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Hi all,

Question for all you dealers and gurus. I have a friend that is looking at a used Zimmermann baby grand (appx 4'5") from a 3rd party. He had me take a look at it because he doesn't play nor does his wife or kids, but they want a "first piano" without spending a lot of $$$.

Now I did some research on Zimmermann from this board and from Larry Fines' book, and I got the lowdown on what to expect. It's not a "Bechstein Zimmermann" as it was made in 1987 before Bechstein took over Zimmermann, so the quality is going to be not that great.

The piano looks nice. (kind of a walnut gloss) pretty much like new. It was purchased by the current selling owner in 1990 her in So Cal and has barley been played. Having said that, however, it was far from perfect in that I noticed a great deal of dust under the string bed, and it was greatly out of tune. The action seemed ok in that it was even across the keyboard; however, the biggest problem I noticed was that some of the key dampers in the mid range were twisted many degrees to the left in relation to the strings and thus would rub against each other and not reseat to dampen the string. When I gently twisted the dampers back to the correct position there was little resistance. It seems to me as if the metal rod connecting the damper to the wooden riser on the underlever wasn't seated firmly. It's as if the hole expanded around the metal rod allowing it to rotate slightly.

Other than that, it seemed ok. Going from Larry's book, I checked the soundboard for cracks as well as the pin block and all looked great from that perspective.

So the question: based on what I've written, can someone (specifically you dealers) give me a ballpark as to what it might be worth? I know that is perhaps a hard question, but I'm just looking for a reference point just so my friend has some clue. I also know that a tech would have to do some work on the dampers (perhaps more) so that would be a cost for him to consider also, but if the seller just wants to get rid of it, my friend will be able to have some knowledge of price.

Sorry for the long post but thanks for the help!

Karl

Hi Yellowjacket

Unless this piano will be used strictly for decorative purposes, I would strongly advise you to avoid it. It's furniture value might be 2-4k. Its musical value is practically nothing.


Good luck

yeah...but its historic-sentimental value of a state long gone....

....may be high!

[for some..... ]

norbert

Thanks Keith (and Norber ) for the reply. Any idea why the dampers were tweaked? Is that something that just happens on cheaper pianos? Have you ever heard of that happening before? I only ask because I'm curious more than anything.

My first feeling of the piano was to forget it and I told my friend that unless the guy is practically giving it away to just go elsewhere.

Thanks for the input.

Karl

Yellowjacket,

don't buy this piano! It is junk, was junk when new and will always be junk, no matter what work will be done to bring the dampers back to work.

First problem, it is too small. Second problem: it was made in East Germany in the town where I live. I have seen many of these baby grand pianos and I never found one single Zimmerman (or related) piano that I considered a musical instrument. They were bad in all aspects (except for the finish which sometimes looked quite acceptable). Inferior materials were used, in combination with bad workmanship in combination with bad designs.

Actually, if someone offerd me such a piano for free, I wouldn't take it. It's not even worth to pay the money for moving it.

Best regards,
Jens

yellowjacket There is a reason zimmermann pianos are no longer sold in the USA. They were an inferior design, Inferior materials and inferior workmanship. They were terible when they were new and will not improve with age and the small size is not condusive to a real piano sound. They sound weak and thin, and have very little use as a musical instrument. Typical East German lack of workmanship. The Samick pianos made in Indonesia are a better quality piano. Even the Chinese pianos are better. Pass on the Zimmermann

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I was already going to tell my friend to just pass on this one. I was more curious about others experiences with this piano and about how much it could be worth given the shape it is in.

Thanks,

Karl