Steve Haynie Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Storage unit customers often leave trash for me to clean up. This time someone left behind a piano in their storage unit. It needs to go. The piano is a Sterling with a serial number dating it to 1897. It is located in Easley, South Carolina, about halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte. Anyone who wants it can have it. It is free. No charge. Take it. The condition is near mint except it has a few dings and has been refin-ed with gray paint that has been worn through on one corner. Somebody wrote a "C" on one of the keys, and some of the keys have chips in the ivory. One of the pedals broke off. It could use a tuning, but that just adds to the mojo. Other than those minor issues the piano is definitely near mint and a real collectors item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 bottlerocket Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Good luck getting rid of that. There are about 50 free pianos near me. You may do better renting a storage space, dropping it off and letting the rent lapse...oh, wait. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shark Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I have a Kohler and Campbell upright that I've tried to give away for years. I'm having it torn down and the "harp" will be poached for a cool wall-art display. The guy is going to powder coat the harp and the strings will be cleaned. Heavy though. Good luck. Most people have to pay to have them "taken away"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said: The condition is near mint except it has a few dings and has been refin-ed with gray paint that has been worn through on one corner. Somebody wrote a "C" on one of the keys, and some of the keys have chips in the ivory. One of the pedals broke off. It could use a tuning, but that just adds to the mojo. Other than those minor issues the piano is definitely near mint and a real collectors item. First thing I wondered was whether the key marked with "C" was actually a C key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kizanski Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 2 minutes ago, mrjamiam said: First thing I wondered was whether the key marked with "C" was actually a C key. And then the inevitable disappointment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 2 minutes ago, kizanski said: And then the inevitable disappointment. Probably led to the abandonment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kizanski Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 1 minute ago, mrjamiam said: Probably led to the abandonment. What 19th century music room features a grey piano with mislabeled keys? The back story has to be much more entertaining than any of the music that remains within that instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 The person who left it called me and said he was having a local charity pick it up. The particular charity uses people in rehab to do the grunt work. This might be fun to watch when they realize they cannot just pick it up. Something I have wondered about is whether someone could salvage wood from an old piano to make other instruments. @The Shark you might want to consider a new project with the old wood from your piano if the case was made of mahogany or maple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 2 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said: The person who left it called me and said he was having a local charity pick it up. The particular charity uses people in rehab to do the grunt work. This might be fun to watch when they realize they cannot just pick it up. Something I have wondered about is whether someone could salvage wood from an old piano to make other instruments. @The Shark you might want to consider a new project with the old wood from your piano if the case was made of mahogany or maple. Speaking of salvage, the ivory might be of interest to someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 You can actually buy legal elephant ivory. If someone needs ivory for a restoration project it is possible to buy it, but age matching the look and feel might be a problem. African countries catch poachers, kill them on the spot, and keep the ivory tusks. They sell the seized ivory for a price lower than the black market, but not in quantities for anyone to create an industry of genuine ivory products. They still have poachers, but criminals never plan on getting caught. The legal ivory is probably as hard or harder to get across international borders than Indian rosewood. No one is going to ship an old piano across the ocean anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 What are you asking for the red tennies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Just now, DaveH said: What are you asking for the red tennies? I will trade even for a clean pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchee Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Are you sure that the keys have genuine ivory facings, or is it celluloid or another form of imitation ivory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamerCustomEr Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 47 minutes ago, crunchee said: Are you sure that the keys have genuine ivory facings, or is it celluloid or another form of imitation ivory? Considering the age of the piano, I would be fairly certain that the keys are real ivory keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 7 minutes ago, HamerCustomEr said: Considering the age of the piano, I would be fairly certain that the keys are real ivory keys. Also, looks like the "grain" that ivory has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchee Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 1 hour ago, HamerCustomEr said: Considering the age of the piano, I would be fairly certain that the keys are real ivory keys. I'm not so sure, celluloid's been around since well before 1897: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/once-upon-time-exploding-billiard-balls-were-everyday-thing-180962751/ 59 minutes ago, mrjamiam said: Also, looks like the "grain" that ivory has. You mean, also like the 'Ivoroid' binding that Hamer used to use? Quote from Wikipedia, under 'Uses': "Celluloid is useful for producing cheaper jewellery, jewellery boxes, hair accessories and many items that would earlier have been manufactured from ivory, horn or other expensive animal products. It was often referred to as "Ivorine" or "French Ivory". For this use, a form of celluloid was developed in France that had lines in it to make it resemble ivory. It was also used for dressing table sets, dolls, picture frames, charms, hat pins, buttons, buckles, stringed instrument parts,accordions, fountain pens, cutlery handles and kitchen items. The main disadvantage the material had was that it was flammable. It was soon overtaken by Bakelite and Catalin. Table tennis balls were made from celluloid until 2014.". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celluloid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 52 minutes ago, crunchee said: You mean, also like the 'Ivoroid' binding that Hamer used to use? Hey, I'm a stranger on the internet - respect my authori-ty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchee Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 BTW, this Brittanica link was buried in the Smithsonian article about Celluloid, referring to John Wesley Hyatt, Celluloid's developer: The Hyatts concentrated on forming celluloid into sheets, rods, and other unfinished shapes, usually leaving their fabrication into practical objects to licensed companies such as the Celluloid Brush Company, the Celluloid Waterproof Cuff and Collar Company, and the Celluloid Piano Key Company. https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wesley-Hyatt Celluloid and piano keys is also mentioned in the Wikipedia-equivalent article on Hyatt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Hyatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shark Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 11 hours ago, Steve Haynie said: The person who left it called me and said he was having a local charity pick it up. The particular charity uses people in rehab to do the grunt work. This might be fun to watch when they realize they cannot just pick it up. Something I have wondered about is whether someone could salvage wood from an old piano to make other instruments. @The Shark you might want to consider a new project with the old wood from your piano if the case was made of mahogany or maple. Beautiful mahogany, but nothing that is large enough to do anything with. I guess someone could do a mahogany top, but there's nothing thick enough for a body or neck. The stool is what I'm saving. Using it under a cool old desk I found at an estate sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veatch Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 The fact that the keys are in two pieces (front and back - seam is at where the black keys end...) would mean they are likely ivory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 bottlerocket Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 There’s a simple test to tell genuine ivory. Heat up a needle to the point until it’s red hot then pricking one of the keys. If the needle goes in it’s plastic. If not it’s most likely ivory, or maybe bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliparla Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 If you find out the keys are Celluloid you can try to pass this useful info to future owners, for example writing a big C on one of them. Wait a minute... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 The keys look like ivory to me. The wear is what gives it away. It does not show up in photos that well, but you can feel it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshoowah Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 As for wood that can be salvaged for other instruments, as someone with a few acoustics and an archtop under his belt, I'd suggest seriously looking at the soundboard before worrying about the case, which is likely a combination of solid and veneered material. The spruce used on piano soundboards is often the very best on offer, and this piece has decades of resonating already under its belt. Soundboards don't go bad from overuse! They do crack from moving and improper storage, but they're still big and thick enough that good material can be recovered. Even as bracing material, that's gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menehune Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 I have a circa 1920 player piano mouldering in my (dry) 1940's garage, salvaged from my parent's basement romper room some 20 years ago. All the 'dress wood' is veneered. The key faces appeared to be ivory when I had to disassemble the keyboard (and some other protuberances) just to jockey the thing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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