"New" old uprights Costs

[Richard Brekne]

Ahhh... here we go arguing sematics again.. rebuilt can and does mean several
things and just because someone doesnt put the term "completely" in front of it
by no means disqualifies a job from being termed rebuilt. Rebuilt can mean
"rebuilding what ever needs rebuilding" and nothing more, or It can mean
completely rebuilt, as in "taking absolutely everything out of the case and
putting a new piano inside it"

As for discouraging that or not.. hey to each his own. Personally I like old
cases and lean towards making them very playable (whatever that takes) and
refinishing them with French Polish. Old casework has a value of its own and can
be made to look very beautiful indeed. Even with a few knicks and bumps in the
woodwork. French polish has a way of even making those look nice, indeed one
could say even appropriate given the fact that the case is old.

I have no trouble at all envisioning a "rebuild" job for around 7500 dollars, tho
as Wim points out thats a bit on the low side for what he terms as a complete
rebuild. I would expect that the job was specified as to what was and wasnt done.
In the end tho Wim... if the piano is worth that to a customer, and defensible
from a technical point of view (personal type prejudice taken out of the picture
mind you) then whats the beef ??

Wimblees@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 5/6/00 10:04:57 AM Central Daylight Time, Kdivad@AOL.COM
> writes:
>
> << First, if he is ripping off his then so are you!  He does at least as much
>  work as you listed for $6993 and the customer is getting a piano in the
>  bargain.
>
> The $6993 is what it would cost a customer to do what is listed. I have never
> charged that much to a customer to rebuild an upright piano, because I try to
> discourage that kind of thing.
>
> In your previous post you said "If someone wants to sell an upright
>  that has been completely rebuilt, for $7500, he is either not doing
>  everything necessary, or he is cheating himself."  Now you are saying for
>  that kind of money you expect the piano to be completely rebuilt.  Which is
>  it?
>
> Which does he do, completely rebuild the piano for $7500, or sell if for
> $7500 claiming it has been rebuilt, when in actuality it hasn't? If he is not
> completely rebuilding it, then he should say so. If he is completely
> rebuilding, but only charging $7500, then he is cheating himself.
>
> Willem

--
Richard Brekne
Associate PTG, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway