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The
piano's condition is dependent upon one's view
and
perception of the piano for sale. Make sense?...
Defining "is"... is the big problem with respect to vintage pianoforte instruments. Hopefully, some of the guesswork is removed with the professional inspection by a piano technician, taking seller emotion out of the listing process. All of my listings are beautiful... otherwise...they would not be in my listing service!
Vintage restored pianoforte instruments are just like the restored '55 T-Bird I have used in my description of New versus Vintage Used versus Vintage Restored Pianofortes. In the cartoon, it is the 1959 DeSoto.... For you to properly price and advertise your instrument, I use 100% vintage restored as the standard of comparison. If the instrument is 100% restored, that means everything. If it's rebuilt and only partly restored that's how the rascal needs to be described.
The piano tech is going to be asked to describe the condition of the instrument with respect to the following:
Case-- Is it newly refinished, original, or refinished 20 years ago with a few character marks? Any case damage, missing veneer, or nice details should be described.
Action-- Is it brand new down to nuts, bolts, widgets, and wippens, or was it redone in 1974? Rebuilt 23 years ago, folks ain't rebuilt in 1997. The sucker is used! What does it need to be 100%
Soundboard-- Is it original, replacement which is now cracked, or brand new? Was it replaced in 1980, but now is cracked in 20 places. Overall curvature appear O.K. if repairable?
Keytops-- Are they original yucky yellow, chipped, with some missing ivories, good original ivories, or new keytops?
Damper system-- Is it new, rebuilt when,
or original? Does it work properly?
If an old upright, is it a birdcage?
Pedal system-- Is it functioning or does it need help?
Players-- Has the mechanism been rebuilt and when? What's the condition of the bellows and air intake system? Has it been electrified or is it still "with the feet"?
What is the short-lived deferred maintenance on the instrument to get it into top tone for its observed condition for the next five years outside of regular tunings?
What is the rascal going to need in 5 to 10 years to maintain maximum tone?
Does the instrument need a total mechanical rebuilding right now, although it was rebuilt 20 years ago. What is the quality of tone on the instrument. Are there any structural defects. Is the metal plate O.K.? Are the bridges O.K. Does it need a heart transplant. You get the picture!
Probable Cost for the tech to check out the instrument
Tunings are generally $50-100+- around here for a piano the tech knows in and out, and more for an unknown instrument. To spend time checking out all of the above, plan on spending at least $100 to $200+- and probably more depending on region. An original copy of the tech report or letter goes in our file. If it is a decent, scanable letter, it becomes part of your Webpage ad for your piano!
"What
if the first tech doesn't like my wife's hairdo...
and my 1900 Woofenstuffl?"
Just like going to the doctor. Get a second opinion. If the second opinion is unfavorable. Get a third. If three techs agree, folks you probably have a real problem, because three techs agreeing is almost like a Congress voting yes on a balanced budget amendment!
"Well, the techs say my Woofenstuffl needs all this work and isn't in that good a shape although it was restored in 1978? My local piano store manager/owner just told me three weeks ago my Woofenstuffel was worth $40,000! I queried the tech, and he said he thought it was worth $15,000+-."
Get the second opinion. Get
the third opinion. If the techs agree, then you are in the smoke and mirror
trick.
Ok, What is the Smoke and Mirror Trick?
This generally works in conjunction with so called "consignment sales". This is the oldest smoke and mirror trick in the book. If a retailer, manager, critic, or whatever tells you a price which is inflated, and you have the gullibility to believe him, then your instrument is technically "off the market", because it generally won't sell at an unrealistic price. You as the owner believe the smart so and so "expert who knows the vintage market", but you can't figure out why your piano won't sell. Heck, the retailer is selling new instruments right and left by comparing theirs to your overpriced vintage piano on "consignment", and you're stuck with the Woofenstuffel when you really want a newer Floofenduffel. You're not priced correctly as you've been misled. You have effectively "taken your instrument off the market without knowing it!"
Cute, huh? The retailer, manager, critic, or whoever is bringing home the bacon though, and guess who's holding the bag? You and your Woofenstuffel!
Information is power. The gain thereof secures an advantage. The lack thereof maintains ignorance and an obvious disadvantage. Knowledgeable buyers and sellers have effective purchasing power, and in real estate, that means properties change hands. This is simple Adam Smith, the father of modern economics. This is not nuclear physics or ignorance!
Vintage Instrument Listing Service Market Pricing
I can suggest if the price appears reasonable. The seller sets his price, generally. If an instrument is overpriced, the seller hurts himself, because he's going to have a longer marketing time, and could shopwear the instrument whereby the rascal is so overpriced that it eventually sells below value. We don't want that! However, any instrument listed with us over 9 months will prompt a phone call to reduce the price or remove the listing as a courtesy to the seller. If the seller elects to keep listed at the original price, so be it. We want your instruments to sell to good homes and good people who will take care of them. Obviously, if Ole Bear thinks the instrument is underpriced, Bear will price it for you....
Case size... the Bigger, the Better???
A brief word on case size. Most houses today can handle the 6' to 7' grand case instruments. Very few homes today are built with living rooms which can handle a concert grand. Most folks wanting a concert grand want a 20th Century instrument as opposed to a nicely restored older antique 19th Century concert grand. These people want something that has power and guts, and generally won't be happy with the older instrument, no matter how nice it is. This directly affects market pricing on the vintage style concert grand cases as a general marketing rule. Regular people folks who want real concert grands, are a little unusual anyway, and most often very quirky. I know, because I am one of those unusual people who have to have a modern concert grand. That is my opinion. And in Vintage Concert Grand Cases... there can be some great buys for the general public.
Submarkets of the Vintage Market...
There is however, a very select group of keyboard purists who prefer the early 19th Century grand cases such as Erard, Pleyel, and Broadwood with the wood frame plates as they play music from the late classical or early romantic period. These pianos are generally tuned under A440, and the instruments themselves are not generally as powerful or as bright as what we generally conceptualize a grand piano to sound like in the 20th Century. These cats are a different breed of TigerCat... One who plays Chopin and Felix M. and similar composers predominantly would prefer an 1830s-1840s instrument.... While one who plays Beethoven generally would prefer something before 1820... I may not be able to hear the tone difference in two similar Broadwoods from the two different periods, but these folks can...
Very select and specialized vintage market.
And then there are Player Folks...another submarket altogether...
