Keep old upright or look for something newer?

[keithpeter]

Hello All

I'm a beginner, and play sloooowly at present. I'm taking lessons. Ruth dabbles but likes having the piano in the house.

We bought an old Chappell upright from a local Joanna shop for £500. Tuner says new hammers & stuff have been fitted but still has original dampers. He is also saying that he might need to tune to lower pitch next time to reduce string tension - he thinks they may start to break. He will see how much drift in 6 months. Restringing costs ££.

He is quoting £250 to sort the damping (and the occasional problem with key not playing second time), but he is suggesting a newer upright to avoid more cost in the future. We like the look of the old Chappell, and the idea that it is a bit of Victoriana all be it a humble one.

My questions are along the lines of:-

If we did the restringing [£1000+] and the damping, would we have something that would last another 10 years or so, or has it just reached the end of a long life?

How much lower do people tune pianos to save the strings? Does it actually work? Again has anyone here actually done this?

Should we take the tuner's advice and look for a newer and cheaper to maintain piano?

We both would rather stay with a 'real' piano and not go digital. I'd appreciate people's experiences on this one.

Cheers

[David B]

It depends on how far you want to go with your playing. If you are serious about being a pianist, this machine will frustrate you and hold you back. If it is just a casual thing and the looks of it are as important as function, then a mend and make do will probably be OK.

I am a pianist, not a tech, but at a wild guess I would say that if it needs restringing, it'll probably need a lot else besides. Which of course means expensive. The reason for that of course is that UK piano tuners are greedy rip off merchants that will rook you blind

.....just kidding guys....

[Openwood]

It depends on how far you want to go with your playing.

Exactly. There's no harm in spending money on your old piano if you're keeping it primarily for asthetic reasons but if you're wanting to work through graded exams or the like it isn't going to cut the mustard. Personally I think you would probably get far more pleasure from a newer piano, but it comes down to what you want!

[keithpeter]

It depends on how far you want to go with your playing.

...if you're wanting to work through graded exams or the like it isn't going to cut the mustard.

Hello Both

Thanks for this, and I have no plans to take exams (done enough of those in the last 40 years or so) but would like to play a range of music. You are both saying what the tuner said, so we will probably be saying goodbye to the Chappell and getting something easier to maintain to a good standard.