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I completed this project a few years ago, but am posting in case it is of interest to someone.
My family has an old piano, circa 1870's, with a nice rosewood veneer finish. It's the piano I learned to play on as a young boy. Over the years the pegboard has worn out, and it is unable to keep its tune... even when tuned a few half-tones flat of normal.
So, I bought a digital piano, took it apart, and installed it inside the cabinet of the old piano. There was some soldering involved (to extend the wiring from the keyboard to the control panel), and a few little puzzles that challenged me along the way, but for the most part it was a smooth project.
Everything is removable, so I can take out the components and work on them if need be. It sounds great. And, we've had it turned on continuously for the past five years without a problem.
Here are some pix of the various stages of the project:
I pulled out all the old keys as well as their rocker mechanisms. I numbered them, just in case I ever decide to reassemble the original piano. The keys are ivory, as you would expect with an old piano. Interestingly, this caused me problems in trying to move the piano from my grandmother's house in B.C. across the border. You're not allowed to transport ivory across the border without a special permit.
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Each key, and many of the wooden parts of the piano, are stamped with the initials of the craftsmen who shaped the pieces and assembled the piano. Some of the pieces were clearly shaped by hand... very impressive to me.
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I had to remove the hammer mechanism to make room for the electronics. Fortunately, that entire construction is designed to lift right out of the piano. I sawed the control panel in half and re-arranged it and the electronics onto a frame of 1/4" plywood. The configuration results in the built-in speakers pointing toward the front of the cabinet, and the various buttons being accessible from the top of the cabinet.
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I made a little plywood frame for the on/off switch, which is hidden underneath the hinged flip-top of the piano cabinet. None of the electronic components are visible from the outside of the piano - I wanted this to continue to look like an 1880s rosewood piano.
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The damper mechanism was the most complex part to figure out, and I ended up with a bit of a Rube Goldberg solution. I wanted to use the original pedals, so I attached a plunger (of dowels and metal rod) to the pedal rocker, and had the plunger strike the switch on the digital piano's circuit board that activates the damper. The result is that the pedal action feels exactly the same as it did with the original piano.
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The finished piano with the keyboard laid in. It also has headphone jacks hidden under the keyboard. We often have the girls practice with the headphones on so we can drink our morning coffee in peace. We know that this is bad of us.
Sometimes we also connect the headphone jacks to a set of external speakers, and the sound surprises most people with its fullness and richness.
![]()
The digital piano is a Kawai. When it gives up, I want to replace it with one of the newer Roland models, which have unbelievable touch and sound quality.
My family has an old piano, circa 1870's, with a nice rosewood veneer finish. It's the piano I learned to play on as a young boy. Over the years the pegboard has worn out, and it is unable to keep its tune... even when tuned a few half-tones flat of normal.
So, I bought a digital piano, took it apart, and installed it inside the cabinet of the old piano. There was some soldering involved (to extend the wiring from the keyboard to the control panel), and a few little puzzles that challenged me along the way, but for the most part it was a smooth project.
Everything is removable, so I can take out the components and work on them if need be. It sounds great. And, we've had it turned on continuously for the past five years without a problem.
Here are some pix of the various stages of the project:
I pulled out all the old keys as well as their rocker mechanisms. I numbered them, just in case I ever decide to reassemble the original piano. The keys are ivory, as you would expect with an old piano. Interestingly, this caused me problems in trying to move the piano from my grandmother's house in B.C. across the border. You're not allowed to transport ivory across the border without a special permit.
Each key, and many of the wooden parts of the piano, are stamped with the initials of the craftsmen who shaped the pieces and assembled the piano. Some of the pieces were clearly shaped by hand... very impressive to me.
I had to remove the hammer mechanism to make room for the electronics. Fortunately, that entire construction is designed to lift right out of the piano. I sawed the control panel in half and re-arranged it and the electronics onto a frame of 1/4" plywood. The configuration results in the built-in speakers pointing toward the front of the cabinet, and the various buttons being accessible from the top of the cabinet.
I made a little plywood frame for the on/off switch, which is hidden underneath the hinged flip-top of the piano cabinet. None of the electronic components are visible from the outside of the piano - I wanted this to continue to look like an 1880s rosewood piano.
The damper mechanism was the most complex part to figure out, and I ended up with a bit of a Rube Goldberg solution. I wanted to use the original pedals, so I attached a plunger (of dowels and metal rod) to the pedal rocker, and had the plunger strike the switch on the digital piano's circuit board that activates the damper. The result is that the pedal action feels exactly the same as it did with the original piano.
The finished piano with the keyboard laid in. It also has headphone jacks hidden under the keyboard. We often have the girls practice with the headphones on so we can drink our morning coffee in peace. We know that this is bad of us.
Sometimes we also connect the headphone jacks to a set of external speakers, and the sound surprises most people with its fullness and richness. 
The digital piano is a Kawai. When it gives up, I want to replace it with one of the newer Roland models, which have unbelievable touch and sound quality.
