help needed... restore or not to restore

[tammy257]

hello people.. sorry for making this my first post here but your forum here seemed like the best place to ask a few questions about my father in laws piano.. ok here we go..

my father in law has had this piano for a long time. he bought from an elderly lady about 30 years ago with plans of restoring it as a focal point of his living room as he doesn't play .. we have no history on the piano, and it came with what looks like a handmade stool with the Cabot Tower/Signal Hill building from St. John's Newfoundland Canada carved into it ..but me and my husband were thinking of having it restored for him as a birthday gift/suprise as he just has it stored in a spare bedroom for years.. but our problem is that we don't know if it's worth even restoring.. there are no piano restoration shops anywhere close to where we live in Newfoundland.. and we can't seem to find any history on the piano from google at all.. so we thought someone here might be able to help us out..

we took some pics of it a long time ago (XMAS last year  )but they didn't some out the best.. you can have a look at them here..



















so all in all we're just looking for some general info to help us make our decision.. so if anyone could maybe tell us some history on this piano ie who made it? how old it is? and what it might be worth in it's current condition and if it was restored it would be greatly appreciated.. as you can tell from the pics it needs some TLC but we'd rather leave that to the PROS..

THX in advance to any and all that may be able to help..

[silverwoodpianos]

This is a straight strung English cottage upright, 3/4 plate style, in Rosewood veneer with sconces, manufactured by John Bond & Co Liverpool who made pianos from1859-1926.

There were literally thousands of these cottage uprights made and many still remain here in Canada.

Most will not hold tuning any longer because the pin planks have failed requiring replacement. The action went obsolete around the 1910 mark so unless one has a supply of matching parts to retrofit from anther similar piano then the parts have to be made by hand. In any case even if this action was brand new it would not perform as a modern instrument would.

The other problem is this; these instruments were made with a tonal quality from days past, with the small Victorian sounding board the tone is thin and flute-like…..one can spend money tuning or repairing or rebuilding these and they do not sound any different when they are completed.

So far we have just spent about 10K of your money and the piano doesn’t sound any better…..

Now the bench.  While this bench is a miss-match for the piano that one is an interesting piece of Canadiana. I would strongly advise you to NOT touch up or try to refinish the bench in any way until such time as it has been appraised by a reputable antique dealer in your area. To glue small broken pieces is acceptable for antiques but refinishing will possibly diminish the value.

There were some early furniture makers in that area of the country and some of the pieces are quite valuable as historical items.

[tammy257]

THX so much for all the info.. it was greatly appreciated.. we told our father in law the bad news today.. and he wasn't suprised :lol: he was suprised to hear about the stool though and said he will have it looked at.. i will definately let you guys know how he makes out with it.. but he asked me to ask you guys what the piano would be worth to sell as is..?? a ballpark figure to ask for it.. as he says now that he know's it isn't worth fixing someone else might have some enjoyment out of it as he thinks it just takes up space.. glad we didn't try to restore it and suprise him.. and THX again for the help.. awesome forum here..

[keys60]

IMHO, if it plays at all, it could just be fun to keep around and it is a pretty conversation piece. That said, if it could be moved out of the house for free or someone is willing to give you a few bucks for it, take it. I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but pretty unplayable pianos are near impossible to get rid of without paying a pretty hefty moving and scrap fee.

Hey. Nice to hear about the bench. It really is a cool piece of rustic craftsmanship.
First time I ever heard the term "Canadiana" and not Americana.

[silverwoodpianos]

Yes as far as furniture goes they are nice to look at. This is one of the problems with these old cottage uprights; many of them had spectacular cabinetry, made with veneers not found today.

Many people keep these old ones and remove the inner mechanics and use the cabinet for other things.

In the 70’s, my father and I used to install glass shelving inside with some small lights and make a bar out of some of them.

Here is a link from another forum about the creative things people make out of the old cabinets.

If you do decide to copy one of these ideas hopefully you won’t go with photo number two; this would scare all of the small children out of your neighbourhood….

https://www.mypianofriends.com/old...but-not-out.-104.html

[keys60]

Thanks for the link, Dan. Very creative stuff going on there.
The old square grands make some of the nicest desks/tables I've ever seen. You just can't find legs like that anymore.

[indianajo]

I is rather a pretty case, and not too mouse-eaten inside. Not showing signs of significant hammer felt wear as far as I can tell.  I would say it would not take a lot of work to make playable, unless the seaside humidity has warped the wood parts and made a lot of them stick. 
These old uprights had a unique sound, and the passion to scrap them I find sad.  I play a lot of Scott Joplin, and that kind of music was made for an old tinkly upright. I've seen TV shows of Joplin played on a Grand piano and it just isn't right. Again, electronic reproductions of the upright lack the internal singing effect of a real stringed piano.   
It is hard to get a pro to work on one of these, because if you stiff him the bill, it is hard to repossess and has no resale value- $100 max. 

[john90]

I second that about this type of piano being unique in its sound, great for ragtime, I totally agree. This one has fantastic looks too. I must say I too was horrified to hear what people were doing to these, as it is so difficult to find one these days where I am.

[pianoplayjl]

I say restore.