If you are a novice piano buyer trying to buy a used piano, there are several types of instruments that should be instant “red flags”. Each of these types of used piano has one or more potentially critical problems severe enough that a buyer would be best-served to totally avoid them. There will be a few pianos in some groups that are exceptions to the rule and might be safe to buy after a technician’s inspection (some of these possibilities will be mentioned), but to be as safe as possible you should avoid them completely. In most cases, if you buy one of these pianos you will end up spending several hundred to several thousand dollars more than should be needed for basic piano maintenance just to get the piano as playable as possible and keep it there. Unfortunately, even after you spend the extra money you will not be happy with what you have.
(This is Part 4 in a series. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. You can find Part 2 here. Part 3 is here. Each post will address at least one of the types of used piano in question. Please leave us a comment or question.)
“Squirrel-cage” uprights – AKA “Bird-cage uprights” -
This is an instrument that was not often encountered even when I was starting out as a technician 30 years ago. Dating from about 1840-1860, these pianos could be mistaken in some cases externally for the “English” uprights described in the previous post. The difference became apparent when you opened the lid. Where in most uprights one of the first things seen when you look inside is the hammers, (the felt pad on the end of a stick that strikes the strings when the key is played), in the “squirrel-cage” there is a cage-like system of wires (hence the name) which lift the dampers (the felt piece which stops the vibration of the strings when the key is released) when the key is pressed. This function was replaced in newer pianos by a system of levers.
Early in my career I was approached about restoring one of the pianos for a collector. Since several parts were missing and several others were broken I needed to find a source for replacement parts. The design of the parts was sufficiently different from modern pianos that modifying modern parts was impractical. My suppliers had nothing approximating what I needed. Finally I started calling some of my local colleagues. Most weren’t even acquainted with this type of action. I found one who knew. He explained that, at the time these instruments were made, there had been no real standardization within the industry so generic replacement parts were impossible. According to him there were two ways to get replacement parts: (1)Find another piano of the same make and vintage and cannibalize it for parts, or (2)Get a sharp knife and a block of oak and carve your own. Time-consuming and thus atrociously expensive for the customer.
If we are lucky the few surviving specimens of this type of piano have found their way into museums. As I said, there were few still around 30 years ago. However, if you should stumble onto one of these in the course of your search to buy a used piano, suggest to the seller that a museum contribution might be in order. You can’t afford it!
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