Steinway Uprights

[A440A@AOL.COM]

<<What are the pros and cons of Steinway uprights?  I have a friend who
just purchased a ten year old one for $10000.  Did she make a mistake?  I
haven't had any personal experience servicing these instruments. >>

This is easy!  
   There seems to be an endless supply of people that will pay $10,000 for a 
Steinway upright, so her monetary investment is fairly secure,(admitting that 
you can't actually EAT one of these in times of calamity...). With high end 
bassoons, etc. selling for 4-? times that much, this isn't an unreasonable 
figure for such a piece of musical architecture, ( I saw a $35,000 violin bow 
once, it changed my life). 
   Does she like the piano?  If so, then the investment is providing an 
ineffable boost to her quality of life and considerations of money are 
secondary.  I have seen elderly owners go to their grave, as proud as 
peacocks over their "stewardship" of that fine, fine "Nobody & Sons"  grand 
piano, (which was sold two weeks later for $700 at the estate sale to a young 
yuppie couple who planned to paint it mauve, as soon as they could  "find a 
tuner to fix those sticking keys,  do you do that?")    I ran as fast as my 
verdigis/moth phobias could propel me. 
   Does she enjoy owning a Steinway? As odd as it may seem, there are many 
thousands of others that get an emotional return simply for ownership.  I 
understand the cynical sneer that we professionals must often  suppress at 
this, (knowing the horror stories that we do..) but it is too prevalent to 
dismiss as a facet of the instrument's worth.
   She should have had a tech look at the piano before she bought it, though. 
 
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT