Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Buying a Bosendorfer. Need some advices.

If you are moving to the UK in one year you are just better off waiting and buying over there. More selection, more experts and you will save money.

just realized you already made your purchase. Congratulations.

Your 5 year warranty will be one year then.
Air freight (quick and expensive) and sea freight (slow) are options and you will need to spend money on crating very carefully and delivery at both ends. Get good insurance - we all know of handling accidents.
This is not going to be cheap.

In your shoes I would not have bought the Bosie if I were moving in a year and would have sourced one in the UK. You would save a shed load of costs and exchange rate is currently strongly in your favour. Back out of the deal if you can and start again.

If you can't start again get the dealer you bought from to arrange UK shipping and customs clearance.

Some export info.

http://www.gersonrelocation.com/news/article/moving-ivory-and-pianos-with-ivory-keys-to-the-uk/

Thanks guys. These input are really helpful. Looks like have to get the certification.

I can't refuse to buy this Bose because it looks around 95% new! Everything in the Bose are original maintain untouched. I am afraid I can't find another one like this condition at this price in the UK. So, I ask myself many times will I regret or not if I give up. In case I will regret, so I bought it.

I'm still original as well. I wish some bits had been renewed.

I'm thrilled for you Lucas. I bought my Bösendorfer 170 new and have not regretted it. I love it immensely and feel it has helped me tremendously.

If you move it to the UK, in my opinion you should definitely use air freight. Mine was only out of my site for two days when I moved it from Europe to the US. If you move it on a ship it could get water damaged and be out of your sight for a couple months. For the best information on moving it, you should contact Bösendorfer in Vienna and get their invaluable input. I have gone to Bösendorfer for master piano classes for three years and know they are experts at moving their instruments all over the world. They are wonderful people and would be happy to help you.

If you want to send me a private message with questions, please feel free. We could discuss as well if you like.

All the best / Steve




Steve
Bösendorfer 170

Many things and including pianos are shipped via ocean, it is very unlikely to have water damage or any other damage. Expect to spend an additional 4K USD for air freight. Either way it should be insured.

Miquel, I certainly respect your opinion, although I know of an individual who's Steinway was totally destroyed by water damage when the ship was subject to high seas between Venezuela and Miami. The piano tipped over and was soaked with water. It had been a family heirloom.

My company was generous and approved the airfreight. I'm very thankful and thrilled they did. Bösendorfer shipped a container from Vienna to Brussels to house it in. It arrived in the US with no damage two days after it left Brussels. In any case, in my opinion, it is best to consult with the experts working for Bösendorfer in Vienna. They really know what they are doing.

Kind Regards, Steve
Bösendorfer 170

have a technician look at it. My tech who was working for Bösendorfer in Austria for 25+ years told me that some models from the eighties do have issues due to some experimentation they did back then

The quality control standards at Bösendorfer are very very rigorous. To insinuate they did experimentation that caused problems is over the top.

So if your tech looked at one, they could actually conclude there is an issue with it due to experimentation? How ridiculous.

Steve
Bösendorfer 170

We all love the pianos we choose for ourselves... but I think you have misread the post. His tech did not just look at one Bosie but worked at Bosendorfer for 25+ years in order to come to the statement.

No offense, but do we really know what happened at any piano company 30 years ago? Only if you worked there during that period.

Any piano manufacturer, no matter how great, can make a mistake in design or materials. I don't think many would deny that Boesendorfer is one of the absolute best pianos on the planet. Quite a while ago, when Fine actually ranked pianos within each tier, Boesendorfer was #1 within the highest category.

Steinway, certainly no slouch, had the teflon problem. And I do know that some Boesendorfers(don't know from when or how many)had a string breakage problem because my tech told me about one he had tuned. He was mortified when he broke three(?) strings while tuning a Bosie and only later found out that some of them of that vintage had this problem in common. Did that change my opinion of Boesendorfers? Not at all.

I know that some Masons from the early Burgett years had case problems. My guess is almost every piano maker has built pianos with issues at some point.

I tend to agree - it's not realistic or correct to assume that every single piano that a maker has produced is equally fabulous or successful, throughout that company's history. For that matter, many of the great makers have decades, a model or two, or periods of ownership where things weren't optimal. I cannot think of a single maker where I've loved every single piano I've ever tried...

Thank you very much! This is very great idea to contact them to get some shipping info.

Congratulations on your new piano. I'm not much of a pianist and surely do not need a piano of the quality I have, but I love the way it looks and feels and sounds. I believe you'll be just as happy.

There's another 200 in Tucson. That one is from 1985 several pics but sketchy info otherwise.

The 200 for sale here in Chicago that I have tried, a 1972 model, now lists on the we for just under $30k.

And there is the large Ohio dealer selling a "Brodman by Bosendorfer". Did not hone Bosie had a subsidiary., other than Yamaha (humor intended).

By the way, congratulations on acquiring a great piano. May it bring you many years of joy.

Thank you all. It is very joyful playing the Bose at home.

I just found out it seems no way to legally export my piano with ivory keytops nowaday. The US Fish & Wildlife Sevice website shows that they can only issue the permit to something over 100 years old! Looks like the only way to ship this Bose to the UK is to remove the ivory!

Any other ideas?

Lucas, you may well be able to export your Bosie intact under the "de minimis" exceptions found in the recently adopted USFWS regs. Importing it into the U.K. Is another matter. This is why working with a specialist in export/imports is essential. I would also reach out to Bosendorfer to verify the manufacture date and date the piano was shipped to the US

I'd say you should start making contact with local technicians to get a quote for installing new keytops. There are very nice mineral plastic tops that feel very similar to ivory. I don't think it will change your relationship to the piano - but it does cost a bit of money to get it done well. I thought about a piano in another country that had ivory keytops and there was no legal easy way to do it. Just forget the ivory.