Piano Info & Resources

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Frequently Asked Questions About Pianos

Finding the Serial Number...

Pianos almost always have a serial number somewhere. They can be in unusual places and this page shows some of the places to find the serial number. Dates that are cast into the plate of a piano are dates when the company was founded and not dates for the particular piano. You are usually looking for a 5 or 6 digit number. Some piano have other numbers stamped on them that are used in the manufacturing process. For European pianos, Bill Kibby in England has better information than we do at Piano Gen. There is a fee for some of his services

Grand Pianos

The most common place on a grand piano is stamped on the plate in the V shaped area between the tenor and the bass sections of the plate or at the treble end.

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Sometimes the number is stamped in the soundboard under the strings.

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Kimball pianos sometimes have the serial number in a hard-to-find place stamped on the back edge of the keybed. This is looking from the tail end of the piano.

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Upright Pianos

Uprights usually have the serial number stamped on the plate near the top of the piano or stamped in a window in the plate.

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How much is my piano worth?

Please don't ask us to give you a value for your piano. The value of a piano depends on so many variables that we can't give you a value over the internet. You need to have a technician look at the condition of the piano. The condition of the pinblock is crucial. If it is in good shape and holds the tuning pins tightly the piano may have many years of life left. If the pinblock is bad and the tuning pins slip the piano may not be tunable and the repairs could easily be more expensive than the value of the piano. This could mean that the piano is worth nearly nothing. Also local markets can be quite variable for used pianos. Finding a technician who knows the local market will give you a much better estimate of the value. We provide a list of Registered Piano Technicians in the Piano Technicians Guild.

How do I find a piano technician?

Our searchable database of Registered Piano Technicians is available to help you find a technician near you. Registered Piano Technicians have passed a series of exams given by their peers to prove basic competency in tuning, action regulation, and repairs. The Registered Technician page describes this in more detail.

Questions about playing the piano...

The Piano Page is a site by the Piano Technicians Guild. As such, we are basically piano technicians, not teachers. Our expertise is related to piano construction, servicing and repair. Find links to sites that can help you find out more about learning to play the piano.

How do I learn to be a piano technician?

The Piano Technicians Guild is an organization of professional piano technicians. While we are not a school to teach beginners we provide lots of seminars about piano service. These are listed on the coming events page. We also have compiled a list of training resources. These include residential schools, correspondence courses, and individual training. The Piano Technicians Guild does not endorse schools but we provide this list of them for your information.

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This is not a list for piano technicians to ask technical questions. Please visit our Pianotech Community to discuss technical issues.