Terry, I am amazed that, given the information and photos supplied with Rob's inquiry, you would label this piano as junk and give it a score of "zero" in terms of its musical value. Do you play the piano? The fact that it might not command a high price in the marketplace does not mean it has no value as a musical instrument. As a professional pianist, I've made a lot of music on instruments like this, and so have a lot of other artists. If there is sufficient pin torque, and the hammers are in decent shape, this piano is probably far superior to most of the small vertical pianos being produced today. It was produced towards the end of the heyday of great American piano manufacturing, when there was plenty of competition and even lesser instruments were often musical. The keytops appear to be flawless, as does the case. Cleaning hardly has much to do with the guts, of which we know very little. But I would assume if it was cared for enough to preserve the outside elements, the inside ones are more than functional. It's not a real artist's instrument, but, contrary to your take, I would first presume it has plenty of music-making left in it, and accept only good reasons to end its life, which should be independent of it's market value. BTW, I do agree with your recommendation that the best approach would have been to bring it right up to pitch, and thereby collect some valuable information on some important factors. Paul Milesi, RPT Washington, DC (202) 667-3136 E-mail: paul at pmpiano.com Website: http://www.pmpiano.com > From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> > Reply-To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:06:02 -0400 > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] 1925 Wurlitzer Value > > Are you looking for its value as a musical instrument, or how much > some uniformed piano shopper might be willing to pay? Its musical > value most likely is near zero. How much will someone pay? It mostly > depends on the case and keytops and whether all the keys "function". > If it looks reasonably acceptable, some moron might be willing to > waste $1K on it. > > You might want to ask the seller if they have a conscience..... This > sounds to me like the piano that I jut ran across (actually, several > recently.....) - someone donated it to a small church - now the church > has the expense of paying to have it moved to the dump. > > From 25 cents flat to 12 cents flat? Did you only charge them half > your normal pitch raising fee? Rust on strings increases the chance > some will break while bringing the piano up to A-440, it does not > dictate tuning the piano flat (well, unless a whole bunch of them > start breaking!). IMHO, hell or high water, bring the darn thing up to > A-440 and be done with it! > > And then take it to the dump. ;-) > > Terry Farrell > > On Mar 19, 2010, at 2:51 AM, Rob McCall wrote: > >> Greetings list, >> >> I went to a tuning today with a new client who had a 1925 Wurlitzer, >> 4'-10" Grand. I couldn't find the model number anywhere. Her kids >> don't play and she wants to sell it. I told her I'd help her find an >> appropriate value. >> >> Being in the beginnings of my second year on the job, I don't do >> many appraisals. Is there a standard method(s) of determining >> value? How does one go about finding the value of a piano such as >> this? Aside from looking on eBay, Craigslist, etc... Also, does >> anyone have any experience with this model and an idea of what the >> range in value may be for this piano? >> >> It tuned nicely, although I left it about 12 cents flat due to the >> condition of the strings (appeared to be in the rusting stage!) and >> the fact that it hasn't been tuned in at least 4-5 years. It was >> about 25-30 cents flat to begin with so I brought it up halfway to >> see how it does. >> >> The case is in very good shape, although the insides need a good >> cleaning, which I have scheduled for next week. The dowels (outer >> ones) that hold the screws which hold the lyre in place are loose >> and need to be fixed. I've attached a photo of that plus an overall >> shot. >> >> She doesn't want to spend any extra money fixing it up or I would've >> recommended a restringing, the lyre work, and the deep cleaning, >> plus some minor key finishing work and key leveling. She wants the >> tuning, the lyre work and the cleaning to make it salable. >> >> Any input would be appreciated. Thanks... >> >> Regards, >> >> Rob McCall >> >> McCall Piano Service, LLC >> www.mccallpiano.com >> Murrieta, CA >> 951-698-1875 >> >> >> <IMG_0760.jpg><IMG_0761.jpg> >> >> > >
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