Dear List: Most amazing experience today; my partner dragged me off to appraise a "Kronically Botched" (according to a friend of ours) 6' grand for a man who wants to know its value so he can sell it. Wonders of all wonders, it was a beautiful art case grand made of mahogany everywhere, including solid mahogany legs, lyre, pedal rods, keybed (!), rim and posts! It has beautiful white ivories. To top it off, it even sounds good. The pinblock feels good and has torque readings of 55" to 70"lbs. This leaves me with some important questions: 1. The action is original except for three jacks (a1, b7 and c8). It is noisy and the touch is uneven. I have read in the PTG archives that some have tried replacing the whippens with modified old-style Steinway whippens and am wondering how that worked out? 2. The sostenuto system looks like a great idea--there is a wooden rail that runs behind the damper wires, a lever moves it toward the damper wire flanges when the pedal is depressed and a piece of plastic? film? leather? that is sandwiched between two parts of the wooden rail engages damper spoons that are mounted on the back of the damperwire flanges. Does anyone know what that material is and how difficult it would be to replace it? 3. The soundboard has several minor cracks, but good crown, the long bridge has minor cracks, the bass bridge is good. It will need restringing; the bass strings are tubby and the wire and pins are quite rusty. The piano needs refinishing. Given all these considerations, can anyone suggest a reasonable price for the seller to ask? Thanks in advance for your input! Diane ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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