Uprights +

[pianoman]

Part of this perception is that when people ask me for advice and I tell
them you can get a great quality vertical piano for about 1/3 the price of
a grand they still say, Yes but a grand is soooo pretty.  So they wind up
getting a crappy grand at a lower than good quality grand and the great
vertical is still sitting there.  It isn't us, its' them causing this
situation why uprights are not desirable.James Grebe
R.P.T. from St. Louis
pianoman@inlink.com
"Only my best is good enough"

----------
> From: PDtek@aol.com
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re:  Uprights
> Date: Wednesday, November 05, 1997 10:21 PM
> 
> 
> In a message dated 11/6/97 1:40:08 AM, you wrote:
> 
> >Hi Ralph.
> >           I think a lot of our fraternity is missing the boat on
> >rebuilding the better quality/condition uprights. A few tips that may
help.
> 
> Fourteen years ago after reading Dr. Steven's book (yes, Mr. "Who is this
> Guy??????") I was inspired to learn the business and decided the best way
to
> start was to find an old upright in need of repair and fix it up. I
bought a
> Strohber  for $20 and suckered some friends into helping me move it. I
didn't
> really know what to look for in a piano at that point and was very
fortunate
> that it happened to be a good specimen. There was no perceptable wear in
any
> of the centers, no cracks in the bridges or soundboard, and sounded
pretty
> good with the old strings. It just looked like crap.
> 
> Fourteen years later it sits in my living room, completely rebuilt with a
> PianoDisc system installed. Under the dark, cracked finish was the most
> beautiful banded mahogony I've seen to this day, and the sound is better
than
> many small grands.
> 
> >From day one, I've heard over and over: "Don't rebuild uprights, the
cost
> will far exceed the market value." But is that really the case? I see a
web
> sight of a rebuilding company that seems to specialize in uprights,
> rebuilding them and then putting them on the showroom floor. Are people
> really paying several thousand dollars for these pianos? Have the upright
nay
> sayers been wrong all these years? When one sees just how nice a well
rebuilt
> upright can be compared to what you could buy new for the same amount of
> money, it seems logical that there would be a market for these pianos. Is
> there?
> 
> Dave Bunch