Question about buying a used piano with a cracked soundboard, did I mess up?

Nancy King · 2026-09-30T03:25:03.993412+00:00

I bought a 1970s Yamaha upright two years ago for $400 on Craigslist and the seller casually mentioned "there's a little crack but it's fine." I did not know what a soundboard was at the time so I shrugged and handed over the cash. Fast forward to this winter and I noticed the low notes starting to buzz, sort of a rattle that wasn't there before, and after a tuner looked at it he said the crack had grown about 3 inches and the humidity swings in my apartment were making it worse. I panicked because I always heard a cracked soundboard means a piano is basically dead, but he told me that's mostly true for grand pianos under tension, not so much for a cheap upright like mine. He shimmed it and glued it and charged me $180, and honestly it sounds the same as before, no more buzz. Now I'm wondering if I should have walked away from the sale or if this is just normal piano ownership stuff. Has anyone here dealt with a soundboard crack that held up for years, or did yours fail eventually?

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