Broadwood semi-grand piano - value ?

Hi all

I'm looking to buy a piano and found the following in a local music shop:

Broadwood 'Semi Grand' (straight-strung) in good and original condition, it's previous life was with a piano-hire business in London. Age is estimated to be around 1880's.

It seems to play very well with a bright loud sound, but also with plenty of depth. It has been re-strung in the past but this looks to have been a while ago.

It is on sale for 3999GPB (but they will sell it for 3000 GP. To me it sounds better and plays as well as the Yamaha or Kawai uprights they have in the shop for the same price.

Should I be cautious or is this a reasonable price for such an old instrument? Any advice would be most welcome.

thanks

Is the case, veneer in good shape? Is it rosewood?

Fully restored (I mean really fully professionally restored) this piano might fetch 7500 GBP

You might want to get a few more opinions there, Paul. I think it was Mike who said he was planning on a do it yourself job of taking out the plate and knocking the soundboard out of his piano so he can get paint off the bottom of it. Kind of like lifting the body off your car because you need new shocks, but hey, it's his piano. From what I gather around here, a total restoration is gonna cost you in the 10-12K range. Add that to 4K to buy it, and the 7500 figure would be about right for what it's worth when you're done. In other words - it'll cost you twice its value to restore it. And it will have to be restored if you want to use it much.

But that 12K restoration will only cost about 2K in parts! Firstly you said the piano plays well, so it may not need an expensive restoration. Secondly restoration work is partly, and often largely, cosmetic, so this can be omitted or done yourself over time.

I took a lot of shit over my presumptive intention to restore my piano largely myself, but consider this and see if you think I am crazy.

1. I'm now retired and disabled and all I had to spend on a piano was about 2K. This buys nothing from a dealer.

2. I bought my 1926 Schulz that has a good in shape action with new hammers and dampers for $1,400. The pianos bad point is that someone has painted it, in and out, soundboard and all with white household latex paint!

3. The case is already stripped and being resprayed with lacquer and a clear coat. Cost about $120 for paint and stripper and solvent.

4. Yes the strings will likely break when I remove them, but I can buy a 1/2lb roll of piano wire and sub the bass strings for about $300 (in fact the bass strings are tightly wound and I expect them to survive). When the soundboard is re-crowned by tightening or wedging the ribs and the bridges cleaned and regraphited and maybe toped with veneer if the downbearing needs increasing and the pale re gilded and new stencils put on it, then I will pay a tuner to restring it and tune it every month for about 4 months and that will cost me maybe $500, but I probably will restring it myself and tune it with an electronic tuner for the first three times and then get the tuner to set the temper and fine tune so might cost just only $200.

4. Oh I forgot, yes I will put in new chrome pins (the peg board has no cracks) and send the keys of to be recovered.

My total investment will likely be $2500 and I will have had a lot of fun and a piano that I could not buy for less than $5500 here in southern California. And if I screw up, my new piano will still LOOK so good I will be able to sell it to the people who want pretty furniture and then I can look out for another junker.

42 years ago when I was just 10 years old my parent gave me for my tenth birthday present a full size, nine foot rosewood Broadwood concert grand. At that time, being a silly adventurous kid I did not know what a treasure I had and I cut two of all the three unisons and added curtain springs to the remaining one string to make it sound like a harpsichord. Well I had fun and the next year we moved into a smaller house and the piano was 'lent' to the village hall in Mursley, Buckinghamshire, UK (and if anyone lives near there they might check out if it is still there). So you see I have had and lost a lot better things than this Schulz mass-produced golden-age junker.

Cheers, and good luck with the piano.

Haven't priced stuff lately, have you?

I apologize. I thought you were talking about a piano. I didn't realize you were talking about a coffee table. I mean, you can't be talking about a piano if you think it's mostly cosmetic.

Come on..... admit you're a comedian trying out new material.

Phew - gone off the beaten track a little there, but thanks for all your feedback ! I'll bear in mind any restoration costs, but as it's in generally good health I think I can get plenty of enjoyment out of it and it will probably out-last me (and I'm not that old .

cheers all

Yes Paul, I'm an internet price junkie. Is there anything you want a price on?

Here is an example at current prices. To send away all the natural keys to have them recovered in one-piece plastic I'm being quoted about $520. To buy the key covers and do it myself $24 plus $3 for the glue! Again, restringing treble only about $1000. 5 lb of best German bright 14 gauge piano wire with carton dispenser (so you don't disappear into a room of tangled wire) $115.

Mike

Ridiculous. You can get the white keys recapped for 200 bucks just about anywhere.

Are you aware that you'll have to file and shape them to have them all end up looking properly spaced? It's a lot more detailed than just smearing on some glue and putting the keytops on. If that's what you plan on doing, your keys are going to look like sh*t.

Do you plan on stringing the entire piano with 14 guage wire???? Man, that's gonna sound pretty bad, Mike. There's only a few notes that will use 14 guage wire. You'll have to have 18-20 different guages depending on the scale of the piano. You did know they're graduated in half guages ever few notes, didn't you? Are you aware you'll need a micrometer to determine where to switch guages?

I want to hear this piano after you've knocked the soundboard out and glued it back in, wedged the ribs, stuck veneer on top of the bridges, and strung the whole thing with 14 guage wire..........

*That* will be a hoot!

Larry Fletcher Dealer/technician

Doing the work of three men.....Larry, Curly, & Moe