Piano Forum

Topic: Buying Schaff Upright Piano...?  (Read 1463 times)

Offline captainwafflos

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 11
Buying Schaff Upright Piano...?
on: December 15, 2009, 12:18:18 AM
Hey guys, needs your advice on this one.

Looking for a cheap but playable piano for a friend for Christmas and came across this one: https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/msg/1508992422.html -- I went to the house to check it out and, aesthetically, it is in great condition. The piano hadn't been tuned recently, but all of the keys played and it had held its tune reasonably well (not perfectly by any stretch, but it was certainly playable without me wanting to scream bloody murder) since its last tuning. The owner claims it has been tuned on a yearly basis and that it was used primarily for sunday school usage. The action was okay, but a bit on the light side. The soundboard appeared to be undamaged.

Overall, for $90, it seems like a good deal. However, I'm not an expert on pianos, nor do I know any, and I'm looking for a second opinion before I go through the trouble of moving it and hiring a tuner. There was one particular key which played two different tones, and I'm not sure if this is something that is remediable. The owner of the piano said that it was, but she has the obvious motive of selling and getting rid of the piano. I also know that some piano are incapable of holding their tune -- this particular piano seemed to have equal temperament, so I doubt this is one of them, but I do know that it is old and I can't be 100% sure.

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks~