Foo - Piano and flute to be sold

Hey guys, my inlaws have an upright Wurlitzer piano and a flute from when the kids were in band, and they're about ready to sell. The piano was bought used in 2001 for $1200, last played and tuned in 2005. The flute was $2000 new, solid silver, refurbished 11/09 and the repairman suggested worth about $1100 now.

Main questions are about the piano. Anyone bought or sold a similar piano recently? Work in a piano repair shop? Teach piano lessons? Have something useful or not to say? I'm thinking I could probably pay a repair man to come look at it and give me a ball park. Also, I'll probly have to pay someone to move it, unless it's generally acceptable to throw a piano in the back of a pickup and hope for the best. Anyone know ballpark base price to pick up and deliver a piano within x miles?

Again, anything useful or not will be glanced at and pondered.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/gotcha640/IMG_0107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/gotcha640/IMG_0106.jpg


Threadsaver:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/gotcha640/DSC_0054-2.jpg

That's not a thread saver, this is a thread saver:

http://www.piranha-evil.com/tso%20new.jpg

That being said, where are you located? I might want to buy a piano sometime relatively soonish.

[edit: don't do a google image search for "threadsaver" or "thread saver" at work. it's NSFW.]

Hey guys, my inlaws have an upright Wurlitzer piano and a flute from when the kids were in band,

Ask the poor bastad that had to carry the piano to band practice how best to move it.

Was the flute ever used...at band camp? :twitchy:

I'm in Houston TX, the force, and the flute was rarely flouted even outside of band camp.

Did you ever toot the flute?

I used to play piano in a marching band. One of many in a string of bad choices, much akin to my decision to juggle steak underwater at the Great Barrier Reef. The loss of the hand though was fortuitous, as it brought my marching band piano career to a screeching halt.

When we were "gifted" a piano by my inlaws, we hired a local piano mover for around $100 to move it 25 miles or so. He used a heavy dolly and a pick up truck and two men.

The flute I think will take more than that. I would call the National Guard reserve base and see if they could send out a platoon of beefy young lads.

Oh, and what is the green and yellow triangular thingee under the flute?

Oh, and what is the green and yellow triangular thingee under the flute?

New wireless downtube shifting clown bike:thumb:

Okay, piano stuff. I should know this; I have a degree regarding the instrument and other experiences in different aspects with it, but it's been a while, so....

Without playing the piano, you can't tell how good it is. The appearance means nothing. (My own piano looks amazing but it's a huge hunk of worthless junk. I never purchased a nice one since I did all my work at the studio and never at home, so I never needed a nice piano.)

For a family who wants to get their kids started on piano lessons, ANY piano is better than a keyboard or Clavinova (piano teacher speaking here), so that would be your potential buyer, so price low. (See below)

Always have it professionally moved. I *know how* to move a piano and decided not to go professional this last time because I knew what I was doing--still the scariest moment of my life. Professionals have two very simple tools at their disposal: a piano dolly and moving straps they wrap around their bodies. Do not put the thing on a pick up truck. You could crack the soundboard and render it useless for the most part. At worst, moving it professionally will knock it seriously out of tune (should be expected, anyway; even more once it's in a new environment).

Moving a piano has cost me as little as $80 to move it across the city and as much as $150 just to lift it off a truck and not actually move it. So, it depends on who you call. Get estimates from several moving companies that move pianos. They will want to know what kind of piano (spinet, console, full upright, etc), how many stairs, and such. The piano in the photo looks like a console but maybe it's the angle of the photo. It could be an upright, but based on where the music rack sits, I don't think it's tall enough to be considered an upright.

As far as what the piano is worth...maybe $600-800, tops, as it hasn't been serviced since 2005 and it was already used in 2001 and it's a Wurlitzer, but what do I know... I am not there to play it; it could be a gem worth the $1200 they paid for it in 2001 (but I doubt it--pianos are like accordians in that people think that what they have is worth so much money, but it isn't).

Hope that helps!

Sonata - What is the difference between moving the piano in a small vehicle, say a pick up truck, or a 24' long box truck or a semi trailer? All run on very similar tires and suspensions, all drive on the same roads. As long as the piano is securely tied down, I cannot see how the vehicle will matter that much.

Sonata - What is the difference between moving the piano in a small vehicle, say a pick up truck, or a 24' long box truck or a semi trailer? All run on very similar tires and suspensions, all drive on the same roads. As long as the piano is securely tied down, I cannot see how the vehicle will matter that much.
First of all, can a pick up truck hold that much weight concentrated in one spot? That piano in the photo could weigh up to 450 pounds or so in a 52x24-inch horizontal space.

Unless it's a dually pick up or something; I guess that could work?

The majority of pick up trucks are half ton models, Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram 1500, designed to carry 1000 lb. plus. Duallies are 3/4 ton to 1 ton, so yes, they could handle 500 lbs with ease and still be well below their carrying capacity.

But can they carry that much weight in one little spot? I don't know anything other than what fits in the trunk of my compact... :)

But can they carry that much weight in one little spot? I don't know anything other than what fits in the trunk of my compact... :)

Yes, and is it really that concentrated? The weight of the piano is spread out over all four or more contact points with the truck bed. That will not change regardless of the type of truck used. The PSI that a piano would exert is probably much less than you would exert standing on one leg in the back of the truck, say when you are walking in the bed of your truck.

Bed? Truck? Please say more. :)