DRIVEN PINS!

Tuning pins are really just big screws with strange heads and hundreds of tight little threads that you can't see.  They're driven through the iron frame into a piece of wood (that you also can't see) called a pin block.

Tunings pins and the pin block into which they are driven are responsible for maintaining up to 20 TONS of relentless pressure...for decades.  With age and/or environmental abuse, the pin block eventually deteriorates, preventing the tuning pins from holding the proper tension.  Claims of "It's never been used" by the owner really have little or NO bearing on the piano's ability to hold a tune.  In fact, such statements also usually mean it's never been tuned.  And THAT'S not good either.

When tuning pins become loose, they can either exist with no visible signs of being loose, or they can be driven in by a technician to grip more of the pin block -- like you see here.  Notice how the two circled pins are deeply seated into the iron frame?  In the event they're still loose or again become loose, there's nowhere for them to go now.  More importantly, others pins will likely soon join their neighbors in pursuit of fresh wood.  This represents Money Pit Example #2.

The tightness of tuning pins can only be measured by a qualified technician.  Technicians can actually take a ft/lbs torque reading  which is almost like a life expectancy test for tuning pin stability.  No technician would ever guarantee their results however, because once the piano is placed in a different home with, say, drier conditions, the wooden pin block can shrink juuuuuusssst enough to loosen up those tuning pins and change the reading entirely.  This is why a warranty is so important to used piano purchasers.

Repinning or stringing a piano-- or worse yet, replacing a pin block-- can run into the thousands of dollars.  It is for this reason that Cordogan's euthanizes countless pianos every year due to cost prohibitive nature of repinning, restringing and rebuilding.

Lastly, other fatal tuning pin afflictions can occur that aren't shown here.  This Basket Case selfishly only shared one during deposition.  Perhaps another ring leader will soon be captured, allowing us to photograph and share other data involving tuning pin deterioration strategies of Basket Cases.