J. Mark - could you also please pm me your Paypal address? your pm box is full.

Looks like it's collection time. Mark: Could you PM paypal info to all who pledged? Some instructions for those who never used paypal (like me) would be nice, too...

pm here too for paypal donations

arriving late to the party, but would like to help out...

pianobroker

OK, I cleaned up my PM inbox (sorry, I didn't realize it was full). And I think I have now PM'd everyone with PayPal and contact information. If you want to contribute but have not received a PM, please let me know.

I will report back as funds arrive. Hopefully we can get this done quick and give pianobroker the green light. Pianobroker, feel free to PM me if you want to discuss specific arrangements to get the shipping costs paid.

Mark

Wow, the funds are pouring in already, folks.



One thing. It occurs to me that your PayPal contributions will likely have your real names associated with them. I may not know your real names, but only your "handle". Please either put a note in your PayPal transfer, or PM or email me to tell me what "real names" are associated with what "handles." Thanks.

Mark

Diane, if you have a credit card or even a debit card - setting up an account on paypay is very easy and instant.
Go to paypals website; it will direct you through.
It is no harder than posting on pianoworld.

Bravo Piano World!

Mike

I've logged a number of PayPal transfers today, thanks to all who have contributed. I will try to link up names to PW handles so I can acknowledge each one of them tonight or tomorrow. We do still need a few more, and even if we go over our goal the money will help make this happen. So please, keep them coming....

FYI I can get you a great price on shipping if it's acoustic.

Folks, we $360.62 in the Paypal account right now, based on contributions from you guys. (Please note, Paypal gets its little "fee" on each one, depending on how the funds were sourced, so there's a few dollars off from that, which I don't mind making up.)

I will add my pledged $50 when it comes out of Paypal (no sense in incurring the fee), and I am told of one check for $50 in the mail, and another check for an amount I'm not certain yet.

So, the bottom line is, we are pretty close to being where we need to be, BUT WE CAN USE A LITTLE MORE, because there are going to be additional costs, certainly. Plus, extra funds will help alleviate the costs to donors providing the piano, and possible services related to the whole thing (shipping, tuning? etc).

So please folks, a few more contributions!?

Parties involved at the piano end: Perhaps take note of USAPianoTrucker's offer....

Do we even know yet what we might be paying the shipping costs for?

I would think that this might be a rather important factor.

In other words...a $500 piano shipped across country might as well be a $500 piano purchased locally.

PianoBroker...have you got something set aside for a donation? If so, what is it? Are you expecting any costs for tuning, prep etc as suggested above?

I do believe that someone as sincere as Brad is well deserving, but I also think that we as a group would contribute more towards that end if we knew just what piano we are contributing the shipping costs for. Yes?

I think last page or the page before he (pianobroker) mentioned a Kawai 48" or 52" upright.
I was looking on craigslist for Baldwin Hamiltons in Kentuky (where Brad is) (and other places so long as the piano + shipping wouldn't be too expensive), but a full-size Kawai is usually a good piano, too.

I will pledge $50.

Mark,

Please send me the paypal address.

If I can get another Vogel owner to pledge $50, I'll double my donation.

If we hit over the necessary shipping amount, let's have Mark hold it to pay for a nice tuning three months or so after settling in the new home. Maybe other work will be needed, so it can still go to good use... or to finding our next candidate.

Piano World members need to sponsor more stuff like this to help the industry. There are a lot of talented young people who just can't afford such an instrument but sure can play.

- J

Thanks, that's great! PM sent.

It looks like we are officially over $500 now, but seriously, we do need a little more here, folks. Trust me that nothing will be wasted -- every penny will be put to a good use in this effort. This is an enthusiastic young person who wants to learn to play the piano. Is there anything more important than that? Well...anything you can really help with $25 or $50, anyway? Step up! Just a few more people and we'll be in the comfort zone for this very noble effort!

Update
My apoligies for not posting recently. Had a couple Steinway deadlines to meet this week. Sally Phillips,retired piano tech,former Bechstein rep.,whom resides in Kentucky has taken it upon herself to make this generous gesture on everybodys behalf something really special.Through a mutual contact, we or she has acquired a reputable piano manufacture to partially contribute a brand new piano to BradKY.
A plus to this situation is that the piano is already at the Keyboard Carriage main hub in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She has also volunteered to drive to BradKY place in Harlan(which is a ways from Lexington)and prep the piano. The manufacture still wants to verify a couple things before it's a go. The piano manufacture at this time wants to remain annonymos for the time being for reasons of their own. The funds collected if this situation happens should be allocated to the piano manufacture, Sally and the local piano mover. The piano delivery to BradKY via a local piano mover from what I've been told is not gonna be easy.I hope I am not premature in disclosing this info in that it is not a sure thing. I will probably know something more concrete tomorrow. I feel everybody involved should know in that it is their hard earned $ we're dealing with. In any event,if this does not materialize
my Kawai uprt. is ready to be dropped off at Keyboard Carriage warehouse in Mira Loma CA to be shipped to Elizabethtown. Maybe we could start qualifying the next needy candidate.

J.Mark I need your paypal address, in that if we pull this off, I would want to make a $ contribution to the BradKY fund myself.

USApianotrucker; If you could PM Sally Phillips, Maybe you could swing a more cost effective price for the piano move from Elizabethtown to Harlan

Folks,
I am not charging anything for my services to prep the piano or my trip down to Harlan. That's the fun of being retired. I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet Bradky and his family. It is really wonderful to know that the passion for pianos is alive and well here in Kentucky. We just need every penny for the move.

I communicated with USApiano trucker and he can really only help with a long distance move via Keyboard Carriage. They don't do the local deliveries. I have located a mover to go down to Harlan. It is about 4 hours (according to Mapquest). The move is where the money will go because it's a very long trip on smaller roads.

I think we can wrap this up in a few days. I am just waiting for the manufacturer to identify a particular instrument at Keyboard.

I will let you all know how we are doing as soon as I know the exact details. We will then give an accounting for the costs involved.

Sally Phillips

Thank you Tony and Sally for communicating this to everyone. I've received a lot of questions and I'm glad you guys are able to fill people in at this point. I had spoken with Sally -- what a great person she is! -- and was waiting for her and Tony to update everyone. (To those who asked questions, sorry for the vague answers...)

At this point, thanks to a few more generous people in the last 24 hours, we have $470 in the Paypal account. Plus I am told of at least $60 in checks coming by mail. Plus I have my $50 to put in. So that comes to about $580. I have also just received a couple more requests for Paypal information, which I will send.

So it looks like we have a little over $600 at this point. I will wait for Sally and Tony to let me know where to send funds. In the meantime, more is always better, so anyone wanting to contribute, please PM me.

Thanks!

Mark

WOW!!!!!!!

I just got a call from Theresa Perry at Hailun.

Thanks to some terrific work by Theresa, their rep Lauren Wallace, Tony at Past Perfect Pianos in Los Angeles,and Matt Grossman at Vintage Pianos in Louisville, BradKy will be getting a new Hailun 123 vertical with full aggraffes and slow close fallboard.

It has really been great working with everyone on this. We didn't want to say anything about attempting to get a new instrument until we had it wrapped up.

I will post more information as I get it about the date of delivery and we plan to get lots of pictures of our trip.

I'm so excited that the terrific people at Hailun felt the same way others did about this. What a great group. And I might also add what a nice instrument. I was in Louisville visiting Matt Grossman a couple of weeks ago and I tried them and I was really impressed with the quality.

I'll keep everyone posted on our progress and I want to give a great big THANKS!!! to everyone who helped with this.

Sally Phillips

Sally, I Have a digital camera. If you have one you might want to take some pictures of your own! Haha AHHHHHHH I cant wait, Wont you give us a small song on the piano?



Looks like a beauty to me!

Great thread. Made me smile when I read it earlier. Thought of something though. . .

Just to be sure, Brady, have you cleared this with your parents???

I'm wondering, because if one of my kids came to me and said, "You know those people online I've been asking for advice on my piano search? Well they've worked out a way to send me a brand new piano."

I might be a little concerned . . .

Mine are much younger, but even at 16, someone might want to inform the "parental units" that a bunch of piano lovers (and a generous company) simply decided to rally around a persistant 16y/o and help him obtain a piano.

Todd

PS) Pianobroker, Hailun seems to have stepped up in a big way, but major kudos to you for being willing to donate a piano and starting this snowball rolling towards Kentucky...

YIKES!!!!!!!

I want one too!

Wow Brad, is this exciting or what?

From a stored outside under the porch piano to a brand new one?

You must be so thrilled.

Now...remember, we don't expect you to be playing in Carnegie Hall in 2 years, but do hope you keep in touch with us over the years on how your musical education is doing. And don't forget to join the Adult Beginner's Forum for further encouragement.

I can't wait to see the pics and the smile on your face!

LL

T2,

I have talked with Brad's mother. She is just thrilled. She said she was so impressed that there are people in the world who would do this for her son. He has been playing the small keyboard for years. They are so grateful.

I also spoke with Brad. He seems like a really nice kid who is very excited about all of this. I can't wait to go down.

Part of the reasoning for the new piano is that there is not a lot of tech help there and we were afraid that an older instrument would be too difficult to maintain.

Sally Phillips

Congrat, Brad!

See, how'd the "please don't give up!" work?

Thanks Sally, I'd already contacted J.Mark. The thought occured later.
Todd

Well, whatever the Dow says today, Hailun stock just went up in my eyes.

A happy ending for all!

Toddler2
I am a Hailun dealer in Southern CA. I am as picky as they come as for obtaining a new line.
We got high standards in what we sell and Hailun
got my vote after playing them at Namm.

I still have this Kawai preowned uprt.ready for our next needy future pianist.
Put your thinking caps on as for qualifying our next victom.

pianobroker, that gives me an idea... what about the "Get 88Key the Rubenstein R-371" fund?

lol j/k! (although I would like a piano like that someday, but I like a brighter tone than what it had when I played it earlier this year at NAMM - preferably like a 1950s Baldwin Hamilton above the bass/tenor break. The bass was really nice, though.)

I'm looking for a piano to replace one myself, but I'll let you decide on someone else for the Kawai. :p (Nothing against Kawais, FYI, it's just not what I'm looking for.) I guess I'll just have to scrap some cash ($0-300?) together and get myself a pre-1956 Hamilton to tide me over until I can build myself a piano.

from John Delmore
Couldn't agree more. I already liked the pianos, but now for me there's something special about the maker as well.

Great unselfish work by Tony the Broker too. I have to think that Tony did a little behind-the-scenes work with Hailun, along with committing himself to providing a piano copletely on his own if need be.

Sally Phillips deserves a ton of credit too, although I'm sure she will not look for any. A plan is nothing without someone to pull it all together.

And Mike (MDS Durango) for first pointing out how it would be a good thing to help a young guy get on a worthwhile musical track.

And Ken Knapp for organizing all the materials from Brad's threads into one thread, and posting it at the top of the first page

And J. Mark for handling all the tedious details of bookkeeping pro bono.

This is a great story. Lots of winners, no losers. Brad is one lucky young dude!

Congratulations Brad!!

Brings tears to my eyes. . .

Seriously!

to all contributers and especially those who did more than just send money.

Put that digital camera to hard use when this all comes together Brad. We'll all want to see the delivery and it final placement with you sitting on a piano bench!


Mike