Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Fair Market Value of 11 Yrs Old Otto Altenburg 48" upright

I'm new here, could anyone tell me how much it's worth? It's in very good condition. I'm looking for a beginner's piano for my 6 yrs old and my friend is looking for an upgrade. I'm not sure if I should buy this used one from my friend or spend 4000 USD on a new avg quality piano, ie. Hallet, Davis & Co. Is Hallet Davis a better quality piano than Altenburg?

An 11 year old Otto Altenburg is a Samick stencil though I kinda think it is a bit more than 11 years old. You might want to check and verify it's serial #. I believe it was manufactured in South Korea or the USA thereabout 1997ish at the latest. If the serial # started with 4 letters than it was prior to the present Samick Chinese manufacture. Now the new Hallet Davis I believe is still manufactured in the Dongbei factory as in China so.... the Otto Altenburg would be the way to go as for quality and price $ for a beginner, intermediate piano. Of course,the purchase of the Otto is contingent on it's condition. By the way How much are they asking ? I may be off a bit on the vintage and location of manufacture.

Thanks so much for your help. The piano is in pretty good condition except the finish of the board next to the cover turns greyish, but the piano is never placed under direct sunlight. I called Altenburg store but they told me the finish is not covered by warranty. The model number is OA 48F with Mah finish. The serial # starts with JJC00 . The purhase price is 2600USD in 1999. The equivalent new model is about 3000-3500USD now. What do you think is the fair purchase price for this used one? It's from a friend and we both not sure what's the fair value for this. Sometimes it gets tricky when buying things from a friend.

The first 2 letters of the serial # designate the year of manufacture. "J" being the 10th letter of the alphabet,I believe the piano was manufactured in 2000. That being said, I'm not sure of it's origin whether it is still of South Korean manufacture or Indonesia. I actually misquoted (prior post) Samick's recent and present manufacture being in China rather than Indonesia.
I can give you more precise info later when in my office.
Either way the piano is only worth $800 max. That finish discoloration is a manufacture defect as with the color pigment beneath the polyester clear coat or there is an air pocket underneath the clear coat. That defect does affect it's present "fair market value". I might be inclined to pass on the piano unless it was $500 and you could live with the discoloration. That discoloration is fixable "in house" if it is restricted just on the arm or a very small area.

After reseaching it a bit, surprisingly the Otto Altenburg 48" and 52" though manufactured by Samick had modified scale designs of their own. They were, in that era comparable to the upgraded "Samick World Piano" series which had a true sostenuto,slow close fallboard,Renner hammers and ?. I've never actually seen one as for the taller uprts. Learn something new everyday So... I would assess it at maybe $1000 contingent on it's internal condition.
My apologies! I hate diseminating inaccurate info.

I'm also learning a lot from your replies. This piano was manufactured in Korea, but it doesn't have slow closing fallboard, not sure about the Renner hammers. I wish I can figure out how to post the pictures here because I have a few pictures I'd like to show you. Thanks.

The problem with stencil pianos is that the piano company, in this case Otto Altenburg can change contracted commisioned piano manufacturers on a dimes notice along with it's features. I believe the issue here is the year of manufacture whereas certain features were not available as in the soft close fallboard and ? I'm baseing my info on 2001. Does it have sostenuto(middle pedal) or Renner hammers which you probably won't know in that most pros possibly wouldn't know either. A pic will possibly tell the tale.

Hi, I went to your website and found this email address info@pastperfectpiano.com. Due to the file size, I had to send a few pictures of this piano to this email acount. Could you please check the email? Have a great weekend.

I got your pics and am actually going to load them on to this post so anyone else can assess your piano. The pics are a bit grainny in that I had to resize them larger. Better than no pics!

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/OttoAltenburg3.jpg
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/OttoAltenburg2.jpg
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/OttoAltenburg.JPG
First of all. It is a beautiful piano!
I believe it was manufactured in the Indonesian factory in that the harp casting is reflective of that Samick factory. It looks like an Indonesian Samick harp.
In that it is of the Indonesian factory, it is or was cheaper cost wise. If it were a Samick it would be a mdl. JS121F which only retailed for $4390 in 2006 selling discounted for ?

As for your faded out fallboard, I believe it can be dealt with fairly easy.
The thing to do is to take the fallboard itself off and drop it off at the refinisher' shop instead of him coming to get it. Cheaper in the long run.
It just needs to be sprayed with a high gloss clear coat in either polyurethane or polyester,sanded and buffed. There was some chemical reaction going on with the materials therefore bleaching the finish out. Hopefully it won't reoccur.

Does your piano have a sostenuto function as for the middle Pedal ?

Maybe a resident Samick dealer here can be of more help!

I think PB gives good advice! And, I agree, it is an attractive piano. I like the French legs.

After having read your thread, I don’t see where you mentioned an asking price. I think Pianobroker’s estimate of $1000 is a good estimate without actually seeing the piano. I certainly don’t think I’d pay more than $1500 (depending on condition).

As a side note, I’ve noticed lately that used piano prices seem to be on the high side. I check out the used piano ads on Craigslist and eBay almost daily as an interest and a past time, and I’ve noticed an upward trend in prices; and, judging from eBay’s completed transactions, they are not selling many of them either.

I’m not in the piano business and don’t have clue what the real market prices are, but I’ve just noticed what seems to be an increase in the usual asking prices of used piano lately. For example, I’ve seen spinets and consoles that are easily 25 to 30 years old that are normally advertized for around $300 are upwards of $800 to $1000. Of course, it could be a surge of sales promotions by all the used piano dealers out there (and there are apparently lots of them).

Best of luck with you piano search!

Rick