# Upright piano with cracked case **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upright-piano-with-cracked-case/332263 "2005-11-22T16:30:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upright-piano-with-cracked-case/332263/1 "2005-11-22T16:30:17Z")
One of my SO’s coworkers is looking to get rid of an old upright piano. It has a crack that runs vertically down one end, just behind the keyboard.[Picture](http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c299/doebi/Picture086.jpg) Does anyone know if this will affect the sound of the piano, or is this likely to be cosmetic? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upright-piano-with-cracked-case/332263/2 "2005-11-22T16:37:47Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > Does anyone know if this will affect the sound of the piano, or is this likely to be cosmetic? Oh, it definitely _will_ affect the sound to some extent, but whether the effect is negative or positive is unpredictable, without hearing it. It can probably be repaired to some extent, if you’re willing to invest some money in it, but from the looks of it, I don’t think the sound will be too bad. Try it and see if you can hear any buzzing-type sounds, which would be caused by loose bits vibrating in resonance. If not, I’d say it’s a keeper. As long as the sound is reasonably clean, the exact tonal quality isn’t terribly important, unless you’re an uptight purist.