[CAUT] Sieler 5'10"

[Paul Milesi]

For almost 5 years now, I have maintained a 1994 Seiler M.180 5¹10² in a
jazz club in DC.  It had seen some pretty rough treatment by the time I got
to it, but I¹ve managed to bring it up to a pretty good level in spite of
the [use] it gets.  About 4 years ago, I had email correspondence with the
head technician in the Seiler factory, who was very helpful in discussing
possible reasons for excessive string breakage (worn-out hammers and
mis-regulation) (I was pretty inexperienced at the time).  He also emailed
me the string scale, which was no longer visible on the bridge.  He told me
these pianos have Abel hammers (still thinking about a new set).

Professional pianists, including many from NY¹s jazz scene, who have played
this piano seem to approve of the instrument fundamentally.  The underlying
potential and tone are quite beautiful.  As a pianist myself, I feel it
could be a very nice piano.  If only the club would give me the money for
hammers!  :)  Over time I have re-strung most of the top 3 octaves with
correct gauges, and regulated what¹s left of the action, which has almost
completely eliminated string breakage.

Other than checking Larry Fine for prices, I have no idea what market value
today might be.  I¹ve heard the club I¹ve referenced paid $20-30K back in
the late 90s for a roughly 5-yr-old piano.

Hope this is of some help.
-- 
Paul Milesi
Registered Piano Technician (RPT)
Piano Technicians Guild
(202) 667-3136
(202) 246-3136 Cell
E-mail:  paul at pmpiano.com
Website:  http://www.pmpiano.com

Address:
3000 7th Street NE, Apt. 204
Washington, DC 20017-1402



From: Paul T Williams <pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu>
Reply-To: <caut at ptg.org>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:50:46 -0500
To: CAUTlist <caut at ptg.org>
Subject: [CAUT] Sieler 5'10"

Hi all, 

I have a customer who's looking at a Seiler 5'10" grand (1990) for sale for
$13,000 from a dealer out of town.  I have only had one previous customer in
Seattle who had an old old one that was pretty good, but for some reason,
haven't run into them much at all.  What do you think of these pianos and is
13K a decent retail price?

Thanks 

Paul 


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