Want an upright piano? It’s kinda worse for wear having been burned by a million cigarette butts and had a lot of drinks spilt on it. It’s also out of tune, needs a good repair job and quite frankly your grandma probably has one just like it which she will give to you for free when she goes in to a nursing home. But did The Beatles play your granny’s piano? An upright piano from Abbey Road’s studio three as used by The Beatles on songs such as ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Old Brown Shoe’ is up for auction and it could fetch up to $AU250,000.
Despite its dilapidated state, the sales expert from auction house Bonhams says “This was the piano in studio three at Abbey Road. Studio one was enormous and could be used for orchestral recording; studio two was the next largest, and was where the Beatles recorded most of their output. Studio three was the smallest. The Beatles regularly used it, and we know they recorded certain songs there using the piano. It was also used by other bands, including Pink Floyd, and without its association with the studios it would be worth a very modest sum. It is a bit battered and is covered in stains and cigarette burns. It has been used and abused – but that gives it character. It still plays although it would perhaps benefit from a professional tuner having a listen.”
