Piano evaluation: know what you have before you buy, keep or sell
A piano is the one purchase most people make without knowing what is inside it. A beautiful case can hide a cracked soundboard, a pinblock that will not hold a tuning, or hammers that are worn to the wood. And the reverse is just as common: a dusty upright in a garage turns out to be a sound instrument that needs a pitch raise and a regulation, nothing more.
I evaluate pianos as a Registered Piano Technician: I open the instrument, examine every part that matters, and I give you a plain, written assessment of its condition, what it needs, what that would cost, and an honest opinion of what it is worth as it stands. I evaluate; I do not, buy, sell or rent pianos. What you do with the report is your decision.
Three reasons people call
01 · Before you buy
You have found a piano, from a private seller, an estate sale or a store, and you want to know its real condition before you pay. I inspect it where it is, tell you what it needs now and what it will need in five years, and whether the asking price makes sense. A pre-purchase inspection costs a fraction of the mistake it prevents.
02 · A piano you already own
An inherited instrument, a piano you are thinking of restoring, or simple curiosity: what is this piano, how old is it, and what is it worth? I identify the brand, model and year from the serial number, assess the condition and put it in writing.
03 · Before you sell
If you are selling a piano yourself, a technician’s report answers the buyer’s questions before they ask them, supports your price, and tells you which small repairs are worth doing first. I do not list, market or sell the piano for you, and I take no commission: the report is yours, and so is the sale.
What the evaluation covers
- Structure. Soundboard, bridges, ribs, plate and pinblock: the parts that decide whether the piano has a future.
- Action and hammers. Wear, regulation, repetition, hammer felt, key bushings, the feel under the hands.
- Strings and tuning stability. Age of the strings, rust, previous breaks, whether the pins hold tension.
- Pedals, trapwork and dampers.
- Case and finish. Cosmetic condition, veneer, previous repairs, and what a touch-up would involve.
- Identity and age. Brand, model and year from the serial number, and what that means for the instrument’s quality.
- A test tuning or playing check where the situation allows, to hear the instrument as well as see it.
You receive a written report: a condition summary, the repairs the piano needs with estimates for each, and a clear, honest opinion of its fair value as it stands, so you can decide with confidence. It is my professional opinion as a technician, meant to guide a purchase, a restoration or a sale. It is not a certified appraisal for insurance or legal purposes.
Evaluation, not brokerage
The value of the evaluation is that I have nothing to gain from the outcome. I am not selling you the piano, I am not buying it from you, and I do not represent either side in a sale. If the piano is good, I will tell you. If it is not, I will tell you that too, and I will tell you what it would cost to make it right so you can decide with real numbers.
Afterwards
Most evaluations end the same way: the piano is worth keeping, and it needs a tuning and a few repairs. If you would like, I do them on a later visit, with the report as the plan. If you decide to walk away from a purchase, you have lost the cost of an inspection and saved yourself the piano. The fee is the same either way, and it is not credited against later work: the evaluation has to be worth paying for on its own.