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Vintage Instruments offer much! Price! Tone! Touch! Looks! This is easy to explain by looking at new Steinway instruments.
For instance, according to the currently used Steinway & Sons Price List used by retailers in September 1997, a new 7' Model B retails at $49,200 (Satin Ebony). Model B's in the Crown Jewel Collection start at $55,300 and go up to $66,400 as of the December 1996 Retail Price List.
Prices of comparable Model D Concert Grands in the Crown Jewel collection range from $85,400 to $101,200 per the same December '96 price list. We have been told prices will increase in 1997. For those of you unfamiliar with the Crown Jewels of Steinway, these are fancy case Model S, M, L, B, and D's which have exotic wood cases using veneers from all over the world including American Cherry. They are absolutely awesome cases for modern built 20th Century instruments and rival European craftsmanship we've seen at the trade show.
An ebony concert grand retails at $74,800 according to the dealer price flier given to customers. Finish the concert grand case in American walnut and the price is $83,300. New Steinways are new, however. Unless you know the real potential of the Steinway you are buying, and can tell when you play that the touch and tone is 100% Steinway, the instrument could get set up and delivered to your music room not being the best it can be if it were just taken "from the box".Depends on the retailer.... their vision of marketing the pianos... and whether the retailer had their techs go over the rascal before delivery. A new full 100% Steinway D concert grand is perhaps one of the most awesome critters on this green earth.
A vintage instrument can be restored to a like new condition with a tone and touch which can rival or exceed a similar new piano out of the box, in many cases at a price which is less than the price of a new instrument. There are numerous craftsmen throughout the world who do this type of work. Not all restoration work is the same. It depends on the shop, the individual doing the work, and the quality of product the individual or shop envisions for the customer. It is very similar to car restoration shops in all respects. Some are just better than others. Restoration is indeed linked to the human element which affects the finished product.
-- Suggested Reading
If you are interested in Steinway pianos, there is some suggested reading which can help you. The following is a list of material I find useful for the buyer considering a vintage used, vintage restored, or new Steinway piano:
Steinway & Sons, Yale University Press, New Haven, Richard K. Lieberman, 1995.
The Steinway Saga, Scribner, New York, D.W.Fostle, 1995.
The two volumes above interweave the development of Steinway pianos with the Steinway Family and give an understanding of the German immigrants who developed the modern pianoforte in the 19th Century. The development of the Steinway and the marketing of Steinway pianos is an excellent insight into the purchase of a Steinway instrument or other vintage make. Each author takes a little different perspective, and both are excellent works.
"The Steinways and their Pianos in the 19th Century", The American University Library, Washington, D.C., Cynthia Adams Hoover, copyright unknown.
Ms. Hoover gives a very summary, but effective, account of Steinway patents and relates their incorporation into the manufacture of the pianos which revolutionized the modern pianoforte. This is must reading for vintage instrument advocates, since Steinway established many of the manufacture techniques of the modern grand case piano as we know it today. This is also, a rather obscure work, and difficult to find in Goober, Mississippi. Call the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. where Ms.Hoover is on Staff if you can't find it locally.
The
Piano Book, Buying and Owning a New or Used Piano,
3rd
Edition,
Brookside Press, Boston, MA, Larry Fine, 1994.
This book, available at most bookstores or direct from the publisher and our link to Larry Fine, gives the reader a good cursory overview of how a piano functions and some good caveats in purchasing a used instrument. It is generally written in simple language and gives a relatively good understanding of the piano's mechanical parts and how they function. It is very good reading if one needs the background, or, if one already considers oneself an expert. There is some piano history as well as factual information about manufacturers. Some of the explanations about the operation of the piano get a little technical for the average person, but there is an abundance of good information.
Sometimes there are a few opinions which are treated as gospel which may not necessarily reflect my own views, or that of other piano technicians on the planet. The "piano" is a very broad subject where not all folks could ever agree on every salient point. Life would be dull if we all thought alike, wouldn't it? This book is readily available, with an intent and purpose to inform, and in my view succeeds extremely well for the typical piano purchaser.
1998-99 Annual Supplement to The Piano Book, Brookside Press, Boston, MA, Larry Fine, 1998.
Larry has just published
an annual supplement complete with industry changes by manufacturer as
well as a very new piano pricing guide which is going to help a lot of
new pianoforte purchasers make their decisions. It is available in bookstores
or at the Larry Fine link from his website as well.
About Larry Fine --
Just met this Registered Piano Technician (turned author about 10-11 years ago) at the Piano Technician's Guild convention in Providence, Rhode Island, USA the first part of July 1998. Larry promotes piano education through his informative skills, penmanship, and website. At the Guild convention we arranged for a direct link from P&G to The Piano Book website. Besides being a tech, author, website promoter, he's also an accomplished pianist. We thank Mr. Fine for the link. If there is not a direct link back to P&G's Website from Mr. Fine's, use your BACK ARROW in your website program such as Navigator...Have fun!
Click
here to go see Mr. Larry Fine!
Steinway & Sons Manufacture Catalogs (any year)
These are hard to come by and rather rare. These offer nice descriptions of various makes, offer Steinway marketing strategy still in use today, and give 19th century descriptions of the patents. Use your computer at the local library for getting one close to your model year. Note, however, that for Steinway, not all years have catalogs. A list of Steinway patents is also available at the Steinway website on the Internet.
Steinway has always been a diverse piano company, such that pianos could have been made as a unique instrument for one family. Also, catalogs are not always accurate, and may not show all models in production for that year.
-- Piano Technician's Guild
You can also consult a RPT (registered
piano technician) for advice, information, or have him (or her) check out
an old unknown clunker you may be considering. These guys and gals go through
some fairly rigorous training to gain their expertise and credentials.
The RPT has some practical know how and experience -- and these folks are
professionals. Check out our links in Education, Again? We link directly
to their website, and there is a listing by State of each RPT in each state....and
yes,,,,,you can print it out right there in your home!
-- I have this old Fluffendoofel I want to know about...
Pierce Piano Atlas, 10th Edition, found in any public library, should have as much information about the specifics of most recognized brands from the 19th and 20th Century in the U.S.A, and can give you all some information on some companies, and sometimes serial number identification by year of your instrument if it was a rather large company.
-- Stencil Pianos
Many times unusual brands are what we call "Stencil" pianos. Stencil pianos were made by a larger company for a smaller company or a music retail vendor who put their name on it. Mr. Larry Fine covers stencil pianos in his book better than me.
No, not all stencil pianos were bad, just depended on who the original manufacturer was. Sometimes you can't tell the company of original manufacture...a piano retailer or end user/retailer could have used several manufacturers over the course of their business practice and put the same name on all of those he may have sold. Makes life challenging, doesn't it!
-- Unusual/Lesser Known Piano Companies
I always thought a "Packard" was a vintage automobile until I received a call from Joe in California the other day about his "Packard". I thought Joe flipped his noodle and confused us with Hemmings Motor News. I asked Joe if he could drive his Packard around the block, and did it run fairly smoothly for its age? I love old Packards!
No, Joe aptly and very dryly explained like they do in California to us Missouri folks, "Gale, my Packard has three legs and a grand styled ornately carved case...and does not have a motor, transmission, upholstery, or four tires!"
This goes to prove that our perceptions can be, and very often are, very misleading. If you mention Packard, I see a 1946 Super Clipper with four doors and four tires, usually in black with dual side mounts! Mention Packard to Joe in California, and he sees the vintage grand case piano in his living room. There are probably a zillion different piano makes on the planet.
-- Square Grands & Ye Old Grande Uprights
I receive a great many calls pertinent to square grands. A serious pianist will generally avoid square grands as serious musical instruments. They generally have more antique value in modern times. The last Square Grand left the Steinway factory according to our research on October 8, 1888 as serial number 62,871 according to factory production logs. After this date, they were discontinued. Corporate Decision!
They make nice writing desks now, and have wonderful cases...and if decently playable, make for fun antiques that can really class up your decorating and decor, but that's about it. They outlived their time. Squares were extremely salable and popular in the 19th Century in the United States.
Square grands were not very good instruments to begin with in spite of their 19th Century popularity compared to full grand cases of the period, or 20th Century grand case instruments, or even the upright grands of the late 19th Century.
To try to restore one is basically sinking good money after bad for a myriad of reasons if the owner wants an investment he can resell. First, few piano technicians have the experience to work on them. Parts for rebuilding are scarce as Hen's Teeth, if you can find them...and then, chances are they won't fit worth a flip. They also have are reputation for not holding tune. Most techs hear the word "Square" and begin to run. The analogy is trying to finding parts for a Conestoga Wagon for a road trip on Route 66! This is not just my opinion. Mr. Larry Fine covers squares as well as Birdcage Actions on some European uprights in his book! You can also consult a piano technician in your local market, and nine times out of ten, the piano technician is going to have a very similar, slightly less, or slightly more aversion to these rascals if you, the buyer, is a serious pianist.
A buyer or investor for a square grand is, in my opinion, first buying an antique piece of furniture. If it is playable as an original instrument, or has been previously partly rebuilt or fully restored, so much the better. You have a working antique piece of furniture. There are a zillion squares out there on the planet. They do sell. We do help folks try to market them. But we educate our buyers as to what they are really buying, and try to find out how they intend on using the investment. Squares are part of our history on this planet. Yes, they do sell. Yes, there is a market for them. Yes, we try to help folks find their squares a new home. Part of our service.
What is unusual is that square grands were not very popular in Europe at this time...Upright Grands were! ...probably due to the space requirements of their homes which were generally smaller at the time. Upright Grands were not very popular in the 19th Century in the U.S. until about the 1880s & 1890s, and more true after the turn of the Century. Funny how it works isn't it? It appears to more or less coincide with the deletion by Steinway of the square grand manufacture in 1888. My logic & observation, not documented or footnoted fact I have read from another source. Just using my noodle....
Click
the picture to return to JUST
FOR SQUARES
or keep on trucking below if you just looped here from elsewhere....
And yeah... 
Ole Bear can sell the
wazoo out of 'em if they are priced to sell!
Birdcage
Action on some European Upright Grand Cases from the 19th Century
..........................
c.1874 Steingraeber &
Söhne
c.1847 Pleyel Upright
Birdcage Action Upright
Grand
Birdcage Style Action
Signed "F.Chopin"
Both Examples Above are
offered in P&G's Vintage Instrument Listing Service
and are linked here to
their respective webpages...Use Your Back Arrow to
come back here!!!
Mr. Larry Fine covers this in his The Piano Book as well. The general idea is that some of European makes with fancy, very ornate cases in the upright grand style had this type of action which as Mr. Fine describes is where the dampers on the piano are located over or above the hammers, which by their location, are activated by wires in front of the action. Many of these have been imported to the U.S.A and dumped in our market.
This antique action is unlike a modern upright where the damper system is fully behind and underneath the hammers. Your basic Steinway upright grand from the 19th Century has the typical action with the damper system being underneath the hammers.
The European design "over-damper" system has been nicknamed the "birdcage action". According to Fine, the overall design of the action with the birdcage damper system makes tuning and regulation almost impossible on the instruments.
Mr. Fine also indicates that many of these may have been inexpensively produced at their manufacture, have generally erratic actions, and generally do not hold a tune very well. However, they have some very ornate cases with accouterments such as brass candlestick holders, intricate case designs, et cetera.
-- Alternatives to Steinway
Although a nice new Steinway, or a nice vintage restored Steinway, or vintage used Steinway can and usually does sound mighty good, there are other quality built instruments out there which have unique qualities which are somewhat different from a Steinway. Do not be afraid of another make just because it "isn't a Steinway!" Choose your instrument based on your pocketbook, your sense of touch, and your sense of tone. Tone is what sounds good to your ears. Tone is how we hear the piano speak to us. Tone is an enigma to humans, for what sounds good to one, may not sound good to another.
Each piano is unique in its tone. No two pianos built by the same manufacturer sound the same. I just played two new B Steinways in a large Mid West City. The saleslady told me about the tone distinctions as she had her favorite of the two. I liked her favorite, too! But, the other wasn't all that bad either...just different. Each is a different acoustic instrument, and I mean this in the most positive manner whether we compare a model of Steinway to the same identical model of Steinway as well as other makes to their exact counterparts. These babies are almost human in their personalities.
-- Reputable vintage instrument dealer/piano retailer
A reputable piano dealer/instrument
rebuilder or restoration shop is perhaps the best means to find a reliable
vintage used or vintage restored instrument. One may often find a vintage
dealer in your own neighborhood, a local town or city, or your state, parish,
county, or province. Try checking out our related
links to see what we are talking about.These places are around,,, just
hard to find sometimes. However, much easier by surfing the internet or
checking your yellow pages in the phone book.
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