Several years ago I agreed to "rescue" a 1912 Mansfield Upright from my parents' garage where it had been stored for a few years. My parents needed the room, and I had a blank wall in my house and I figured that it would make a nice piece of furniture if nothing else, since I don't play (yet.)

Fast forward several years and I still have the piano, and I have decided that it would be nice to have it tuned and repaired so that my mother doesn't cringe when she plays it occasionally during her visits. What I would like to know is this:

What is a ballpark figure for having a piano this old repaired and tuned?

I don't know a lot about pianos, but upon inspection it appears that all but 4 keys play. Three of them appear to be missing hammers, and the fourth key remains fully depressed into the keyboard. I believe the overall tone of the piano sounds good, with a big room filling sound, although it is obviously in need of tuning. I also noticed that all of the hammers have deep grooves in them, which I am guessing are a result of being played heavily over the piano's life.
I am assuming that all of the hammers would need to be replaced to make all of the notes sound even?

I'm not looking to completely rebuild or anything that extensive, since my parents only paid around $200 to begin with. I would just like to have the piano function relatively completely when it does get played occasionally.

Also, if anyone knows of a reputable repairman/tuner in the southern California area, I would appreciate the referral.


Thanks in advance,
G.

www.ptg.org is a good source for finding a tech. It might not be worth fixing if it's been setting in a garage never tuned. It is pretty much impossible for us to tell you what it is going to cost without looking at the piano so you need to hire a good honest tech to look at it.

OK, thanks for the advice Jerry.