Hi everyone, This baby grand is in rough shape, it has been stored in a very humid area for a few months (best guess). I ended up with it to use to learn about grands. The strings will all have to be replaced as they are rusted the whole length of the string. I did find it curious though that the base strings did not seem to suffer this fate. In the base the strings are clean and shiny at the hitch pins and the tuning pins. Since I can't see under the windings though and judging from the other strings I have decided to replace them anyway. Heck I need to learn to size and replace them sometime. Interestingly though, the action appears in great shape. The springs and hinge pins do not appear to have any rust on them what so ever. In fact all of the metal parts of the action are still clean and shiny. I also do not see any warping of the hammer shafts. A few of the keys stick down when you push them. This may be humidity damage or the remainder of the junk that didn't fall out from under them when we moved the piano. The harp is in good shape but the gold color is quite dull like in an old upright. The cabinet does not have any vaneer comming loose or damaged nor any scratches to speak of. The sound board and bridges do not have any cracks. Inspection of the action reveals that this piano has hardly been played. From what I can tell so far, the humidity definitly rusted the strings and probably caused the staining of the sound board. I am not really sure yet what else it may have effected. I am looking for some suggestions for cleaning the sound board. Can I remove all of the strings at once since I have to replace them anyway. What is the best cleaning agent to use on the soundboard. Is there any hope for restoring a decent color tone to the harp without having to remove and refinish it. I am not currently set up for something like that. I realize this piano is probably a junker but from a learning standpoint, it is needs a lot of work that I have til now put off learning how to do. With it being a baby grand, it will give me the chance to learn on one in the privacy of my shop without damaging someone elses. Even if the piano ends up in the burn pile, I want to do everything I can to it to take full advantage of the learning opportunity. Judy
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