[pianotech] Wing & Sons Upright

[Dean May]

Speaking of pso grands, I just found a nice one for a client with a talented
daughter but no money. It is an old Haines, circa 1920, original finish that
still looks very nice from 3 feet away. It had new strings and keytops put
on about 20 years ago, and I don't know what else. I went to look at it with
pretty low expectations and I was stunned. The action was wonderful, very
responsive and even. The tone was very good (again, decent backscale), nice
sustain, even though it had 2 major cracks in the soundboard with separation
on several ribs. $1200, a real find. The daughter of the client loves it and
is deliriously happy. Life is good. 
 
I looked at another very nice one, 5'7" Kimball circa 1933. Really nice tone
and action. I like those older Kimball grands. Cabinet was C- but the
instrument was A-. But the asking price on it was $3k. Might have been worth
$2500 with a nice finish but not as is. I asked how they arrived at the
price. They said that is what they spent to have it rebuilt 30 years ago.
Hoookaaay. Isn't it amazing how piano owners expect to be able to recoup
every penny they ever spend on a piano. 
 
Dean

  From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Dean May
Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2010 6:42 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Wing & Sons Upright


I found an old Mason & Hamlin upright for my new daughter in law. It is
built like a tank, ultra heavy. Original alligatored finish, so appearance
is not good. But nice original ivories. The tone is amazing, better than
most pso grands. It has very long backscale length. And the action is
wonderful, also better than most pso grands. It is a true pleasure to play.
 
She loves it! And I got it for free, so I guess that means it has no
monetary value, even though it is twice the piano of 90% of the pianos I
tune. 
 
Dean

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Farrell
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 5:07 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Wing & Sons Upright


Is there ANY old upright that has any monetary value (I presume you are
referring to monetary value)? I mean, assuming that someone like Rudolf
Serkin or John Lennon didn't learn how to play on it....... 

Terry Farrell

On Dec 16, 2010, at 11:10 PM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote:



A customer approached me in the parking lot of a school this afternoon and
asked me if a 1898 Wing & Sons upright with 5 pedals, has any value. 
 
I remember reading a few posts about the 5 pedaled Wings, but I can't
remember if that brand of piano has any value. The lady did tell me the case
is beautiful, but several key tops are missing and some of the keys don't
play. 
 
Wim
 


 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101218/f06a162c/attachment.htm>