Piano Info & Resources

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.

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

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.

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.

The answer depends on why you need to know and how the value will be used. A piano’s value can be influenced by its condition, age, make and model, and the market in which it would be sold.
If you’re simply trying to decide what to ask for your piano in a private sale (selling it yourself), a seasoned Registered Piano Technician who is familiar with the piano market may be able to evaluate the instrument and help you determine a reasonable asking price. You can use the Piano Technicians Guild’s Find an RPT directory to locate a Registered Piano Technician in your area and ask whether they are comfortable providing this type of assistance.

If someone else will be relying on the value, such as an insurance company, attorney, accountant, court, the IRS, or another third party, you will generally need a professional appraisal prepared by a qualified, accredited appraiser.

A professional appraisal is more than an estimate of what a piano might sell for. It is a documented, well-researched, and unbiased opinion of value that may be relied upon by others to make financial, legal, tax, or insurance-related decisions. Because of that, appraisal practice requires specialized education and professional standards beyond those used in evaluating or servicing pianos.

If your situation involves insurance, estate settlement, divorce, litigation, charitable contributions, tax reporting, or another matter where others will rely on the opinion of value, search for an accredited, qualified appraiser with education and experience in professional appraisal practice.

If you're not sure which service you need, ask yourself one simple question:
"Am I trying to decide what to ask for my piano, or will someone else be relying on this value?"

The answer to that question will usually point you in the right direction.

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.

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.