Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum 1935 Steinway Model V - looking for advice

Hi there,

We are buying an upright piano for my wife (who plays a lot) to play and my young son to learn on. We went to a local piano shop with an open mind expecting to look at a few new and a few newish second hand pianos but ended up loving the feel and sound of a 1935 Steinway model V. The asking price (~£8k) is a bit more than we had expected to be paying but it felt like a lovey piano and appeared to be in good condition, from a reputable dealer. However, we don't know very much about piano aging and maintenance. Would we be taking on a significant ongoing liability for maintenance and replacement parts, meaning that the extra cost isn't just in the upfront price but also something we have to consider as an annual cost? Is there anything else we should worry about or check before buying such an old piano?

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Has it been rebuilt? Do you get a warranty with it?

Greetings,
From my experience, the soundboard, bridges and pin blocks on these older Steinways are almost indestructible. You would want an assurance that the tuning pins are all sufficiently tight, and none are below 80 in/lbs.

The major concern is in the action. You should ask the seller if there is, or has been any treatment for, a verdigris problem. This is a corrosion residue that is almost unique to Steinways. It causes the action to begin freezing up, and there are temporary fixes, but ultimately, most verdigris actions I have seen will begin to fail. The only sure fix is replacement.
Regards,

£8,000 for a 1935 Steinway upright is a fairly normal price from a dealer. I would want it to have a reconditioned action as Ed Foote has said (or a replacement action - even better - but I doubt at that price it will have).

Rarely do Steinway uprights require a new soundboard so if it has a good tone just now, that's a good sign.

In your situation however, I would look at some new pianos for the same price. At that level you can buy a Yamaha YUS1 or YUS3. I would also go to Blüthner and look at Rönisch and Haessler uprights - very good hand built German pianos that are made by Blüthner craftsmen in the Blüthner factory in Leipzig.

I would also go to Peregrine's Pianos near King's Cross and inspect the full range of Schimmel pianos - they have all three tiers of Schimmel pianos in stock so there would be something in your price range.

I would go to Steinway Hall themselves and try out the Boston uprights - some of them can be beautiful pianos, and then finally I would go to Jacques Samuels and try some of the Grotrian and Kawai uprights. It's likely that the Grotrians will be outwith your budget, but the Kawais won't be.

If the action of the Steinway you are looking at is in good condition, and you are happy to pay the £8,000, then go for it but personally I wouldn't want to pay more than £5,000 or £6,000 for an 80 year old Steinway upright.

Thank you all so much for the very helpful replies! We feel like we know more of what to ask if we decide to go with the Steinway, but I think we need to try a few more pianos first. Thanks Joe80 for the great recommendations - we'll try some of those. We did try some Kawais already and quite liked a few, but they were a little on the bright side for our personal preferences, especially compared to the warm, rich sound of the Steinway.