There is a saying in Spanish (Colombian, I believe) that translates into something like this:

"A big horse that walks or doesn't walk, is still a big horse".


fingers

We have discussed what rebuilt means ad infinitum. What is someone's labor worth is their business. Maybe the core of the piano cost him next to nil, and maybe he works for $1 an hour. Maybe he's the best tech or refinisher on the planet or...maybe he's the worst. We are living in interesting times my friends. Here in the oil patch, my wife's company layed off around 500 people. The proprietor of the chinese restaurant we frequent told us he will likely close the doors next year because business is off nearly 70% compared to 2 years ago. Maybe the person that is selling this piano is trying to get a few more mortgage payments and keep the wolves from the door. No one knows because no one has seen the piano. So all of the naybobs of negativity have no real hard data to make any kind of reasonable decision. Evaluate each piano on its merits and go from there.

Anything is possible including winning the lottery. If the piano was next door I might look at it, but since it's two hours from the OP snf this was a concern for him, I think he'd be silly to go wothout finding out a lot more first. The odds of it being good are very small IMO.

I would drive a few hours just for curiosity sake. I drove from Texas to Missouri because I was told there was a rebuildable Knabe 9' "priced right" at the end of the road. That was the genesis of my piano hobby. "Silly" would be not going and potentially missing out on a great deal. It all depends on how you would like to spend your time.

Well, I think you're both right; but I think the fact that the seller decided to leave this piano behind, almost speaks for itself.

Big and important point.

In fact that's a big and important point for anything we're thinking of buying -- basically along the lines of, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Most sellers, not being idiots, won't offer to sell something for less than they can easily get from somebody else. So a 9' grand that is being sold for less than 10K.... well, as you said, it almost speaks for itself.

I'd still be curious to check it out.

We went to see it and ended up loving it and buying it.
It was completely restored 3 years ago and it looked pretty much brand new. It sounded lovely - I especially loved the resonant, rich bass.
Since this piano is gonna be used in film production the look of it was important too and its beautiful satin finish and art nouveau detailing will fit in perfectly in the Edwardian setting.
Can't wait to have it delivered!

Congratulations! I guess you should play the lottery also!

haha!
There was a family story behind it. It was bought by restorer's son to practice his restoration skills, but then he had to move out of state and dad was stuck with the project. Apparently the parts alone were 12k.
It's been for sale for 3 years (for much higher price), but since there's not much market for concert grands in Ukiah and since it takes a lot of space they just lowered the price.
BTW, I am 36 year old professional pianist, so I do have quite a bit of piano experience.

Congratulations!

It's not every day that someone on the forums picks up a concert grand!

Pictures! Audio clip!

Yes -- congratulations!!!!!
So, I guess you're saying that even though it might have seemed too good to be true, it's true!

Congrats!

So........are you gonna invite all of us over?

Thanks!
Here are the pics of it from restorer's website:
http://www.spencerbrewer.com/kimball.htm
I wish it was my piano (although I'm very happy with my Yamaha U3), but at least I will get to play it for that film project. I'm thrilled since so far we used a real piece of wonky tonk upright crap.

We are actually gonna film a little documentary of its delivery and me playing it for the first time. It's gonna be posted online. Not sure if it's ok, but I can post a link to it once it up.

Huh....I'm confused.
What do you mean 'wish it were your piano'? Aren't you buying it?

I was buying it for a friend to be used in filming. I'm also gonna play it and teach on it (the above mentioned friend)

It looks like you (and/or your friend) got some kind of a deal there.

OK -- got it!

Cool! That'll be fun to watch. Maneuvering a piano that large is surely tricky. I wonder what the bracing underneath is like.

BTW,I spent months looking for piano, but I focused only on San Francisco and immediate area. I'm glad I expanded my search radius. Traveling to Mendocino was definitely worth it!
We did also a get a brass dolly that was made for this piano.

Since it's so far it will cost quite a bit to have it moved here - $1200. It's going on the fourth floor and the building doesn't have an elevator. Loooong flights of steps, too.

That price for the move still sounds high. Try Ahumada piano movers. They're all over northern Ca. Tell them Charles Lang referred you. They've moved my pianos a few times without scratches; very professional.

Congrats! As I have said MANY times, great deals are out there if you are ready financially and are patient.

If that's high for a 9', then I really got ripped off when my Steinway B was moved.
Granted, it was being moved a lot further (1000 miles), but heck, it was "just" a 'B' -- and I paid over 6K.

Wow!

I could certainly be wrong of course.

Well..... don't think you could be wrong just because of what I said.
But I can say this: At least in the New York area, I would certainly expect to pay about that amount ($1200) for a reputable company to move a 9' piano that distance.

$800 out of $1200 fee is for getting it up to the fourth floor. There are 2 long flights of steps from one floor to the next. The piano weights 1100 - 1200 lbs. The company is very reputable. Didn't want to risk it with somebody cheaper, but not known well to me.

IMO that clinches it -- the moving charge is very reasonable.


Absolutely the smart thing.

It looks like you got a pretty good deal. I've been acquainted with Spencer Brewer since the mid '80s and he's been rebuilding pianos since at least that time. Though I don't know anything about Kimball I can say that Spencer is quite skilled at rebuilding. I saw him bring back an old Steinway that had been stored in a barn and almost sawed in half. He was also a recording artist on the Narada series back then and he's got his own studio now, so I know that he does know how pianos are supposed to sound and feel. I'm originally from Ukiah and was a music student of his business partner Mike Coughenour in their shop, the Ukiah Music Center.

And $1200 doesn't sound like much for a move considering how treacherous parts of 101 can be, and for getting up 4 flights of stairs. I had my 5 foot Cable moved down 1 flight and across Phoenix and it cost be about $200.

Spencer's son got this piano at boys home in Richmond (SF East Bay). It wasn't used there much and it was really beaten up. It makes my heart sing to see an abused piano brought back to life like this. Cheers!