Yes, I get those UBB messages too. For me, one time I accidentally pushed submit twice but, I'm on my laptop on vacation so I don't generally use this one. The 2nd time above, I was having fun being the smarty pants that I am!

Maybe over there a giant American piano is a status symbol.

I have read that the "gray market" Japanese pianos are shipped to the US because the Japanese folks don't like buying used pianos. Is this true with China? I remember years ago that the Japanese people were paying tons of money to acquire high end tube audio equipment from the USA. I sold several Marantz and MacIntosh units to Japan back in the early 90's. They were also paying crazy money for '50's cars such as the 1959 Cadillacs. I think the big money in that country has slowed due to the changing economy. What does this forum say?

A friend of mine pointed out a follow up post in the NYT that lists some places you can get rid of old pianos, without dumping them in the dump...

Places to Donate Pianos

Where a Condemned Piano Can Win an Appeal


Aghast at the idea of pianos being dumped, crushed, burned and dismembered?

The emotions evoked by the deaths of used pianos are powerful, and they came flooding in response to a recent article in The New York Times about their frequent disposal and the reasons for it. But when it comes to keeping old pianos alive, owners find that their feelings collide with the reality of expensive repairs and inexpensive, easily available brand-new replacements.

Still, a few options exist.

Places to Donate Pianos

I haven't read all the posts here, but I have to say that I understand how pianos can get dumped. I had a heck of a time getting rid of my old acoustic and it was still in great shape, relatively speaking. I consider myself lucky to have finally found someone who would take it for free.
This is kind of similar to what happens at my bicycle shop: people stop by all the time wanting to give me old, crappy bikes that they are taking to the dump. They think I will want them for parts or to fix up and give away to people. I have no use for a bunch of worn out parts, I am in business to make money, not to refurbish junk and then donate it, and I don't have the space to store a bunch of old bikes. Imagine how much more of a problem all of that would be with a piano! I know people invest a lot of emotional energy in their pianos, but there comes a time when they (the pianos!) are past their useful life and need to be disposed of, like an older car with a blown engine and tranny that needs to finally be hauled away and crushed, even if it was the site of your first kiss or best road trip or whatever. It happens. Keep the memories, let go of the object. Never love anything that can't love you back.

I teared up (just a little) watching this.
The worse part was when the skidsteer crushed them with its claw.

Thank you Frank for posting those links.

And my piano loves me!

"Kids get discouraged playing on pieces of junk and never continue..." Thanks, BoseEric. It happened to me. 50 years later I restarted, this time on a perfectly in-pitch instrument (electronic)... still struggling!
Cheers, Roger.

That was hard to watch.

I'm 5'11" tall and 56" would allow me rest an arm at right angles along the top of said piano. Am I coorect that the castors are included in the height of the upright ?

My wife's parents are offering us their piano for free. It was bought used in the 1980s, but they aren't sure when it was made. It's a Munn upright grand. It hasn't really been played or tuned in years.

It would be for our young kids to learn to play.

Do you guys think it would be worth it to pay the moving and tuning expenses? Or should we get something different for them to learn the basics on?

Absolutely agree. It does seem like many people here are quite disconnected from the reality of "most people" and the trade offs that they/we need to make. Sure there are people with flat screen HDTVs, Bose radios, and cars that cost $30K who also have a lousy piano for there kids. For every one of those there are many many more who literally struggle to make ends meet and are a vehicle breakdown or an illness away from very tough financial straits.

Others of us aren't in quite that bad shape, but still have to make tough choices about priorities and would need to make substantial sacrifices (not just forgoing luxuries) to afford a new or very high quality used piano (thinking $5K+ here). As a result a lot of people are doing the digital route, which is of course way more affordable.

Looking carefully at the video, I only saw two different grands, but there were an awful lot more spinets. Not coincidence I'm sure! Wound't surpise me a bit if there were a 10:1 ratio between them getting junked over the long term.

I only have a spinet, which I suppose would be "junk" to most people, but after playing several other pieces of junk recently that were truly atrocious, I've come to appreciate that my spinet actually is not bad at all and has pretty good action and voicing (for a spinet). It is horrendously out of tune and painful to listen to, but eventually I'll make some sacrifice to have it tuned. Would I trade it for a digital? Not on your life.