I need advice

[Greg Newell]

Greetings gentle list folk,
         I just received a phone call from a nice woman who wants me to 
clean and possibly buy her 6' 7" Bosendorfer grand. The piano is 25 years 
old but I do not as of yet know the model. I'm guessing there was only one 
model that was this size but I don't know for sure.
         This unfortunate customer had a house fire in April that started 
in the basement and burned through some of the floor joists on the first 
floor. This happened 2 rooms away from where the piano sits. There is a 
layer of dry soot on the lid but there is no finish damage that the owner 
can detect. There is no damage to the walls or outlet plate covers 
(plastic) in the same room. I wonder, 1) what to clean the piano with. I'm 
thinking just a vacuum cleaner and perhaps some forced air once the 
majority is removed from the vacuum. and 2) what is an estimation of it's 
current fair market value. I realize that there isn't too much to go on 
here but an approximation or range of numbers would be more helpful than 
nothing.
         There was apparently no insurance rider on the piano so I'm sure 
that the owner would like to get as much as possible. She is currently 
looking to replace it with about a foot shorter Petrof. It seems that the 
local dealer here is not interested in the Bosey. I don't know why. Not 
sure if they've even seen it but probably not. Since there is no visible 
damage to the piano from the fire I'm guessing that the two things to look 
for are acidic soot and or glue joint failure which may not be seen for 
years. Anything else?
         Would really love to hear your take on it's approximate value, the 
best way to clean it and whether or not it might be worth while to get 
involved. Seems odd to me that the dealer wasn't interested. I'm all eyes 
.... to possible drawbacks and or previous experiences. Thanks in advance!


Greg Newell


P.S.  Thanks to all who posted about the Chickering Quarter grand. It 
turned out to be in fairly decent shape needing refinishing but had scale 
135 which is understand to be the better of the two. I mentioned a street 
value of $500 after it's actual value of "exactly what you can get someone 
to pay you for it."
Thanks again!

Greg Newell
Greg's piano Forté
mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net