As an investment, I would advise NOT rebuilding the piano unless it really needs it. You're chances of getting a return on your investment are much better with a reconditioning. Like William said, $7-10K is reasonable. That piano in my market would sell for between $15,000-$20,000 after reconditioning. The more you do to it the more you will have to sell it for, which means the market will be smaller. If you want to rebuild it for the experience, go for it! If your doing it to make money - tread carefully! Before checking sustain on the piano make sure all the bridge pins are seated - this sometimes makes a huge difference. Kent Webb related a story about being sent out to look at a Steinway - other technicians had tried and failed to get some sustain out of the piano. Quotes for replacing the soundboard had been given. Kent tapped in all the bridge pins, leveled the strings and it could suddenly sing again! That's why guys like him get $1000 a day plus expenses! Sometimes the expensive technician is the best bargain! On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 7:43 PM, Daniel Carlton <carltonpiano at sbcglobal.net>wrote: > hi everyone > > i'm looking for some ballpark values for a Steinway that belongs to a > customer. pictures here: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/55264825@N08/ > (there are six pages of pictures) > > i'm thinking of purchasing it for rebuilding (my first). i'd most likely > replace soundboard/bridges/pinblock, action parts, and damper underlever > system. keep the keys and keytops but rebush and redo the balance holes. > refelt the lyre and trapwork. > > ...this is what i'm thinking, but i took notes on everything anyway, so: > > *Case:* the owners put new veneer in a couple of spots, then refinished > with Valspar. she didn't say which product, just Valspar. the finish looks > very nice overall, just one minor pea-sized spot of veneer that needs to be > replaced and a handful of minor dings and a couple scratches. > > *one thought:* the finish doesn't seem to me to be as strong or resistant > to dings and dents as on some other pianos i've seen. has anyone else > noticed this with Valspar? would it be better off with another type of > finish? > > *Hardware:* looks pretty friggin good to me. the owner did all the buffing > and polishing himself when he and his wife refinished the piano. > > *Soundboard/Bridges:* they look good. bridges have just a few very short > hairline cracks at the pins, extending out from the pin toward the end of > the notches, but that's it. > no cracks in the SB. no separated ribs. crown is anywhere from .5 to 2 mm, > measured in several spots. > don't have a downbearing gauge yet, so i didn't get that. > > *Action stack/keys:* has had Verdigris in the past, in the hammers. pretty > light wear on everything, as you can see in the pics. some minor > backchucking on a few keys. ivories look great, nice and thick, a little > yellow and tiny hairline cracks at the end of a few of the heads. > > *Pinblock/Tuning pins:* PB seems very good. TPs are all nice and > comfortably tight, right in the sweet spot. they are 3/0. > > i wonder if this piano was partly rebuilt or refurbished at some point, > because the 3/O tuning pins, and the overall great condition of the piano. > > None of the owner's kids want the piano and neither do any of her nieces. > she seems very ready to sell it to me for the right price. i have a range in > my head, based on a minimum Terry Farrell told me Steinway grands might go > for... > > Daniel > > > > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101028/6feaf826/attachment.htm>
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