[CAUT] To buy New or Rebuilt?

[Dennis Johnson]

Thank you Ron for the imput.  I wish we had more examples of your work in
the area here!
In only a general way I was comparing the complete cost of buying an old
instrument that is thoroughly rebuilt, not simply the cost of rebuilding a
piano we already own. I admit to not being exactly current with these costs,
but I have seen beautifully remanufactured and refinished old grands for
sale at prices comparable to new.


thanks again,

Dennis.

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 12:18 PM, Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> wrote:

> On 10/12/2010 11:05 AM, Dennis Johnson wrote:
>
>> Hi Cy-
>>
>> Thanks, and good point of course. I think the faculty were hoping I
>> could find some concrete examples of old, rebuilt pianos in a similar
>> heavy use environment as new Japanese or Steinway pianos.
>>
>
> There are hundreds of them out there. A bunch of educational facilities
> routinely rebuild old instruments as well as buying new.
>
>
>
>  If there is
>> such an example it would be interesting, 20 years down the road, but I
>> agree with you.  Nothing against the new inventory, but one should not
>> presume they will outlast in every case.
>>
>
> There's no reason new will outlast rebuilt in ANY case. The perishables,
> such as actions, pinblocks, strings, soundboards, and bridge caps (etc.) are
> replaced with a decent rebuild. Carcasses and plates are as long lasting in
> older pianos as in new. A thorough rebuild should be as good as new, only
> with the opportunity to improve a few things in the rebuild.
>
>
>
>  Neither are the rebuilds
>> necessarily a cost savings.
>>
>
> I don't understand this. How can spending 30K resurrecting pianos that sell
> from 60K-120K new not be a cost savings over buying new?
>
>
>
>  This semester we just enrolled the largest new class in the history of
>> the college.  Sounds like others are doing the same.
>>
>
> Yet few institutions seem to have a budget for piano rebuild or
> replacement. I tune for a college here that has spent vast quantities
> replacing the HVAC system, and ignored humidity control altogether. Then
> they complained that the pianos still weren't staying in tune. This year,
> they replaced the track and football field. EVERYTHING is new, fence to
> fence. Had to have cost a bundle. They somehow managed to omit the box
> office from the plans though, and will be working on tables set up outside
> in the cold and wet in the upcoming season. Their pianos are bottom of the
> barrel. They have one Kawai grand that is somewhat decent, and a few new
> Yamaha verticals in practice rooms. The rest have needed rebuilt for many
> years, but there's no money for doing even the main hall B.
> Ron N
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20101012/99649f65/attachment.htm>