Hi.  I thought I would get in my two cents about old upright pianos,
(which is about all it is worth)!

I have, at present, a Kimball foot pump 88-note player upright, which
I learned the ins and outs of rebuilding player pianos on.  It took
about five partial rebuilds and a last full rebuild to get it right.
It got the full treatment, with new tuning pins and some pin block work
as well as sounding board work.  New strings, hammers and all felt
parts were included.  All pouches and valves were replaced.

The lead tubing was replaced with rubber, and in the process I in-
stalled a reproduction Standard tracker bar and tracking regulator to
replace the manual tracker.  The finish (limed oak, I am told) was not
half bad; this was surprising for a piano purchased new in 1916.  It
was purchased by my grandfather.

The piano had a problem of the brass damper flanges snapping, so
I machined a set from stainless steel and they have never broken again.
This piano has the lightest touch I have ever come across.  Definitely
a keeper, and it walks through the usual test roll without a whimper.

The second piano is a Franklin Ampico A upright which had a good
sounding board and pins, but got about everything rebuilt else
including a refinish.  I regulated it by the (reproduction) Ampico
manual.  It works as well as any Ampico A I have seen.

The point of this rather lengthy dissertation is that I looked at some
new (and expensive) pianos the other day, and I wouldn't trade either
old upright for the lot of them.

Certainly someone must be making a decent piano out there somewhere,
but you don't see many of them in the piano showrooms.  Best to all of
you.

Jim Cook