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Here are a few ground rules:įirst thing to remember, ANY piano is basically worth something or nothing as a musical instrument not as an antique. The challenge for any genuine rebuilt piano is to outperform its original condition when new and to compete with and hopefully surpass anything that is currently being manufactured as brand new in its size, certainly a tall order, but one I have actually seen realized here and there.
![chickering aeolian player piano sherman clay and co chickering aeolian player piano sherman clay and co](https://carpentersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SKU-C-1276.jpg)
The result was many fine pianos which over time have worn out and in some cases have been considered for restoring or rebuilding, two words which have very distinct and definite meanings to me.Ī restored piano is one that has been made playable, a rebuilt piano is an old piano that looks sounds and plays like it's brand new. There was a confluence of the right materials, craftsmen and market. The Golden Age (1875-1932) of American piano making was a time when the piano had few competitors in the home entertainment category. From this line down is all David Burton:Īs a service to the folks on this forum I decided to list some of the better names of "Golden Age" American piano makers so that those who own them know what they have and may decide or not to sell or refurbish or rebuild them. Thanks to David Burton for his remarkable post. Rickster posted this great link, I'm just pasting what was posted earlier. I'm pretty much only talking American made grands here, not really uprights. Lets say you put $10,000 into a quality vintage piano and got it working like new, would you have a better piano than what is currently on the market for $15,000+? My theory is that if you could find a quality piano that is near worthless because of name recognition and have that piano rebuilt to like new, you would have an instrument that is better than most of the new stuff for sale now that would cost much more. My point is, what pianos would make good candidates for restoration, not from a monetary standpoint, but from a quality musical instrument standpoint. I'm thinking about brands like Steinert, Fischer, Sohmer, and I'm sure many others that made excellent instruments. Some, of course, didn't survive the great depression, but many didn't survive the quality Japanese imports that started around 1960.
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I'm talking about pianos made from say around 1900 through about 1960. Besides the well known brands listed in the title, what were the best quality vintage American made pianos. I did a forum search and haven't seen this topic discussed in some time, although there are lots of treads that contain variations of this subject.