>Jack: >Would you come up here and have a chat with a few of my clients? One of the >hardest "arguments" is the durability/stability of old well-preserved wood, >the vintage vs. new argument. >PR-J Realistically, I think this is issue is overblown. Sure if a customer has a top quality grand, it's often times worth rebuilding. Many times with a average quality grand the costs simply do not pan out. Couple the normal sentimentality of the piano tuner with their old piano and the financial interest that the tuner advising them has and you come up with arguments like above. Too often I've heard from customers that have been told that "if you rebuild this piano it will be worth $XX,XXX." Of course often times it's not worth a fraction of that. Sure, the sentimentality with some pianos warrants putting in more than what it's worth but if we're advising people, the advice should be balanced with a dose of reality. As to the durability of old well-preserved wood vs. new; hmmm, guess it depends on how old, in what condition, what's been done, what's not going to be done and what NEW is being compared. Is the action being rebuilt, the soundboard replaced, etc.? If it's a decent quality grand they have and they're considering a low end new grand from China, that's one thing, if the customer is considering putting $15-20,000 into a 5'-5'7" grand, that's another. -- Glenn Grafton Grafton Piano & Organ Co. 1081 County Line Rd. Souderton PA 18964 http://www.graftonpiano.com/ glenn@graftonpiano.com 800-272-5980 The box said "Requires Windows 95, or better." So I bought a Macintosh.
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