I played a 1929 Mendelssohn baby grand for ten years, but that piano is in no way available to me anymore. I got an electric keyboard as a gift one year to try to somehow fill the void, but it just doesn't have the same soul. I am not a wonderful piano player, but the more I don't play, the more and more I miss it. So I have 5,000 saved up, and looking around on the internet, I have completely fallen in love with the old Victorian style grands and baby grands, which are not abundant in the midwest. The ones that are here, are far beyond my budget. I have never spent this much money on anything before, so I have a couple of questions about some apprehensions that I have.
I'm interested in the Victorian European styles, many of which have manufacturers that are hard to find information about. Does anyone know of a good resource to find information about Josef Koppl or Thomas Draxler piano makers, or for that matter, any old or foreign piano makers?
How does one know for sure the quality of pianos these piano makers pumped out? And if a piano has been rebuilt, does the quality of the original piano maker still make a difference?
Would it be plausible to get an old piano in decent shape (I understand that many old pianos are far from perfect without expensive rebuilding) and play it until I have enough saved up for possible larger future repairs?
The pianos I love the most have a tendency to show up in California, would it be foolish to find a piano technician near the piano and have him inspect it and send me a video of the inspection processes and the piano being played? Or would that be considered rude? Or do I need to wait until summer when my schedule is more flexible and make the trip out, which would cost me roughly 1,000 for a flight for two people?
Would it be wiser to ship or move a piano cross-country? I've poked around a bit and found that shipping would be considerably cheaper, and possibly safer for the piano. So my other question is this: if the latter is correct, then why are there cross country piano movers?
I am currently looking at these two:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msg/1068552720.htmlhttp://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/1070664241.htmlThank you for your time and expertise!