I'll be right up front that I'm not a piano appraiser. And most old uprights I see in my area are way past their usefulness and not worth the effort on rebuilding.

But I was asked to look at a Steinway upright the other day and give an approximate value on it.

Serial number is 73176 which my piano atlas shows to be built in 1891.

It's in remarkably great shape for it's age, so has had major work done most likely in the 1990's.

The folks are wanting to sell it because of an upcoming move and wanting to know a fair price to ask. And I just don't know.

In a larger metropolitan area it might sell at a nice price, or might not. But here in no man's land I'm not sure it would sell at all.

Here is a link to some pictures of it. It plays well, has a nice warm tone.

http://s13.beta.photobucket.com/user/go2momteam/library/Steinway%20Upright

Is it impolite to ask for help in giving the owner a fair market value on this piano? If this is the wrong place for this thread or it is wrong in general, please move it or delete this thread.

Thanks,

Roy

I'm no expert by any means, but I have been watching a number of old Steinway uprights lately just out of curiosity.

This one has been listed in Tucson, AZ for months, started at $3k now down to $1500 still no takers.
http://tucson.craigslist.org/msg/3651871695.html

These three in Kentucky all from the same dealer have also been listed for a couple of months with the price slowly drifting downward.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steinway-Upright...=item1e782145ac
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steinway-Upright...=item1e7653fd05
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-Steinway-Up...=p2047675.l2557

And lastly here's a remarkably similar one that sold 2 months ago in Missouri for $525.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steinway-Piano-/...=p2047675.l2557

Speaking not as an expert but a marginally savvy shopper, here would be my thought process. This one looks quite nice inside, probably restrung and partially restored (but still very old) action, outside cosmetic condition is not great (particularly keys). The work done inside is very nice, but without details and history it doesn't add a lot of value for me. That and the cosmetic condition will probably keep it off the radar of most of those looking for a deal on a Steinway upright (unless maybe they are looking for a good rebuild candidate). Either way that's going to hurt the potential value, and mean you're more likely to get someone shopping for a cheap upright that's captivated by the Steinway name and sound.

My unscientific gut feel is they might get $1500-2000 if just the right buyer eventually came along, but $1000 is probably more realistic, and they might still have to wait.

Best of luck to you and to them,

Rob

Those are great pianos, perhaps some of the best uprights ever built. However, they are as expensive to restore as a grand, and the pin blocks are difficult to replace.
$500 is what I have seen playable ones fetch. Maybe $1,000 if the right buyer comes along, but it really depends on the pinblock and verdigris questions.
Regards,

Thanks guys. Maybe some others will chime in. So far it's about where I expected, but I needed to ask to make sure.

Yes, in the current market, that's a $500 piano. It's unfortunate, but that's what the economy has done to the used piano market.

I sold one last year on consignment which was a very plain 1887 Steinway upright which was shipped by train originally to Murfreesboro TN and sat in the same spot until we took it in and sold it. It was in the store for approximately two weeks and sold for 6000.00. It was un-restored but very well taken care of and now celebrity owned and played so it is possible to sell them that way if they are really nice .
I distinctfully remember the transaction clearly due to the owner wanting his take in five dollar bills and having to get them sent over from the main branch of the bank.

Now having said that we took our semi's to Washington DC in 2011 and picked up 50 Steinway & Mason Hamlin uprights along with another 20 something grands and a truck load of other piano related stuff from one retiring rebuilder, some of those were awesome to say the least as in I just want to keep them all but bills always call on me.

The rebuilder stated he tried to sell them for well over a year before calling on us . Geographics seem to have a lot to do with it.

Really I think it just depends, right person right time and they have to sound good. Here in Nashville sound wins over looks almost every time.

However, Nashville has celebrities. I would bet that they are few and far between in Ranger Texas.

Roy - your avatar is great!

The guy in Kentucky is in the Cincinnati area. So, it's not like he's out in the middle of nowhere. Ok, maybe it is

It's just hard to get much out of uprights, no matter what the brand. It's too bad.

I sold an 1887 Steinway V a few years ago for $3600. Nice Rosewood case. I put new hammers and keybushings on it, but that was about it. It had a nice ivory keyboard. The strings and tuning pins were all original. The tuning pins were still very tight. The lady would bought it had played alot of new pianos, and thought that it easily sounded better than any of them.

It's a shame. Probably a nice instrument. Probably better than most new pianos that sell for thousands.

Well restored, these instruments fetch good prices from the right person. I sold both of mine to internationally known artists. $8,000 for the first one, it had a killer finish and had been rebuilt from the shimmed board on out. New action, original block was 120 in/lbs with 3/0 pins.
The other went for half of that, since it was all redone inside, but the outside finish was original. It is now in a recording studio as the main instrument. Gets rave reviews from the Americana crowd that records there.

An 1887 Steinway 49" tall would be an E. This piano looks like an F. They were replaced by the V and K, respectively.

I appreciate the input and will pass along what I have been told.

If I were looking for an upright, and had the money, this is one I would latch onto. But my wife might shoot me if I come home with another piano. LOL Even if it is a Steinway.

The piano in question is dated from 1891. The height hasn't been specified. Roy has indicated that it has had some previous work done and is in "remarkably great shape for it's age."

Considering the location, and my lack of knowledge of the area, my gut is saying ~$1K OBO. If someone is shopping for a "Name," the keys will be a drawback. I am assuming it will be sold "as is."

It looks like it has been cleaned inside, but nothing substantial has been replaced. It still has the original copper and iron wound bass strings.

You may be right BDB, but up close and in person, this piano just looks too clean for it to be over 100 years old with little or no work. Who ever cleaned it, did it right.

It plays and sounds as though it may be only a few years old.

You can tell it's had work done when you see it in person, but my picture taking abilities aren't very good.

I'll pass the information along and let them decide what they want to do.

One thing that may contribute to it's over all lack of typical rust and worn fabric and felt is that for the majority of it's life it was in Colorado. It came to Texas around 12 years ago.

Perhaps the climate there helped protect it.

Thanks again to all for the input.

Here's a "plainer" style S&S, but being a 1904, a couple years newer. I was surprised at its condition and what I thought seemed like a pretty reasonable asking price.
I haven't gone to see it, but I admit I was tempted. Since they believe the keys were replaced sometime around 1950, does that mean they likely might still be ivory? They look pretty nice, but it's too hard to tell anything.
Surely doesn't seem like it would need much cabinet work.

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/msg/3673693964.html

Everything looks original to me. If it lived its entire life in Colorado this makes sense, as the wood wasn't subjected to wild humidity swings - and the wood could remain somewhat light in color because of that dry environment. What parts do you think were replaced?

I love these pianos, have 2 in the clientele and even with all-original actions and strings (that need replacing) they still both exhibit incredible sound and personality.

I wouldn't be surprised if the board and bridges are fine as-is. Might just need restringing, new action parts/hammers and key rebushing.

Not to forget Steinway model R with the double plate, which could be seen at the back. I always thought model T was the precursor to the K.

The R was on the Titanic.

Some of these "all original condition" Steinways and Bechstein verticals can be surprising .

But so rare ....

Also a piano that kept his condition because it was not played (much), will it keep it once someone begin to play seriously on it ?

Good grief, a Steinway upright, for as little as $500 (£300), to see such around here would be beyond belief! In fact to come across ANY Steinway upright here would be amazing!

Seeing a Steinway upright, or Steinway pianos of any kind in my little neck of the woods is kind of rare. I'm about 60 miles from the nearest big city, if you consider 100,000 people big. 90 or more miles from Ft. Worth/Dallas area. In the middle of no where is where I am.

I've sat down and played this piano. If it were mine, I wouldn't do much of anything to it except tune it and play it. Original Ivory key tops with a few towards the bass end with some chips.

The tone is excellent, and while it does need tuning, it is quite playable as is. Lots of power if you want it. Plays easily from pianissimo to forte.

I'll be talking with the owner this week and will see what she wants to do.

Thanks again for the advise, observations and values. Certainly a big help.

Roy

Yes Dan, the T was the precursor to the K.