that new guy is at it again..!!

[Les Smith]

On Sun, 6 Apr 1997, Phil Bondi wrote:

> ..listers:
>
> ..first off..thank you very much for ALL the insight into my last question
> involving the steel-wound bass strings..
>
> ..now..i have come across an Ivers and Pond..ser.#60940..looks like a 4'11"
> to me..they need to unload it...i'm still waiting for my Pierce Piano Atlas,
> so letting this customer know when it was made is not possible yet..it needs
> bass strings..hammers are ok(should be replaced)..dampers are ok(should be
> replaced)..looks like the plate was sprayed with the strings attached..real
> cob job, IMHO...BUT..this owner INSISTS that the big selling point with this
> piano is that the wood used to make it is NOT available anymore..or..the
> wood is in short supply and it is NOT used in the manufacturing of pianos
> anymore..it does have a rosewood appearance to it, and again, they insist,
> that the wood is RARE..my initial thought here is *so what*...the cabinet
> HAS been re-finished and it does look nice..it also has ivory keys with a
> 1/2 of one missing..too bad,cause they're perfect otherwise..!
>
> ...can anyone offer an insight as to the approx.value from my
> description..??..my initial guess is 12-15K..how far off am I..??..muchas
> gracias yet again.!.
>

Hi, Phil!

Get ready. How far off is your estimate? Well, if it's $12k-$15k, you're
probably off about $$12k-$15k! Unfortunately a case and an ivory keyboard
do not make a collectible piano...or, even a good piano...or, even a medi-
ocre one...sometimes they just make an old, not-very-good curiosity, pro-
bably not worth putting any money into at all. When the owner told you
that they don't make them like that any more, he was probably telling the
truth. But, then, they don't make Horugels anymore, either, do they? That
hardly makes them a collectible, or worth rebuilding, or many times even
worth trying to repair. There were many fine-quality instruments built in
the early part of this century by manufacturers who are no longer in busi-
ness today. There were also a lot of "turkeys" built back then, too. One
has to be able to differentiate between the two!

Now an owner can place any value on an instrument, he likes. I would sug-
gest, however, that if he's trying to sell that old I&P for the price you
indicate, he's going to have to wait a LONG TIME for someone to come along
who has big bucks and just fell off the banana-boat!

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net