What is my Player Piano worth?
Most people are under the impression that their player
piano is a valuable antique worth it's very considerable weight
in gold. 99 out of 100 instances this is never the case.
Player lifespan
Player pianos, unlike most other antiques, have a finite
lifespan beyond which they deteriorate and as they do so their
value decreases proportionately. Player pianos do not improve with age like
good wine for example. The materials the playing mechanism
is constructed from deteriorate and break down over the years.
These materials are highly specialized grades of rubber, rubberised
cloth and leather. The replacement of these materials is an extremely
skilled, manual, labour intensive and time consuming job. The
majority of player pianos are over 70 years old. Whereas earlier in their life patch-up repairs would often suffice most
instruments have now so deteriorated only major work bordering on a complete rebuild will ever
restore them to anything like their original playing condition.
The pianos themselves also show the signs of age and require
repairs to some degree. Many are
beyond economical repair when taking into account cost of restoration
against restored value.
Calculating a rough price estimate
Accordingly a good guideline is often that a non-working
player piano is worth no more than the equivalent ordinary piano
of it's age and quality. This may be hard to understand suffice
to say that a regular piano dealer will probably offer even less
than that. To the ordinary piano dealer a non-working player
piano is an unsaleable burden amongst their stock. Sadly, many
piano dealers will rather rip out the expired mechanism and
discard it as it is easier to sell a secondhand piano without a heavy player mechanism that doesn't work.
The scale of price for unrestored instruments is dependant upon
At the low end of the scale are the cheap "transfer
names" pianos, cheap pianos fitted with cheap player mechanisms and pianos fitted with player systems considered obsolete or impractical to restore. Whilst all will play satisfactorily if restored they will never be top-rate as the
pianos and the player mechanisms were only ever average at best.
Next are the instruments comprising good quality pianos fitted with good and reliable player
mechanisms.
At the top end are the reproducing pianos
with desirable player mechanisms in top quality pianos in good
condition and additionally certain other highly desirable but rare instruments.
Playing condition of instruments
Condition of any instrument affects it's price.
Often instruments are described as having been restored. Often the euphemism "restored"
means "patched -up and playing weakly" or refers to
a previous poor restoration that has actually caused damage in
the long term. As a general rule of thumb materials in the player
mechanism have a life of about 20 years before they deteriorate
to a point where replacement is advisable. Materials
deteriorate naturally even if the instrument is hardly ever played.
What constitutes the description "..plays well" is highly variable also. A player that
plays well can be pedalled easily with very little
exertion producing music soft and loud and it should be possible
to play it at an average level with just one foot pedalling at
a moderate pace. If your player doesn't do this then please don't
think that it "…still plays quite well". Once
you have played a player piano in good order you will instantly
know the difference.
There are no quick fixes for the majority of instruments,
the benefit of patching-up one component will eventually be overtaken as the
others cease to function. Most instruments which have been "partly restored" so
that they still play to some degree or are "…still playing
quite well" will, by simple virtue of the age of the materials
inside them, require major to complete rebuilding of their mechanisms
to bring them back to good working order.
Any idea of value is arbitrary in the absence of
details of any particular instrument suffice to say that clapped
out player pianos are sadly from time to time worth the precise
sum of absolutely zero and are fit only to be taken down the tip.
A good one in good cosmetic condition though not necessarily playing may
range from perhaps a few hundred pounds to a few thousand. Fully restored
instruments may range from a thousand to several thousand pounds.