John Spencer & Co. Upright 46181

[hb83]

Hi there,
Would anyone be able to give me some information or advice on a John Spencer & Co. piano please? Its' serial number is 46181 which I'm guessing is roughly 1905-1910ish (I have no idea!) and it has a letter D under the name inside on the side. C522 is also marked on the frame inside but it looks handwritten. We were given the piano for free but it is very out of tune. We don't have a big budget so I'm wondering whether we can get away with just tuning it or whether it would really benefit from some restoration and how much that sort of thing costs (again, I have no idea). I can't tell what type of wood it is or what the keys are made of but they are not ivory. Some of the keys are chipped. I've tried to add photos but technology fails me! Could anyone help please? Many thanks

[chrisw]

One method of attaching photographs would be to copy the pictures into Google Documents and then paste the URL into your post.

[Bill Kibby]

Spencer's output around the late 1800s and early 1900s was huge, and I have more listings for enquiries about his surviving pianos than any other make. The number suggests that it was made in 1906, so your guesstimate was good. D is just a model.
Recent changes in software on this website have made it more difficult to attach photos, it is not your failure, and Chris's description goes over my head! If you put the photos in your Pictures folder you should be able to attach them from here.
With regard to tuning and repairs, we can't advise you from here, you need to bring in a local tuner to assess the job, and with a piano of that age, there is no guarantee that it will even hold in tune, especially if it has been in the sun, or next to a radiator.

[chrisw]

"Google Documents" is more or less just a word and image processor that you can find on the web. You can type in words or copy in a picture. When finished there is a command on the side menu to enable the document to be published to the web. This merely gives it an internet address (the URL) which can be copied and pasted into forum posts. (It is best to copy and paste the URL because they are long and are filled with seemingly random characters.)
I used this method to create this post.
https://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-foru ... 203#p68203