Cable Piano Value – Assessing a Cable Piano’s Worth

If you’re interested in buying a Cable piano, and you’re curious about knowing the Cable piano value for a specific model in particular, you’re in luck.  Not only will this article break down how to examine a Cable piano’s true worth, but we’ll showcase a handful of examples of Cable piano’s selling on the market to give you a better idea of how well they’re valued.

Cable Piano Value – What is a Cable Piano Worth?

We will cover how you can determine the worth of a Cable piano a little later.  But for now, I wanted to first jump into a few real world examples of what these pianos are selling for on the open market.

1) The first piano we might consider is a Cable Upright piano manufactured in 1973 and selling for $2,799.99 out of Piano Distributors in Atlanta, Georgia. From the picture, it looks to be in very good condition, at least aesthetically—I can’t see any marks or nicks from the photo, the keys seem to be in good condition, and it appears to have been recently cleaned. Although a few decades will cause some depreciation to the value, as long as the sound is of good quality and nothing is wrong with the inside, I’d say this price is definitely reasonable. 

2) Similar to a console, a spinet is another favorite for affordable, smaller pianos for the home. One such piano, a Satin Walnut Cable Spinet, is selling for a similar price to the Upright above, at $2,500. According to the serial number listed and serial number lookup service, the piano was probably manufactured around 1972.

This would make sense, in terms of comparable price, since the Upright listed above was manufactured just one year later. The few hundred-dollar deficit between the two is probably due to the value of a spinet versus an upright (a spinet is usually going to be a bit less expensive) and may include some wear and tear that you’d likely expect for a piano that’s about fifty years old.

3) A Cable Console, a satin walnut in “very good” condition, is now selling for $1,700. It does look to be in good condition, though there is no date listed with the product information.  What you’ll notice here is that the price was originally more expensive at $2,300.  This is a good example to showcase the fact that, if you’re willing to be patient (or willing to submit an offer that a piano seller is open to accepting), you can get a Cable piano at the value that you most desire.

4) Through Linton Milano, based in Arizona, another Cable Console piano is selling for $1,495. It looks like it has some general wear and tear and could do with a polish, but it doesn’t seem to have any large-scale blemishes or damage, and the keys seem to be in good condition. Although the manufacture date and serial number is unknown, this is a reasonable price for an older piano, especially a console, made to be more affordable and smaller for the home.

5) The final upright Cable Nelson piano we’ll look at—a Satin Cherry upright piano from 2005—actually does not have an attached price. However, I think this is an excellent opportunity to estimate the price of a newer piano that has not yet been affected by depreciation.

From the photo, it looks to be in very good condition. Additionally, since it is fairly new, the strings will not have unwound much unless something significantly damaging has occurred inside. Factoring in age, lack of visible damage, brand, and sound quality, I would price this piano at about $3,000-$4,000. 

If you want to get a closer look at what a Cable Nelson can look like, check out this video below:

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Cable Grand Piano Value

Now, a Cable Grand Piano is going to be worth much more than an upright or baby grand, as grand pianos are always going to be much larger than any of their counterparts.  So let’s examine one quick example to see how much a grand piano by Cable is selling for on the open market.

1) Through the Alamo Music Center, there’s a Cable and Sons Satin Mahogany Grand Piano (manufactured sometime between 1885 and 1890), selling for $7,000. Although this seems like (and is) a great deal of money, it seems low for a fully restored piano of this quality. This makes me think that, although some restoration work has been done to preserve the sound and feel, the piano is largely as it was when manufactured.

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What is a Cable Piano Worth?

Overall, if you’re looking for a numerical value to apply to your Cable piano, a reasonable price for anything before the 1980s is going to be anywhere between $500 and $6,000.  This factors in age, possible restoration, piano type, and brand recognition. 

Brand Recognition

As we’ve seen, the value of a Cable piano can vary greatly depending on many factors. Age and depreciation are two of the most influential, though condition and material also play key roles. Brand recognition, as well, is a factor that is often forgotten. Although Cable is a quality piano brand, other brands like Kawai and Steinway and Sons have such illustrious histories that just the recognition of their name is going to add to the value. 

For example, comparable to the Cable and Sons Satin Mahogany Grand Piano above, a Steinway and Sons Satin Mahogany Grand Piano is selling for nearly $15,000 at Alamo Music Center. Although the quality could very well be higher than the Cable and Sons, the difference in price is almost certainly due, at least partially, to the name of Steinway and Sons. 

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Other Factors that Affect Piano Value

Some other factors to consider, as stated, are age and depreciation, condition, sound quality, and the material used. Age is not something that can be reversed or “fixed,” of course, but the accompanying depreciation and the overall condition of the piano can be fixed by restoration. 

I will say that if you’re looking to sell, restoration may not be your best option, depending on how much work needs to be done. For example, if you have a piano that plays very well but needs some cosmetic work to sell, that would be a fairly easy restoration and probably give you some money back at the end of everything.

However, a piano that requires a great deal of work on the inside is going to cost much more to fix. Restoring the actual mechanics of a piano takes long hours and excruciatingly precise work, and by the time it’s restored well enough to sell for a high price, you may end up losing money. Still, restoration is definitely something to consider if you’re looking to sell your piano.

The type of materials used—usually the type of wood—also plays a role in the inherent value of any piano, no matter the condition. More expensive pianos are going to be made out of mahogany wood, which elicits a lovely brown-red color that can be eye-catching, ebony, which is usually what we think of when we consider traditional grand pianos, and ivory (usually fake ivory).

More affordable pianos may be made out of oak, pine, spruce, etc. Other eye-catching wood, such as cherrywood and walnut, may be somewhere in the middle in terms of price.

Finally, sound quality matters quite a bit. Even if the piano is in very good condition, both cosmetically and on its interior, potential buyers are almost always going to be turned off if the sound quality is poor, especially if they haven’t been around pianos for very long or do not yet have a trained ear.

As long as nothing is wrong with the mechanics, sound quality (usually the notes being out of tune because of small shifts to the string’s pressure) can be fixed easily with a tuning. Although tunings may be expensive, it’s worth it to help sell a piano.

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How Do I Know What the Value Is?

It’s easy to look at all of these separate factors and determine answers, but it can be difficult for a novice to put all of these answers together and reach a conclusive number for a Cable piano’s value. It may be worth using pianos being sold online as references, if you’d like to try to do it yourself. However, there is always the option of having it appraised.

Appraisals are sometimes done for free, but some can charge anywhere between $50 and $500, depending on the amount of detail you’d like. An experienced appraiser will probably test out the piano, examine the inside, note the brand and the approximate date, and give you an estimate based on all of these factors. I would strongly advise that you not have any potential buyers appraise your piano, as they may try to give you a lower number than your piano’s actual worth.

Appraisers will, in most cases, come to your home or wherever the piano is, and a thorough appraisal usually takes less than an hour. Although they may not be able to give you one specific number, they’ll be able to give you a price range that will tell you the approximate value of your piano. 

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Conclusion

All pianos have several different dimensions of value that affect their overall worth, and assessing the true Cable piano value is no different. Whether it’s due to age, longtime wear and tear, or perhaps a fabulous restoration that was recently completed, it’s important to know all of the various factors that can influence a piano’s true worth.