Brand new 1953 Winter spinet

[Tvak@AOL.COM]

Having only been around for the last 5 years or so, I feel as if I have had 
more than my share of spinets in all the various flavors, such as Winter, 
Gulbransen, Whitney, Wurlitzer, etc.  You know the ones I'm talking about...

What did these pianos sound like when they were new?  Anybody around who 
remembers their first Whitney back in 1953?  When it was brand new, out of 
the show room and right into the living room?

Were they as terrible back then as they are now, or did they just degrade 
horribly over time?  Did they have false beats in every note in the top 3 
octaves?  A tenor break you could hear down the block?  Bass bichords that 
can only approximate a unison?  Little or no sustain anywhere? 

Or were they acceptable pianos that just got worse (and worse) as time went 
by?

In other words, is this what an Old Chang will be like?

Just wondering, after my lucky day consisted of a Whitney, a Kimball, and a 
Grand,  

Tom Sivak

P.S.
Disclaimer:  This post not intended as a launching board into a discussion of 
"Great Winter Spinets I've Found".  Granted, there is variation within each 
brand name.  Except for Grand.  They all stink.   ;-)

P.P.S.
Actually, any day I have 3 tunings is a lucky day.