Hi, I recently just bought a Hardman Baby Grand Piano (made in New York) for $3500. It's still looks pretty nice and sounds ok for the most part but due to my lack of piano knowledge and fail research on pianos, some of keys sound like they're hitting more than one not even though I'm playing just one note. Additionally, the right peddle makes the notes "echo" when even though it's not being pushed down anymore (I guess sensitivity issues?).

I already feel horrible about buying this piano even though the dealer said "all of the problems would go away after I tuned it". (I think I got scammed cause this piano doesn't seem like it's worth $3500 anymore with all this extra trouble...) To my disappointment they didn't after I got it tuned. My question is, is it worth getting this piano fixed? The piano store I spoke to gave me a quote of $2500 and up to "reservice and restore" the piano (he hasn't seen the piano physically though). He mentioned something about "rehammering" but didn't give me a quote when I asked him for one. He said it's included in the restoring.

I've already spent so much money on this and I don't know if it's worth putting in any more money anymore. Are there any other options besides restoring the piano? I just want two keys fixed so it stops "ringing". The peddle I can live with. Or should I just forget about fixing it and live with it until I save up money for a new baby grand? Any opinion would be nice. Thanks!

LiQuYu Welcome to the Piano Forums!

Adjusting the pedal/dampers is basic stuff and it's quite surprising that a dealer would not address this.

Whether or not you got scammed has less to do with whether the dampers and pedal are working. These can be adjusted with relatively little work (assuming the damper felts are intact etc.)

But the chances are that if the dealer didn't address these basic issues, he/she would be willing to scam you in other ways.

In your shoes I would demand that the dealer address the issue free of charge.

I realize that costs are relative, but my brother spent $18K to get his Hardman & Peck grand rebuilt. I agree with Charles that the issue with your piano's dampers are quite minor. I'd guess that your dealer acquired this piano as a trade-in. Itb also seems that you don't really know much about this piano. I'd suggest you post the serial number here so that the pros can tell you when it was built. That's when we'll know whether you got scammed or not. If your dealer is unwilling to fix your dampers hire a tech to do it. Then the problem will be fixed, but you may find out you have other problems. Good luck.

The serial number is 166 551. I called the dealer and he said he would not fix it for free because of the distance he has to travel to get to my place, even though he had told me these problems would be fixed once he had tuned them.

I starting to not care whether I got ripped off or not. I just want a nice sounding piano that won't drive me up the wall playing it with its quirks. Does any body have an idea how much it should cost to replace the dampers? =D

There is a good possibility that a couple of hours of tech time can fix all of your problems.