state of the industry

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 98-10-21 11:23:45 EDT, you write:

<< Hmm,  this question is just begging to be asked.  Would the new piano he
 could buy for $11,000 be superior to his restored Bush and Gerts? Never mind
 the sentimental value for now.

Dollar for dollar, the restored Bush & Gerts would be worth about $5,000,
maybe $6,000 in my store. Would the restored B&G be as good as a new $11,000?
Good question. I told the customer he would be very happy with the restored
piano,and his hiers would still be enjoying it 100 years from now. 

  
 Wim again:
 >Please, don't
 >encourage customers to spend money on older pianos. Instead, encourage them
 to
 >buy a new piano, or a newer used piano. 
 
      As one that makes his living working on older pianos, I fell this is far
 too broad a suggestion.  Perhaps narrowing it down to "encouraging customers
 to get rid of junk and get something usable when their cheap instrument is
 totally worn out"?. 
       I encourage the restoration of older instruments when the result will
be
 comparable with new, and I think many of the older grands have the capacity
to
 rebuilt several times, at least. 
 Regards, 
 Ed Foote  >>

As I just wrote Stephen, there are exceptions. The original quality of the
piano needs to be taken into consideration before spending the big bucks
fixing up the ol'e clunker. 

Wim