an 1881 or 1882 6 foot Steinway Grand for restoration.: <<
in need (mostly) of a complete action rebuild, dampers, a pin block, stringing, and key tops. <<
You may find that re-engineering needed to use modern parts on this action is needed. It is all doable with rail movement, but is no place for a beginner to start their learning curve, (unless it doesn't need to be commercially viable project)
>>The scale seems to be very good, judging by my Tunelab tuning curve, and the sustain is pretty good, too. Soundboard has no serious cracks and I did find crown measured in a couple of locations. Downbearing everywhere on each bridge, too. <<
You may have found one of the "magic" Steinways that still have a tonally responsive soundboard after more than 70 years. It seems to me that that occurs in about one out of ten Steinways. I imagine it is a rare combination of design, care of construction, materials, enviroment, but, for whatever reason, it is not the norm.
Dead Steinway boards often have a boomy bass and short-lived sustain in the fifth octave. Does this piano have a nice balance of power from bass through treble without having to rely on excessive brilliance in the fifth octave (that often will disguise a lack of fuller tone in this area)?
Some of these pianos could benefit from a better scale. I think it was Al Sanderson who told me, after I had him look at an early scale, "They sure learned a lot about pianos after they built this one".
>>Should I make an offer?
Hell YES!
<<whaddaya think? worth a venture? or should I stay away from it?
Depends on what you are trying to do. Better know your market if you are going to performance level. There are people out there that will spend $45K for a beautifully restored model, but not as many as before. In the bigger cities, with established restorers, these figures can be higher. There will always be the $10-15K market for dreadfully "restored" Steinways, it seems. Most of these are originally or poorly strung, new keytops and a refinishing. That's all. <sigh> Somewhere in between is where most of the action is.
I have been seen an average cost of $1,000 per foot for Steinway junkers in need of everything, maybe $1,300 per foot if a nice wood grain case. Decorative cases are even more. Good ivory is worth another $1000 over old plastic which will have to be replaced. Recently, a customer had me examine a piano for purchase. I told her what I thought it was worth, at most. She went to the seller, asked what it would take to buy it right now, and ended up paying 1/2 of what I thought it was worth, 1/4 of the asking price, !!
Figure out what you can sell it for, subtract what it will cost to make it market ready, take that figure and subtract Uncle Sam's piece, subtract what you need for your profit margin, then offer no more than 1/2 of what's left. If it all goes perfectly, you will learn a lot, shouldn't lose too much money, and the world will have one more nice piano.
Let us know how it goes.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
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