piano moving

Really quick:

baby grand owned by my great grandfather, went to my grandmother, now at my Uncles. He wants to give it to me. He's in Rochester, NY. I am in Greenville SC, roughly 1000 miles.

Piano moving is tough. I can get a quote for loading it onto a truck for $188, I presume unloading and tuning would be slightly more. The gas (yeah, gas) on a rental one way and my DD one way would cost something like $875 plus the rental cost of $1150 including a dolly.

A dedicated piano mover will charge $1400 to do a point-point.

Is there a cheaper way to do this?

Yea, friends and beer, but man that is gonna cost you a lot of beer.

Is it a high end piano? Steinway? Is it worth some money on the open market? And it has a lot of sentimental value? Then it's worth the $1,400 to have some dude move it. I bought a basic 40 year old used studio piano for $800, so another $600 is worth a decent baby grand.

My dad has a old piano that is almost firewood - too many keys are broken - and when it was new it was a cheap saloon model.

Will we see that 1972 GMC for sale now?

Wow, does that ever bring back memories. They are not good memories. People almost died. Moving a large old upright piano up a narrow flight of stairs is not an easy thing to do. On another move, a large plate glass window was broken in the lobby area. Too much beer was consumed by the helpers. Not the best way to make a good impression when you are moving into a new apartment. LOL. Pay the pro, or at least borrow his equipment. BTDT.

Datsun310Guy wrote: Is it a high end piano? Steinway? Is it worth some money on the open market? And it has a lot of sentimental value? Then it's worth the $1,400 to have some dude move it. I bought a basic 40 year old used studio piano for $800, so another $600 is worth a decent baby grand. My dad has a old piano that is almost firewood - too many keys are broken - and when it was new it was a cheap saloon model. Will we see that 1972 GMC for sale now?

I don't know what it is or how valuable it is, but yeah, it has sentimental value. My kids are young, but have expressed a lot of interest in music and my wife is a music teacher and occasionally teaches violin lessons out of the house (a piano actually helps a lot for that for reasons I don't fully get).

That 72 GMC may be for sale when I finish anyway, I can only carry 1/2 of the fam in it!

Mother is a professional pianist, so we've had a number of concert grands and such in the houses, and moved quite a bit.

A baby grand is an easy move, ime. They aren't that big, or that heavy. Remove the lid. Remove the action if possible (many times it's an easy pop-out). Drop the pedals (2 bolts and few pins). Unbolt the legs and lift it off.

Carry the piano body out to the truck, with three people. Tilt it on end to carry it through doorways and such. Wrap it in a good blanket, and set it into the pickup bed.

Carry and wrap the lid. Set it beside the body.

Bring out the rest, and wrap it as well.

Lash it all up and go.

As far as the professional piano moving companies go, we've had good experiences, and some remarkably horrible experiences with them. Like the time they came for the big concert grand with two guys and a hand cart. That wasn't pretty.

Pick a weekend with fair weather guaranteed all the way. You don't want rain and mud.

Let the piano aclimate at its new home. The locations are similar in humidity, so you should be fine. But watch anyhow.

Do expect to retune it at its new home. Again, let it aclimate before doing it.

Upright or Grand. and if Grand what size baby or mid.

It ran me ~400 to move my Baby Grand Steinway across town so 1400$ for 1K miles seems like a deal to me.

Also get it looked over quickly before you have it shipped to confirm that it is even playable or saveable. I would hate to have one moved that far only to find out the soundboard had collapsed in places.

wearymicrobe wrote: get it looked over quickly before you have it shipped to confirm that it is even playable or saveable. I would hate to have one moved that far only to find out the soundboard had collapsed in places.

Good point. Our church had a great looking old baby grand that was junk inside - unfixable cracked wood soundboard - firewood. When we brought it up that we wanted to buy a new one people flipped cause it looked so good.

Looks like it can be done in a van. Can you borrow one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Ucq7S476s

Many sound boards are cracked. Perhaps even most. It's really not normally a problem. Especially when dealing with a humid environment that tends to keep the wood swelled.

Ever looked at Willie Nelsons Guitar? Still plays pretty darn well, even with that damage.

foxtrapper wrote: Ever looked at Willie Nelsons Guitar? Still plays pretty darn well, even with that damage.

It would play better without the holes. Soundboard cracks and harp collapse are death for a middle of the road or lower piano. But that's my opinion.

foxtrapper wrote: Ever looked at Willie Nelsons Guitar? Still plays pretty darn well, even with that damage.

You mean he plays it pretty darned well, even with that damage, right?

Skip Barber can drive my E36 M3ty old race car pretty fast, too.

One of the best guitars I have ever played had a small hole in it from a pick, cracks in the back, repaired cracks in the top, and the finish was just about worn out. I'd wager that Trigger sounds better than most other N20's of the same age, regardless of condition.

Sounds like this is one of those spots when paying a pro is worth it.

I have helped move one grand piano and it was doable with three or four stout guys and a full size truck or van. Just a thought would make a heck of a road trip.

tuna55 wrote: Really quick: baby grand owned by my great grandfather, went to my grandmother, now at my Uncles. He wants to give it to me. He's in Rochester, NY. I am in Greenville SC, roughly 1000 miles. Piano moving is tough.

This makes me appreciate the fact that my great grandfather played harmonica.

It's a Sohmer baby grand, 73 years old, and over 5 feet across.

I am definitely into paying, especially since the gas to drive a typical box truck combined with a pro packing and unpacking (something I will gladly pay for) actually exceeded the point-point pros. I was curious if anyone had any experiences or cheaper ways of doing it.

It was just tuned, and was regularly, and it's in good shape. It's not particularly pretty, but it's neat from a historical perspective, and I want it.

I hope Lurch doesn't get upset with the move:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdVPSaEdja8

tuna55 wrote: It was just tuned, and was regularly, and it's in good shape. It's not particularly pretty, but it's neat from a historical perspective, and I want it.

My understanding (never owned one myself) is that anytime a piano is moved it needs to be retuned at the new location.

codrus wrote:

tuna55 wrote: It was just tuned, and was regularly, and it's in good shape. It's not particularly pretty, but it's neat from a historical perspective, and I want it.

My understanding (never owned one myself) is that anytime a piano is moved it needs to be retuned at the new location.

even the pianos that bands haul around on tour?

just saw Kid Rock and Bob Seger last saturday night in Fargo, and each of them had their own pianos on stage... Kid Rock's looked like it was pretty rare- it was camouflage and had a "Mossy Oak" logo on it. i'm not too up on my musical instruments, but i think that's from old timey Europe....

i think i'd just pay the pros to move it.. these guys seem to know what they are doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRKdWD2sVGg

codrus wrote:

tuna55 wrote: It was just tuned, and was regularly, and it's in good shape. It's not particularly pretty, but it's neat from a historical perspective, and I want it.

My understanding (never owned one myself) is that anytime a piano is moved it needs to be retuned at the new location.

Agreed, I am merely speaking to its condition.

Drop it on an old Morris?

SVreX wrote: You mean he plays it pretty darned well, even with that damage, right?

No. I'm saying that damage doesn't make nearly the difference to the tone that you'd expect. Same with the fractures that inhabit so many soundboards.

A fracture in a sound board isn't an automatic death knell to either the piano or to the sound it produces. The board (or boards if it's completely split end to end) can still resonate, and will resonate.

I've seen pianos with great big holes carved into the soundboards, either for pretty or for interesting notions of tonal quality. They also sounded fine and were perfectly playable.

What renders a piano unplayably dead far more are things like worn out actions or warpage. While technically anything is repairable, things like this get wildly expensive very quickly.

If you've not already, get a quote at www.uship.com

or

I own a parlor grand piano I have moved twice. Money spent on strong guys with the right equipment and know-how is worth every penny. Consider having piano movers load the piano on your own or a rented truck there, then hiring local movers to unload it at the destination. I bet you'll be in the few hundred bucks range + the cost of the truck and fuel. Money well spent IMO.

sporqster wrote: I own a parlor grand piano I have moved twice. Money spent on strong guys with the right equipment and know-how is worth every penny. Consider having piano movers load the piano on your own or a rented truck there, then hiring local movers to unload it at the destination. I bet you'll be in the few hundred bucks range + the cost of the truck and fuel. Money well spent IMO.

This actually sounds like a good idea to me, and I'm not ddrunk yet.