long term piano storage

[Anne Acker]

I deal with pianos kept on their sides regularly.   I have never experienced a problem with pianos being shipped even cross country.   On the other hand, pianos stored for six months to a year always seem to need regulation.  Whether that is related to the storage on their sides, or climatic variations and transportation is debatable.

For long term storage on a piano's side, just because it seems more prudent, I remove the action and store it flat (and labeled!) on a rack of shelves built for this purpose, and for storage during case restoration.    I cover them with a sheet of light paper to let them breathe but keep the worst of dust off them.  This seems to work very well.  

I recently restored a piano that had evidently been stored for years on one side.  The action was old enough that it would be difficult to gauge the effect on the flange bushings or dampers.  On the other hand, the hammers were all filthy, just on one side, the clear evidence it had been stored for a very long time.  

Anne

Anne Beetem Acker
Historic Keyboard Specialist