Post by @inthehands@hachyderm.io

2026-10-24 23:39 UTC

Beware of any and all “free” pianos, which often need so much work they are actually $-2000 pianos. You can hire a piano technician to take a look at a piano and assess its condition. It’s a really good idea to do this. A piano that seems hopelessly broken might have a problem that can be fixed in half an hour; a piano that seems OK might have a serious problem that is beyond help. A technician can tell the difference pretty quickly. 3/ #piano

Replies (3)

@inthehands@hachyderm.io 2026-10-24 23:41

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever attempt to move a piano yourself. Hire piano movers — not just movers, but •piano• movers. The potential damage to humans and houses is so much larger than the extra cost of hiring the right person for the job, there’s just no comparison. I don’t care if you did it before and didn’t die. I don’t care if the movers seem really strong though. Don’t. The Piano Book goes in depth about this with some (true!) horror stories. I’m just surfacing it because it’s such an easy mistake to make, and because “preventable safety hazard!” is one of my favorite genres. 4/ #piano

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@mattly@hachyderm.io 2026-10-25 17:07

@inthehands@hachyderm.io we accepted a piano that came with our house and while I didn’t hire someone to fix it I did use a tuning app for a rough check before we agreed to take it; And yet, seven years later and with no regrets, “free as in piano” is something I understand now intuitively and deeply; we were incredibly lucky with it

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@BabblingGeek@infosec.exchange 2026-10-25 17:26

@inthehands@hachyderm.io my adopted piano was very sad when I got it, but after about two months in my house it was almost fully in tune -without anyone touching it- turns out previous owner moving it from house, to storage pod, to house had just messed up its humidity or something. I knew enough to let it sit before attempting work on it, but I was shocked at the difference just letting it sit had.

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