List, I always hate it when someone asks me to give an opinion of a piano that I haven't had the oportunity to examine and I know you do too, but I'm going to ask anyway;-) I have been asked to give an appraisal and a quote for "repairs" on a very old Chickering concert Grand Piano. The S.N. is 3774. According to the Pierce Atlas the DOM is 1835 to 1840. Provenance for this piano is sketchy at best. It is not in it's original condition, having been "rebuilt" 25 years ago. This is a guess, as no one seems to know for sure. The work that was done was by someone who clearly was skilled and knew what they were doing. However, it has fallen upon hard times and has not been touched in YEARS. Here are the particulars: 1. 9' Concert Grand (Chickering) 2. Rosewood Case with all original case parts 3. Ornately carved legs(original) with much carving decoration. Square tail. 4. Straight strung with 17 wound bass unisons. All plain wires are single tied. 5. 88 notes- agraffes all the way to the top. 6. Bridges appear to be in remarkable condition- no checkng or splits 7. Was restung with new strings, pins and pinblock (see above).Pins are currently tight. 8. Original Soundboard- has numerous shims (very well done) no aparent subsequent cracks.No downbearing data available as yet. 9. Was refinished. Probably attractive when it was re-done but pretty yucky now. 10. Action- new keytops, bushings,hammershanks,hammers,damperfelts, etc. Currently the action regulation is abysmal and it is a whole tone flat. As you have probably guessed, in my part of the world there are_at least_ 2 or 3 old Chickering concert grands up every holler ;-) Seriously, I have NO benchmark to work with here. Would any of you care to venture a guess as to the value of this piano, in your market perhaps, as it sits now. What would be a reasonable evaluation should it be brought back into first class order? Any help or advice is appriciated. Paul E. Dempsey, RPT Marshall University Huntington, WV
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