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Hi all,

I have the "opportunity" to buy a Ivers & Pond spinet. It has a few sticky keys, hasn't been played in years & we don't know how old it is (around 1940-50?). I'd call a piano tuner to check it out, but the next one won't be in town (I'm pretty isolated:small island in AK) for several months. Don't know if worth messing with. Any input would be appreciated.

I'm looking for an inexpensive piano for my own use.

Thanks for your time!

Erica

I'm afraid an old spinet such as you describe may not be worth a whole lot, and I'd certainly be afraid to tie into one without a tech's opinion.

Could I ask a question or two? How well do you play? What is the piano to be used for? How do most goods arrive to the island? Boat? Airplane? If plane, what size is normally used? (If the rest of you guys think I'm nuts, I once saw a Z71 unloaded off of a 727 in Kujuac, and that's durn near on the artic circle!).

While I love acoustics, if you are not an advanced player, this is one instance in which a digital might make more sense.

If you would much rather have an acoustic, you might want to arrange a piano shopping trip, and have the piano shipped in to you. Depending upon your budget, there are some very musical, well built smaller pianos on the market such as Charles Walters, that can satisfy most players.

Hi Jolly,

Thanks so much for taking the time, and getting back so soon!

My piano experience is very limited. I see your point about considering an electric in my situation. I have tried out a fairly good electric piano...but just don't like the feel of it.

I just came back from checking out the piano again. There were several items that had fallen into it. Guess what...the keys don't stick now. It's also not out of tune (if so not by much). It's far from perfect: the "pedals" don't work at all, the music stand is missing, there's no bench, a few of the keys are chipped, the finish has all sorts of chips, scrapes, and even a little "ship" that was carved on the cover by a child.

Heck, I think it's worth a few bucks (we've been talking 50-100$). You can't get one shipped here for that! Originally they were going to give it away, but they may be rethinking it all now.

Oh, we do get 727 service here. But most large freight is barged.

I may consider buying one new someday, but if I could get by for a few years on this I'd be happy.

By the way, what do you have (or want to have...?) Thanks again & happy new year! Erica

they should STILL give it away. to you. the pedals not working at all is a big deal, but hopefully can be fixed. it is worth probably nothing, and it won't be long before you are out quite a bit of money having the tech work on it.

of course, the tech may have to tell them this before they are convinced of it. people usually think their old junk pianos are worth a lot more than they are.

if it doesn't work out, i agree you should shop around and maybe use a keyboard in the interim.

I'd be very afraid that this piano is not going to be worth the money you put into it. pique is right, if all the pedals are not working, keys are sticking, tuning is lacking - well, it's pretty apparent this spinet has probably not been well taken care of.

In your situation, here's what I would do: Save a few nickels, and start your shopping this summer. If Norbert(one of our regular dealer friends-Vancouver) is correct, the West Coast now has a lot of used Asian pianos bumping around, many at lower prices than the rest of the country. Perhaps a nice Kawai, perhaps a nice Yamaha, or even something bullet-proof like a nice used Baldwin Hamilton. None of these pianos should be overly expensive (I'm thinking 2-3K budget), and you can have it shipped in via barge.

What kind of piano do I own? I have a Nordiska 165 grand, and an old Briggs vertical. Neither is an expensive piano, but I think both play pretty well. I try to keep them well-maintained, which can make even inexpensive pianos play above many's expectations. Folks on the board run the gamut of piano ownership, from pique's Grotrian, Penny's Schulze Polmann, several Steinways, Petrofs, Estonias, Young Changs, Chickerings, Hardmans, - well you name it, and someone here probably has one, or has had one.

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much for the input. I have to admit it's a bummer, but I'd rather be dissapointed now.

I did find some more info: like it was from 1946 and the plate also says Boston. I also checked out "The Piano Book" based on references from this message board. Although I couldn't find out any specifics about the piece, just knowing more about the company's history was helpful.

I'm starting to see why you are so involved with this discussion board...very interesting!

Take care & keep up the good work.

Much appreciated, Erica