[tracilenee]

We have an old Schaff Bros. piano. The body is not too good and not all of the keys work. Is there any chance it is worth anything? If not, I am going to take it apart and make something of the wood! Traci

[Clough]

In terms of monetary value, unfortunately it's probably not worth much. I have been a piano tuner/technician since 1974 and I frequently get calls from people wanting me to get rid of their old pianos for them. Old uprights just aren't very desirable these days. The exceptions would be if they are wanted for an environment where the cabinet style of the piano would really fit in with the other décor. Old upright player pianos can potentially be worth thousands of dollars. Non-player pianos that need work but have the possibility of being good to excellent musical instruments again typically are given away or sold for anywhere from $25.00 to $125.00 depending on the condition of and looks of the instrument.

If it can be tuned to standard pitch and hold it's tuning for a number of months, then that is good. The tuning is the main thing to consider as far as it being worth anything either monetarily and/or as a musical instrument that someone might want to play. Anything involving the action, from the keys to the ends of the hammers can be repaired. It's really too bad about old uprights not being as desirable as they once were because the sound of really good ones can be comparable to that of a small grand piano.

If there are any cracks in the soundboard, that usually is not a problem because most of the sound travels in the direction of the cracks. However, if the crack or cracks in a soundboard are causing rattling of any kind because a rib on the soundboard has come loose as a result of there being a crack then this is usually no problem also because it is something that can be repaired.

My suggestion would be to have a piano tuner/technician check the instrument over. You might even find one that would be willing to listen to your piano over the phone and could tell you whether it could be tuned without having to pay for the service or evaluation visit.

I could go on for some length here. But, I'm going to stop now in order to ask you a couple of questions. Is this an instrument that has any sentimental value for you because of it being in your family for a long time? Even if it doesn't have sentimental value for you, would you like to see if it could be made into a useable musical instrument again?

It's really interesting that we have had two questions in just a couple days about the same brand of piano. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/collec...no-180401.html This sort of thing has happened previously on this site. It just strikes me as being strange. Usually, there are very few questions concerning pianos. And then, all of a sudden, we will have a small flurry of them being asked in a brief period.

[sradawi]

I have a Schaff Bro. baby grand piano that was damaged in a house fire. It will cost 20K to restore it, so the insurance company has asked me to find the replacement value. Unfortunately, I cannot find a Schaff Bro. baby grand online. Do you have any idea what replacement value is for that piano?
Thank you,
Sophia
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