Brokers of Investment Grade Old, Antique Vintage Restored/Rebuilt Steinway Pianos & Other Pianos
The cost is going to vary from restoration
shop to restoration shop and is a direct factor of how well the restoration
shop envisions the product coupled with how much pressure you as the owner
put on the professional to do the work as cheaply as possible tempered
with how crusty the craftsmen are at the shop telling you they will do
this, but won't cheapen on this and that.
How much is a cup of coffee on the planet...?
Depends on where you are located....Price
is different in Goober, MS and Paris, France or New York City or Blackjack,
NB.
So...how much is a cup of coffee?
Rules of Thumb:
1) the bigger the grand case, the more expensive
2) full restorations include soundboard repair or replacement, action rebuilding, new dampers, new strings, ivory repair/reconditioning, or keytop replacement, possibly pin block and bridge repair or replacement, as well as refinishing and restoration of the case itself. You are talking $13,000-$20,000+- depending on case size the way we do it here in Columbia for an ebony case, and what we basically have to do. Each instrument is different. No two Ebony Steinway B's will cost the same for restoration.
3) a very important factor is the countless hours spent in voicing & regulating & tone preparation to suit the instrument (or the customer)... . Who knows... ? Frank never knows what it is going to take to make it right. Friends, you can put all the parts on the '57 T-Bird Frame....and it may look like a '57 T-Bird...but until the mechanic has skinned his knuckles fine tuning all the rascal parts...It ain't a '57 T-Bird unit it purrs like a kitten not bouncing the quarter off the hood scoop.
4) Add a wood veneer case, increase the price. Add a very fancy case or an art case, or a gilded/gold leaf art case and really increase the price of the case restoration.
5) What do You All in Columbia pay for a typical small ebony Steinway "restorable grand case instrument": $500+- to $1,500+ depending. This is the Basket Case! That's what we start with as a general rule.
We basically want the case and the metal plate. Everything else is restored to new.Folks, you don't generally take a $15,000+ Ebony Steinway B and spend $15,000 to $20,000+ restoring it to have a $35,000 to $40,000+ Instrument a restoration shop can't make a profit on. You basically end up with a $40,000++ investment, no profit for restoration shop, and one is not in business very long...No one works for free. Check our 1916 B Steinway priced at $34,000. $15,000 + $20,000+- ='s $35,000+-? See what I mean? A rebuilder/RPT can't stay in business paying an unrealistic price for the instrument to be restored, nor can he pay the "customer" to buy the instrument! It will be the last pianoforte he rebuilds. No profit, no rent, no electricity, outta business!
1916 B Steinway 7 footer Before Hennessy 1916 B
Steinway 7 footer After Hennessy
