A student of mine just inquired about what to look for when shopping for a used piano, so let's go over some important points.
Rule # 1 - The condition of the cabinet is unimportant.
FACT: Most people selling their pianos are selling them because they don't play them. They liked the idea of having a piano in the house, and chose it primarily as a furniture piece. This means they have probably kept up the appearance - making a pretty, shiny cabinet, but probably not maintained it as an instrument. Your piano does not need to be pretty to be a good piano. It can be devoid of polish. It can have scratch marks. It's cheap to buy an ugly piano, and then be creative with table runners and to add some polish. Pianos are like the people you meet; It's not what is on the outside that counts, it's what is on the inside!
Rule # 2 - Check the tuning pins first. If they are rusty, walk away. Below is a typical, view of the tuning pins inside a piano. These are not pristine, just dusty. This is normal and means, however the keyboard sounds, it is at least salvageable.
On the other hand, if the pins look like this, you should not waste any more time.
3. Evaluate how badly out of tune your piano is. If all you're ever going to do is play the piano with yourself (and no other instruments), then it doesn't matter if the D sounds like a D-flat, as long as all the other keys sound just as flat. In other words, the piano should be in tune with itself. If having the correct pitch is important to you, then you should buy a chromatic tuner with a sound generator so you can compare a pitch, or download a tone generator app for your smartphone.
Here are some tone generator app choices for Android and for Apple Products.
If a piano is more than slightly out of tune, it could take 3 or 4 tunings to bring it up to standard where it will hold. This is an average of $75-100 per service in this area at this time. Remember, it's one thing if a note is a little off. It's another more serious issue if one, and especially several keys sound like more than one note. This means the 2-3 strings per key are not in tune with each other. This is serious neglect. Below is a video (not available on email versions of this blog), for you to hear a short sample of a piano evaluation.
4. Check your damper and una corda pedals. If the piano has two pedals, these are the two. If it has three pedals, the damper is the one on the right, and the una corda is on the left. A middle pedal is sometimes cosmetic and doesn't work correctly on an upright anyway. If you are shopping for a grand piano, it is a consideration. The middle pedal (the sostenuto) on a grand works like this. With the lid open where you can see the dampers (see picture below), you play a low note within the first two octaves, THEN press the middle pedal and let go of the key. Only that damper should remain up. The others should be down.
The una corda acts in the following way. On an upright, the hammers move closer to the strings. On a grand, the hammers move a small amount to the right. You'll actually see the keyboard move on a grand.
If the damper pedal does not work, don't panic. Open the bottom panel. You'll either have a dowel rod that is out of place or needs tightening or, in the case of the video below, a pedal linkage rod you can tighten. The embedding feature is disabled on this video, so you can find it by clicking here.
5. When in doubt, consult a professional. Actually, that isn't me. For piano students on my roster, I will make an effort to see a piano if it is local and give you my opinion as an experienced pianist, but I'm not trained in tuning or restoration. I would call a local piano technician if the investment is more than a few hundred dollars. The hundred dollars they might charge is worthwhile.
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