first key, there may be more clues - but best not to remove the mechanism altogether - just tilt it towards you.

Hope that helps......

[joseph]

I've got an idea....

Have it tuned and learn to play it, then you can decide if you want to upgrade later! The piano is just a normal upright, probably not much value, but if you can get a tune out of it, it could be of value to you.

Methven Simpson in Dundee were on Reform Street, in what is now a closed retail unit, but it's previous incarnation was Victoria Wine, just on the corner roughly across from Jessop's. They closed before WW2 I think, but they imported Bluthner and Steinway pianos. I think they were pretty much the main piano shop. Then there was Largs, and Pattersons. All those piano shops, and now there is only one small but dedicated shop selling pianos in Dundee. Soundcontrol and Rainbow Music also had good piano departments, alas they both no longer sell acoustic pianos, but only digitals - although some of them are quite good.