Should we buy it? ‘88 Viennese Classic - 12/04/19 12:56 PM
Just a little background: we are a family of six and our piano is played for 2-3 hrs per day by people with a variety of skill levels. We currently have a 1950s Knabe spinnet. It’s exhausted and we need to replace it. Our youngest is two and it’s possible we’ll upgrade again when we’ve moved out of the little years so the next piano is not necessarily a “forever” piano. We do think however that we can take a big step up from the spinnet.
Now that I’ve set the stage I’ll ask my question. We have been looking at a 1988 Kimball Viennese Classic. My husband went and played it last night and he said it had a gorgeous sound and no obvious issues BUT it’s absolutely filthy and dinged up. It belonged to a church that is closing and it seems like maybe it has been sitting around (literally) gathering dust for quite a while. How concerned should we be about subtle issues he wasn’t able to hear or see last might? If we bought it we would probably have the cabinet cleaned and worked on by a professional and we’ll be talking to the technician who would go over it during that time as well. The piano in its current state (dirty and scratched but with a nice sound) is $500. How risky is this? Keep in mind it’s replacing a 60 year old spinnet that has been played to death.
Now that I’ve set the stage I’ll ask my question. We have been looking at a 1988 Kimball Viennese Classic. My husband went and played it last night and he said it had a gorgeous sound and no obvious issues BUT it’s absolutely filthy and dinged up. It belonged to a church that is closing and it seems like maybe it has been sitting around (literally) gathering dust for quite a while. How concerned should we be about subtle issues he wasn’t able to hear or see last might? If we bought it we would probably have the cabinet cleaned and worked on by a professional and we’ll be talking to the technician who would go over it during that time as well. The piano in its current state (dirty and scratched but with a nice sound) is $500. How risky is this? Keep in mind it’s replacing a 60 year old spinnet that has been played to death.