Traffic at the Pianola Shop -- Piano-menders have to eat

Just paid a visit to Dave Dibley at the Pianola Shop in Brighton.
He has been receiving MMD but through pressure of work has had to
un-subscribe, which I suppose is good news of a sort.

Dave has ten rebuilds on at present, plus any number of short-notice
piano moves which help to fill in the quieter moments.  The thing I
always find strange is that he sees so many player-pianos that even the
more unusual ones excite no especial notice.

In his shop for attention at present are no fewer than three Weber or
Steck Duo-Art uprights, a magnificent Bluethner/Hupfeld upright with
reversible 65/88n tracker-bar and a 1970s Ivers and Pond Standard
action console.  Oh yes, and a Chappell PianoDisc upright !

None of the controls work on the Hupfeld except the tempo/reverser
lever.  Someone has flattened all the lead tubes to them with a
hammer.  The piano has been well maintained, though, and is a pleasure
to play.  You don't meet uprights quite like this in America, but
I suppose the nearest equivalent would be one of those middle-1920s
Steinways where they got everything right, or maybe a top-of-the-range
Gulbransen.

The Ivers and Pond was a real surprise to me.  I saw a few of the
Aeolian-American 1960s consoles when they were brand new and in the
humid climate here none of them played properly even in the showroom.
This animal was, in contrast, both a really good upright and a
thoroughly traditional player with everything neatly fitted under the
shaped cover.

The only clue to its age apart, from the case design, is the tracking
and pedal primary valves which are encased in transparent plastic;
David likes being able to see whether valves are working, but hates
them for the plastic nipples which break easily.  The piano was in
somewhat jerky working order when it came in and will need only the
slightest of attention to be made available at a very attractive price.
As usual, the price reflects the work that has been put in as much as
the instrument itself.

I was playing the Bluethner when a couple, seeing me through the
window, came in off the street and began asking questions.  I was doing
a fine sales job on it when David came up from his sanctum below with
precisely the manner of a spider detecting activity on the web and
quickly established that their make-or-break price was about =L=300
($500).

Indigent player traders hate making cheap sales, not so much for the
cheapness as for the damage it can do to their reputation.  A low-value
sale can't be managed unless the instrument is poor or the minimum of
work has been done on it, or both.  Such an instrument will certainly
be the subject of dissatisfaction relatively quickly and this must be
made entirely clear in the pre-sale discussion.  Even this is not proof
against the piano being sold on and immediately generating you a
reputation as a cheapskate.

But piano-menders have to eat.  David smoothed them over to a rather
dull looking Weber 88n upright and said: "This one's a very respectable
instrument, but I'm going to have to do the absolute minimum to it to
come anywhere near your price.  I can have it working and tuned for you
at =L=750, or =L=850 delivered.  Perhaps you can go away and think
about it.  I can tell you when it's been brought to that state and you
can come in and try it, no obligation - though someone else might well
have snapped it up first !" They said they would do just that.

Afterwards David said to me, "a full restoration on that Weber probably
wouldn't ever pay for itself.  You have to keep the serious work for
instruments like the Bluethner which will be a real collector's piece
when it's done and will sell accordingly."

On the subject of the demure Steck uprights sold in Great Britain from
1906 onwards -- which Paddy Handscombe seems to have shown conclusively
were unlikely to have been made there until 1909 and were merely being
claimed as "European" in the middle of World War 1 -- David suggested
that the serial numbers ought to be a clue.  He had seen several he
knew had to have been made at Gotha even though they didn't claim that
origin.

The visit ended with much gossip of a ripeness I cannot repeat here.
David thinks an 88-note pushup could be retailed new for =L=2800
($4600).  His father is no longer incarcerated in the basement mending
stacks.  Restorer X is still irresponsibly withholding his rare source
of bellows cloth.  David is thinking of relocating to south-east London
where, it seems, people are prepared to admit they seriously need
player-pianos.  All grist to the mill.

Dan Wilson, London