Yeah, most of them are just…old. I hope some folks still want to rebuild SOME of these beauties for what the were…kind of like rebuilding a Model T or A, or even a 40 Ford. They're fantastic for what they WERE, but certainly not for going 70mph down the freeway, or even an every day to work car. Nor should that be the restoration to perfect thing happen. Some are worth being drivers again, and some aren't. On the other hand, I just put a new soundboard, bridges, etc and etc into a both 1911 Model A (Steinway) and a 1926 Model L; also a whole new keyset and action stack on a '32 L. I guess you could call them hot rods, but built to old school standards. They're now daily "drivers" here at school. That's all they'll ever be, never some show piano on Mechem's Auctions for Muscle Cars. It's where to draw a line of rehab, eh? Where is that? An old Steinway (Ferarri) is most of the time worth the effort, but is a '56 DeSoto or 72 Vallient (like any medium priced piano in the day) worth it? Who knows? The beauty lies in the eyes… What about the cheaper new things(cars/pianos/whatever) out there…10 years down the road, they won't be fit to go down the freeway either. Just sayin ;>) Disposable cars are the norm now, too. Nobody in their right mind is going to rebuild an '89 Dodge Colt!! LOL….DAMHIK!!! But, hey, if you find a '69 camaro in the back of some old farmer's barn, BUY IT! I hope you get my drift. I didn't look at Larrys new book, but I guess I should have. This is a great discussion folks! Paul From: Delwin D Fandrich <del at fandrichpiano.com<mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com>> Reply-To: "pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>" <pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>> Date: Monday, July 30, 2012 4:22 PM To: "pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>" <pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>> Subject: Re: [pianotech] NY times article on Pianos Well I expect Larry didn’t like having his comment taken some out of context either. If you had looked in the issue of Piano Buyer (Spring, 2012) that Larry was selling at the convention you’d have found the 14-page article on Upright Cabinet Styles in American Piano Manufacturing, 1880 – 1930 by Martha Taylor (Immortal Piano, Portland, Oregon). He has also placed feature articles in Piano Buyer about grand piano rebuilding in earlier issues. He tries, as much as possible, to present both perspectives. But the bottom line is all this is that this market decision is not being made by Larry Fine, myself (full disclosure—I’m the mostly non-paid Technical Consultant for Piano Buyer) or by any of us on Pianotech. It’s being made out there in the marketplace. And, yes, I’m disappointed when an owner of a beautiful old upright or grand decides to dump it and go for a shiny new something or other. But the market reality is that fewer and fewer of those old things can be rebuilt for the cost of a new piano of equal or better performance. This is especially true with grands. It’s tough to completely and competently rebuild and refinish a small grand piano for the cost of a fairly nice new one. One can hope that the best of the old ones can be preserved—I to cringe when I see the picture of that old Knabe being dumped—but the truth is that a good many of those old pianos are just that; old. Except for their size they don’t have much else going for them. ddf Delwin D Fandrich Piano Design & Fabrication 6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA Phone 360.515.0119 — Cell 360.388.6525 del at fandrichpiano.com <mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com> — ddfandrich at gmail.com<mailto:ddfandrich at gmail.com> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org> [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul Williams Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 7:07 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org> Subject: Re: [pianotech] NY times article on Pianos I didn't appreciate Larry Fine's quote….and to think he was selling his stuff at the PTG Conference! Paul From: David Love <davidlovepianos at comcast.net<mailto:davidlovepianos at comcast.net>> Reply-To: "pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>" <pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>> Date: Monday, July 30, 2012 8:49 AM To: "pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>" <pianotech at ptg.org<mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>> Subject: [pianotech] NY times article on Pianos FYI David Love www.davidlovepianos.com<http://www.davidlovepianos.com> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/arts/music/for-more-pianos-last-note-is-thud-in-the-dump.html?pagewanted=1&hpw -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120730/50f28c6e/attachment-0001.htm>
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