In the last week or so I have worked on 3 or 4 'BIRDCAGE' action pianos. This type of action design is Victorian and was used on 'budget' end pianos. It's correct term is 'OVERDAMPER' and is recognised by the series of vertical rods (hence 'birdcage'). Many tuners take one look at these and walk away. They ARE difficult to tune, because the strings are very inaccessible, but with modern electronic tuning devices it is possible to get a decent tuning on them. As long as the piano is structurally sound and the pinblock holds the tuning pins well, there is no reason to condemn these pianos. I can still bring them back to life!