Bosendorfer appraisal

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Ed,

Nope, I've never seen it. Nor heard of it. As with all used pianos, art deco or Louis XVI,
it's worth exactly what the traffic will bear. I've changed my direction with pianos of
this type over the years, though. Especially with instruments such as this. Regardless of
what you personally may think of the aesthetic design of the piano, since the work was
(presumably) done by Bosendorfer, we can probably assume that it was done quite well. It's
monetary value may well be in its uniqueness and not in it musical value. Well, probably
both. Why don't you visit the Portland Art Museum and talk to the curators there. I've no
idea how much help that will really be, but art museum's are always fun to visit all on
their own. You might also check with Bosendorfer for a bit of history on the piano. It
never hurts to have an official provenance and an up to date history.

Del

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ETomlinCF3 wrote:

> Dear List,
>
> I got a call to look at a Bosendorfer today that was 6' 7".  It was baby blue
> on the outside, inner rim and some detail was Sepele.  The lower part of the
> lid was also Sapele.  The piano was a designer grand from 1958. The nose of
> the piano slanted down to the floor about 8 inches lower than one would
> expect.  The action was paralell to the floor.  The rake of the hammers
> compensated for the strings slanting downward.   The piano was made to look
> "modern".  The space age look was "in" in the art deco era of the 50's.  The
> plate was a soft grey blue.  All the strings were individually tied and had
> matching soft grey blue punchings to match at the hitch pins.  The customer
> would like an estimate of value.  It was purchased from the Seatle area....Del
> do you know of this piano?  I have an idea it is worth $40 - 50k to the right
> buyer.  The piano plays like a dream.  Warm and dark yet has good sassy attack
> when you lay into it hard.  The hammers need light reshaping and very little
> regulation.  The knuckles looked good and I reconditioned with teflon powder
> and brass brushing.  Strings had a little rust in treble where kids may have
> strummed the strings and left a oily residue to discolor the strings.  That
> came right off with a quick 3M scotch bright pad.  Please help if you can.  It
> was fun to see this piano.  They want to turn it quick to make a fast buck.  I
> think they paid $24,000 for it.  Am I out of line to say the piano has a
> replacement value of say $50,000?
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Ed Tomlinson
> Vancouver WA