acoustic upright piano removal/handling advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter _brian_
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_brian_

_brian_

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I guess this is the best place to ask this question. A little background;

I would love an acoustic upright piano, I live in a third floor flat and would normally go for a high end hammer action keyboard for ease of moving. The problem is though I can't afford a keyboard. I could buy a decent acoustic piano for £200 tops, it might sound pretty crappy but at least I can work on technique with it, there is no way I could find a keyboard that comes anywhere near the feel of a real piano for a couple hundred pound.

So I'm stuck with trying to get an upright into my flat. The stairs are fairly wide but the piano would have to be manuvered round a tight corner. The only way I can see this happening is if the piano were to be turned on one side - or lifted at shoulder hieght :eek: a bit too heavy for that I think. Is there any way of getting this to work? Is there anything else I could do? I've heard there are smaller sized uprights available but I still think it would have to be tipped on it's side - and I really would need to know the dimentions of a smaller upright to gauge it's manouverability.

Cheers :o
 
Is it really worth it?

I mean, halfway through moving said piano into place your going to be wondering why you didnt go for a keyboard. How about this:

http://www.rockingrooster.co.uk/product_info.php?PID=2578

or

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=ST00722

I would question how good a £200 upright would sound. As in, is it even worth buying compared to the alternatives?

My stage piano cost £400 which is out of your price range. Its a Casio PX310. I would recommend it if you could find it on ebay.
 
No electronic keyboard has the touch of a real piano, even an upright. Much better to practice on a real piano.

As far as getting it up the stairs, you just need a bunch of really strong guys who know how to move a piano. I'd say four *really* big strong guys.

It could also quite possibly go in a window, but that's a whole operation and you definitely need expertise and equipment to so that.

I've had my grand piano go up stairs, in and out windows on upper floors, elevators, you name it.

You need to measure the piano and the access route to be sure it will fit, and then arrange for four strong fellows with piano moving expertise to get it up into your apartment. If you need measurements, go to a piano store and measure a few of their uprights--that will give you an idea.
 
If you hire it done, get a moving company that specializes in pianos. It really makes a difference to get people that know what they are doing.
 
I have a large upright - which is considered an "upright grand". The first time I moved it I had 3 friends (a total of 4 of us) - and a couple of us had a lot of practise hauling Hammond organs. But it was still a very tough move (and we went from 1st floor to 1st floor). The next time I move it, I hired professional movers (with experiance hauling pianos). They put some moving "straps" on that puppy and moved it pretty easy.

I'm sure a spinet would be much easier to move (even with stairs) - and with "straps" the job could be relatively easy. However, while I agree hiring professional movers would make sense - given that you only want to spend 200 pound for the piano, you could spend close to that for the movers.

I don't know what the conversion rate is, but the last time I paid to have my piano moved (about 4 years ago) it cost me about $150.
 

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