Hello,
I'm new to this board and already looking for help. I'm a blues guitar player ready get a "free" upright piano off of Craigslist. I want to learn how to play, but more likely to used by players I would have over for jams. Can a free piano actually be free for the complete novice? What some of the common pitfalls of this situation? Buying an electric and amp is probably far easier on the back. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Hester,

You will have to pay for the moving.

It may or may not be tunable.

There may be hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars of repair needed to make it function reasonably well.

You may be stuck with a PSO (Piano Shaped Object) that will cost you $$$ to dispose of.

You may get lucky and find something decent, but I wouldn't bet on it...

I agree .Is the piano in the basement and needs to be hoisted out the bulkhead ? if so there may be water damage.I have left many piano's right where they were because of that.
Only few times I have recieved piano's for free which the original owners actualy took care of them.I gave a piano to a couple I know who were having money problems but were the type of people who I knew would care for the piano.They paid for the moving and I tune it.Its a fair piano but not without needs.Have a Technicion look at it,you will save money in the long run.Depending on how much you are willing to spend an electronic keyboard is a good way to find out if you like the piano.

I have picked up 11 free pianos on Craigslist, only three sounded good , held tuning, and played well.
Don't make the mistake of grabbing pianos just because they're free. They usually need to much work and are unpleasant to play.
The half decent free pianos on Craigslist are usually gone very quick. Also check local papers.
Bring someone who plays at least a little who might be able to judge if its enjoyable to play for feel and tone. If it seems pretty good then it's would be good idea to have a tech look at it
Here's is a link to a check list that might be helpful http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/american.htm
Good luck

Getting a tuner to look at any used piano will be worth the money every time. Get The Piano Book and you will learn a lot.

As for being afraid of getting a free piano, don't let the (lack of) price scare you away. People give away perfectly good pianos because a few notes don't work and they think the piano is "broken." On the other hand, there are people asking thousands for some old piece of junk baby grand because Aunt Millie told them it was an antique. Probably the most extreme example of the deceptively broken piano - and there isn't a tuner on this forum who hasn't come across it - is the old spinet with half the elbows broken, and nothing else wrong with it. The parts to fix such a piano are about $40 and it takes about two hours to do it. My favorite story is the old upright that one of my customers friends gave her because most of the notes didn't work. All it was was that the first lady had birds, and seed had gotten jammed between the keys. Lift the keys so the seed could fall through and - Bob's your uncle - it worked fine.

So don't be put off by a few notes that don't work, a pedal that doesn't work, etc. A tuner can tell you whether or not the apparent problems are REALLY problems, as well as showing you the "invisible" problems a piano might have that you wouldn't have known about until you had it tuned (after you went through the trouble of moving it, etc.)

Yesterday I was called "to tune" an upright piano new to the customer. It was about 90 years old. It had bridge splits, attempted string replacements (they weren't working very well because their tension was splitting the bridges even more), pitch 130 cents flat, big soundboard crack, motheaten and heavily filed (and grooved) hammers, some mold spots on the hammer moldings, a bottom board split crossways into two pieces, loss of veneer on the outside of the right cheek block, non-working (and malpositioned) left pedal -- I forget what else. And this wasn't even a free piano. The customer had seen it and had been entranced by its beauty in her eyes. We had to have "the talk." I never did tune it.

Six weeks ago I turned down a tuning on a big ole upright. I told them to get rid of it. Last week, I saw the same big ole upright (it had been sold for $100). I told the new owner to get rid of it. Will I see the same piano a third time? hee hee.

I don’t have experience as a piano tech, but I have purchased many used, low priced pianos in relatively decent shape. The procedure That seems to work for me is this:
1. Contact the owner. Ask him as many questions as you can think of about the instrument. Such as: when it was last tuned, where it is currently being stored, any problems they know of. If it has been tuned recently see if you can get a hold of the tuner who did it last and ask him about it.
2. Get the serial number from the owner and figure out the age on http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/american.htm This site also has a way to go over a piano for potential problems.
3. After you know where it is located it is generally fairly easy to mapquest the location and figure how far away it is. This will help determine the cost of moving. If the piano is not that far away go look at it and as someone mentioned before, take someone that knows how to play the piano.
4. If you decide to get it bribe some friends to help you move it with some pizza and pop. If you have a friend with a big truck and trailer make sure you special order him a “meat lovers” :-) The best way I've found to move a piano is on a trailer. If you can't borrow one, it's worth renting a small U-haul pull behind for 30-40 bucks. With multiple people and a few good moving straps this is really not that hard.
5. One final Note… Sometimes the quality difference between a free piano and a 50$–100$ piano is great. I would rather invest a small amount in the initial price and get a better instrument over all than get a free piano and have to spend money on repairs.

Hope that helped,
Josh Baker
Student

Sometimes the free piano can be better than the $100 piano. You never can tell, especially without looking inside the piano, and knowing what you are looking for inside the piano.

Moving a piano with amateurs risks the safety of those doing it, not to mention the homes involved and the property therein. Budget for the possiblity of a few lawsuits as well as pizza.

Hey Hester

I am a blues pianist...of sorts!!
I play sometimes on a digi keyboard...and they have their place.....but there's nothing like the FEEL of an acoustic piano. If it's a good piano...go for it....but I echo the cautions of my collegues....get it checked by a tech!

Best Regards

Mark