Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Fischer Baby Grand Player Piano

Just wondering what anyone thinks of this. (It's not mine.)

http://burlington.craigslist.org/zip/4600892106.html

I don't know about the piano. As an object lesson in how not to take photographs it is very useful.

What to think about it? For what, firewood? I wouldn't touch it without knowing more than the photographs show; even if it is free for the taking, it might be a disaster. It's all about condition.

Regards,

It looks like a Fischer Ampico reproducing piano. It would take a lot of money to restore it, or time and skill, but it could be worth it, if it is an Ampico. Fischer at that time was very much influenced by Chickering, and very close to their level. You could get good results from it as a piano, and the Ampico player was one of the best.

Thank you BDB

As always, BDB is spot on, but so is BruceD.

It is true that this Fischer was a fine quality when manufactured, but I am never encouraged when I hear a piano is being kept in a garage. Condition is dictated by care and "garage kept" is great for a car. For a piano... not so much.

The Ampico is a rare system but that alone will have a cost of 15k or more to have it professionally restored. The piano itself will need many thousands of dollars to restore it as well. This is all predicated on the notion that it has only been in a garage for a short time. A long stay in a garage could mean that the piano is good for little more than firewood.

Sorry if this post seems blunt but the likelihood of resurrecting this instrument is slim. Good luck with your piano search.

Although often garages are better places to keep a piano than in a house. The biggest changes in humidity come from heating the air inside a house, and garages are usually not heated.

In any case, at the price it is worth considering, if you know what you are getting into. It might be like finding the old, but not particularly rare or well-known, car in the barn. It would have value to the right buyer, if it were preserved or restored properly, but people who know how to preserve them or restore them properly are hard to find. If the piano is lucky, it might go from hand to hand until it ends up with the proper person, or if it is unlucky, until it is beyond repair.