My family has a vintage (early 1928) Gulbransen player piano. It was bought by the two brothers that built our cabin. They lived in it until '62 when my family bought it and it became a vacation property. We visit 4-10 times a year. so for a share of it's life it was not in a temperature controlled environment.

It is playable, and does play, although it is badly out of tune. A few of the high register key stick down, but are easy to pull back up with a finger. We never had rolls for it so didn't use the player part but nothing appears damaged or missing. An expert looked at pictures and noted it would need to be restored, and although not cheap likely worth it.

It was removed in late 2019 to make room for something else. None of us have any space for this piano. It would be a shame to see it have to go to a dump but we can't hold onto it forever.

Anyone know any piano flippers or restorers that might be interested? Maybe a collector?

The only restorer I know is in Whakatane, North Island, New Zealand and he's getting along in years (if not already dead). Sorry I can't be of help.

Do a web search on "player piano collectors" and see what you find.

flashguy

We’ve had a similar situation with trying to find a good home for an 1894 pump organ, bought new in the family, in storage now for years. May have a niece who’s interested.
Can’t give them away.

I'd imagine it's not worth much of anything. The sound board is probably warped and cracked from age and not being kept in a stable environment. I would check with these guys, however. https://antiquepianoshop.com/o...n-dickenson-company/

Mom got a 52" player piano in 1967, it did not need any restoration at all.
She looked in to upgrading it from a foot pump to electric powered.

Two restorers told her not to ,as she would never get her money out of the upgrade.

Mom died in 2012 and after two and a half years of trying to sell it, we ended up giving (donating ) it to a museum.

There is a piano restorer 14 miles away in Cambridge , Il,
If you want info about it, I can drive over and investigate.

I'm in the same boat as you, Rightwire. I still have the old, upright piano that my dad restored for me to learn on 50-something years ago. My dad never restored anything before or after, and the mahogany is still very beautiful. Besides the fact there's no market for 100+ year old upright pianos, it's difficult to get rid of something so sentimental.

The solution I've found is to restore it into a piano desk or dry bar . If you search for "Upright Piano Desks" you'll see a lot of ideas for turning your piano into a functional piece of furniture. I haven't done it yet, but that's my plan.

If you can get it restored, I'll bet there is a church or community center that would love to have it in their rec room.

flashguy