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Hello there, hopefully you can help me here.

I went to see a Kawai 1969 Console piano, and I really liked the touch, action and sound of it. Great price too.

I have some photos of the interior, but I am having problems getting a technician to check it before I purchase it. Fully booked, delays with the snow... Seller is getting quite impatient.

Could you please have a look at these photos and let me know if you can see something really bad, other than the expected couple of tunings and maybe regulation?

Thanks!

Looks a bit grubby to me for a 1969 piano, and rust on the string coils. But those things are not necessarily total impediments. If you like the sound and feel and it's playing well, provided the price is right, it could be a good buy.

I see what looks to be a fair amount of rust on the tuning pin coils. That suggests that the piano was stored around high humidity for a period of time. That can affect things like dampers. Do you hear any buzzing or rattling coming off the dampers as they settle back onto the strings? If so, they will need to be replaced.

It is a bit hard to see how much wear there is on the action.

Thanks for your answers.

We are talking $600 for the piano including delivery.

While playing it I felt a couple metallic buzz but then I noticed that it was because of a hinge (? not sure how to call it, the bit that holds the front lid in place). With my hand on that holder there was no noise.

The seller has now mentioned that her parents spent some years in Bermudas, and then they brought the piano back here. Last tuned 2 years ago.

I see that some dampers could do with a replacement. Would this be very expensive?

I'm basically hoping to spend around $700 or less in the tuning and maintenance.

It depends on how much second-hand pianos sell for in your area I guess, but $600 seems a bit on the high side to me. Second-hand pianos don't fetch big prices anywhere these days. I think the seller would struggle to get that price on Craigslist or local Classified ads.

What is it that's making you think some damper felts need replacing? If it's just that one or two are damaged because of a coffee spill in the piano, that's one thing. If they're all hard and buzzing (or a good proportion), that's a whole set- quite another matter.

If the seller is that impatient, offer $300 and see what happens......

Hi David, many thanks for your help. The $600 includes the delivery with a specialised company, the piano itself is quite cheap for what I see and it does play well and feels nice, it's only that I haven't got a clue about the insides (and pretty little about the outside). I really looked for splits and cracks and couldn't see anything. Price is already low and she won't reduce it.

I am in the UK, I just gave the currency exchange. I found some quite more expensive pianos that directly I wouldn't enjoy even touching and some were clearly damaged. Even some reconditioned ones in second hand shops could feel funny to my fingers, I didn't like the touch in most and would have to go to quite expensive ones to like it.

I mentioned the dampers because some seem to be a bit dirty and I know that they are quite important. The action is very comfortable, medium weighted. I guess the rust is due to it being in the Bermudas for some years, but I've been told that it was well taken care of there, then it came back to the UK. It was the lady's baby and she took good care of it till she died. Anybody else in the family plays it which is the reason they are selling it.

The rust wouldn't go worse if I keep the piano in a humidity controlled area, would it?

Sorry if my questions sound silly, I really don't know anything about pianos.

In addition to the rust, there seems to be mold growing on the keys and hammers, and possibly elsewhere that we can't see. Does the piano smell of mold when you open it up?

Hi Burnside, thanks for your answer.

No, I didn't smell anything funny inside. Had it smelt of mold or even nicotine I would have walked away directly.

evmamar, your questions are not silly at all; perfectly sensible!

I guess you are talking about a price of around 400 GBP then. If that includes delivery, (sorry, my fault, I missed that) it's looking like a better deal. Did you you check if it's at concert pitch?

If the dampers are working and don't make any funny noises, they don;t ned replacing, even if a bit grubby.

It's all very well the seller saying her price is firm, but that could simply mean that she doesn't sell it. She won't have people lining up outside the front door to buy it. The seller might discover that if it's a choice between three hundred or no sale, she settles for the three hundred.

On the other hand, if you like it a lot, the price is not unreasonable. It depends how hard a bargain you feel like driving.

If it sounds and feels good, the chances are it's structurally good.

I can guarantee however, that if the lady has phoned any second hand piano dealer to make an offer, they will not have offered anything like that money. A hundred pounds maybe.

Thanks David, I will be using a special piano delivery company which is about half the price of the piano itself! But well, they are professionals and it's over 100 miles away. I live in a Victorian terrace with a very narrow entrance, so they need to know what they are doing.

She actually tried to sell it for about £800 and nobody was interested, which is the reason she would sell it so low now. She wants the space, and there was quite a lot of people interested, I believe that.

For me the most difficult thing is finding an action and touch I actually like. I have tried several pianos for sale both private and in shops, but I would have to go to at least £2-2.5K to find something I enjoy playing. For instance I really liked the action and sound of a good Welmar, as I like a mellow tone, but the actual keys felt very funny to my fingers, it would be hard to get used to and I might not like them even with time. It seems to be quite hard to find a piano one actually likes, not getting into good or bad, expensive or cheap, but just the feeling to the keys.

Oh well, thanks everyone, I'll let you know!

I also see evidence of possible rodent activity on key sticks damper felts and hammers. If this is so, proceed with caution. Rodent damage often lies beneath too; and if you purchase this piano, clean with caution: use gloves, mask, goggles, etc. Beware of sellers who are in a hurry. Best wishes.

bkw58, what's the evidence of rodent damage you see?

Good morning, David. I think the key word is "possible." Big zoom on the tops of damper felts, certain hammers, and the key stick tops all show possible evidence. It is hard to tell for certain from these photos, but I see spotting consistent with dried mice urine and a little chewing on the hammer felts.

On the other side of the coin, though hard to say 100%, bridle straps appear to be un-chewed and intact, and the apparent absence of mice feces would argue, perhaps, against mice. Rusty coils could be from most any excesive humid source. Humity/Mold. Side of one damper felt is gone. Again, not necessarily mice, but could be.

Rodent activity is one possibility out of a few that some may have already mentioned. As you say it is certainly grubby. I've seen a Cola spill create the same or similar effect, though it is usually more focalized. Anyway, as they say, an ounce of prevention...

?

They hadn't bothered to clean the piano when I saw it, she actually didn't know how to open it and she only opened the top lid. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere but I couldn't find mice droppings anywhere inside, I did look for them as for me that would have been another reason to walk away.

Bkw, thanks for your answer, we posted at the same time and I didn't see it. She was been thinking in selling it for 2 years after the owner passed away and just kept it for possible use, but now it is clear than nobody is playing it. She also tried to sell it at much higher price but nobody went for it and now she just wants it gone and to recover the space so she's selling it extremely cheap, but she's not happy as I have left a deposit and still haven't confirmed the purchase.