Help!

[meli]

I was just about to practice on my Yamaha upright piano when I suddenly heard a loud noise from it!  I don't know if the string had broken loose, but whenever I hit my F key (Middle C scale), I hear this metal sound clash coming from inside. The F sharp is audible, but has a wierd sound after it like a gong. I'm calling my piano tuner tomorrow (its late at night now), but just wondering that if its something else other than a broken string. If however, its the F string that's certainly broke, can it just be replaced? Sorry for my silly questions, but I can't help but worry that my piano may have to be replaced (Its about 18 years old). The funny thing is I didn't even play it!

[gfiore]

 Just lift the lid and peek in. Do you see a string that is broken? This is a simple fix, your tech will replace the string. It will take time for the new wire to stretch, and will need a few extra tunings to stabilize.
 You will not need to replace the piano, unless you want to upgrade to a better instrument.

[jeremyjchilds]

I was just about to practice on my Yamaha upright piano when I suddenly heard a loud noise from it!  I don't know if the string had broken loose, but whenever I hit my F key (Middle C scale), I hear this metal sound clash coming from inside. The F sharp is audible, but has a wierd sound after it like a gong. I'm calling my piano tuner tomorrow (its late at night now), but just wondering that if its something else other than a broken string. If however, its the F string that's certainly broke, can it just be replaced? Sorry for my silly questions, but I can't help but worry that my piano may have to be replaced (Its about 18 years old). The funny thing is I didn't even play it!

If the "gong" sound is drastically below the pitch that it should be, then it is definitely most likely that you did break a string. I agree, easy to fix...