Art Reblitz pretty well covered the subject (I enjoy his writings
greatly).  But, if I may, I would also add this.

I can also fully appreciate someone having their piano rebuilt for
sentimental reasons, even if it wasn't the best example of pianos in
its day.  Maybe it belonged to Grandma, and many people would like to
keep grandma's player in the family, and working again, even if it
costs more than it's worth.

Case in point: I paid $450 for an oval door art case Foster & Co. piano
#36803 with no pneumatic stack and a bad pinblock.  The truth of the
matter is that the piano wasn't worth hauling home.  I drove all the
way to Boca Raton FL to retrieve it.  It was in very sad shape.

Why?  It was sentimental.  The piano itself offers nothing special.
This cabinet style of piano is fairly rare, and my best guess is that
there were only 500-600 units built, being made 1912 to 1913.  This was
right at the end of the Victorian era, that saw heavy carving on
pianos, and just a year or two from the boring "common square" player
case era.  If you seen one, you've seen them all (Ho hum!).

In any advent, this style of Foster (I wish I knew the model name) is
probably little or no more valuable than any other player.  I will buy
any example of this Victorian art style of player piano, no matter what
it's condition.  So if any of you find one, you know there's a sucker
in Missouri that's willing to buy it.  (It would be nice to find one
that was in reasonable unmolested shape and complete for a change)!

As I endeavored to rebuild the piano, I realized this was going to
take me deeper inside a piano than I had ever been before.  The piano
had so much water damage that the strung back had fallen apart and was
rotting.  I managed to locate another strung back, but the replacement
also needed a new pinblock.

The job was a success.  It has held pitch for six months, and hasn't
exploded yet, so far, so good.  I also had to build new sides and
bottom legs from scratch.  What an education!

So to the dismay of both the purists, and the people who only look
at the dollar value of a piano, I have done a very foolish thing.
I have invested over $1600 in this unit, and I am not even 50% finished
with it.  It's either a labor of love or I've gone insane (I'm not sure
which).

So, in conclusion, sentiment has a strong affect on this hobby too.

Andy Taylor
Tempola Music Rolls