Hard question to answer. Juat for comparison, there's a private party in the DC area that's been trying to sell an 11 year old Steinway B (on Craigslist) for quite some time with no luck. The asking price is $47.5K. What are they asking? Steinway Model B Grand Piano (Hamburg) Since 1853 the Steinway & Sons brand has been associated with building and designing some of the worlds best pianos. Steinway can trace its roots back to 1835 when it started as the Grotrian-Steinweg company in Germany. In 1850 Theodore Steinweg (Steinway) decided to immigrate to the United States.
Hand-Rubbed Steinway Lacquer finish. This 1917 Steinway Model B presents a rich sonorous tenor section, bell like treble, and a concert grand like bass, unite to form everyone's favorite Steinway model. Complementing the tonal beauty of this instrument, the case design (considered “modern and progressive” in 1917) is a stunning addition to any home. Restoration work includes: new contoured Sitka Spruce sound board, new solid rock maple bridges, new handcrafted Qm5 Pinblock, completely refinished and meticulously hand lettered harp, all new Steinway plate bolts and screws, premium Steinway music wire, genuine Steinway repetitions, hammer shanks, hammers, under levers, damper felts.
Includes artist bench.
At the Steinway factory, there are several leather-bound log books that hold the records on every piano built by Steinway & Sons since 1853. As pianos are completed, they are serial-numbered and, even today, handwritten into the Steinway archives which list the details of every Steinway piano built.Anyone with a serial number from any Steinway piano can contact Steinway & Sons or their local Steinway dealer for the information on a specific Steinway, including the model, original finish, completion date, and the dealer to whom it was first shipped. The historical records of each and every piano built is just another one of the things that make a Steinway unique.
Used, vintage, and restored Steinway pianos are often prized for their unique beauty and enduring value. However, for years, non-Steinway dealers and unauthorized piano rebuilders have created a great deal of confusion in the piano industry.
Many piano rebuilders use inferior non-Steinway parts, seriously compromising an instrument’s performance and investment value. Built for a Steinway PianoFor more than 160 years, Steinway & Sons has been on a continuing quest to improve the Steinway piano.
Continuous improvement means finding the perfect balance of the many thousands of parts which make up a Steinway piano. When a Steinway piano is rebuilt, it is imperative that Steinway parts be used in this process if the piano is to play and sound as a Steinway should play and sound.A Steinway piano is designed to use genuine Steinway parts, and it performs its best when these parts are used. If the parts are not 100% Steinway, then the piano is not 100% Steinway and its performance and investment value will be compromised. Why do some rebuilders usenon-Steinway parts?Non-Steinway replacement parts used in the rebuilding of a Steinway piano are purchased for one reason only: They are cheaper, both in price and quality. There is no other reason.To the right is a comparison of genuine Steinway parts vs. Non-Steinway parts fora Steinway Model O (5’10”) grand piano.As you can see, there is a significant cost difference between genuine Steinway parts and non-Steinway or “Steinway style” parts and this is the reason why there is such a great deal of confusion when shopping fora used Steinway piano. Guarantee of Steinway PartsShould you decide to buy a Steinway piano not restored by Steinway & Sons,it is recommended that you request,in writing, from the seller, a statement verifying that the piano has 100% genuine Steinway parts and that it can be proven.If the seller doesn’t have a statement with their signature you can download the Declaration of Steinway Parts Authenticity Certificate (PDF). Present this certificate to any seller or rebuilder of a rebuilt Steinway piano and request that they fill it out and sign it to ensure that the piano has genuine Steinway parts.
The very first Steinway & Sons patent was granted in 1857, and since that time, the company has been granted more than 125 additional patents. As a consumer shopping for a used Steinway, it is important to consider when these patents were implemented, how theywork, and what benefits they provide for pianists like yourself. “Strive always to improve the instrument.”It is important to remember that a Steinway piano will only feature the patents preceding the date of its completion. This means that a Steinway grand piano completed on March 5, 1923, will NOT have any of the innovations or advancements developed after that date such as. There are rebuilders, technicians, and non-Steinway dealers who will claim that Steinway pianos built during the “Golden Age” are the best Steinway pianos ever built.
This is a myth that has been around since Steinway started building pianos. Are older Steinway pianos really better than new ones?As the late Henry Z. Steinway, great-grandson of the founder of Steinway & Sons, often said, “Steinway pianos crafted 40 years ago are always from the ‘Golden Age.’ It doesn’t matter which year it is today—1920, 1950, 1980, 2008—the ‘Golden Age’ was always 40 years ago!”.
Why the Myth Exists:There are very few piano dealers that are authorized to sell new Steinway pianos throughout the world (only about 68 in North America) but many piano dealers who can acquire pre-owned Steinway pianos to resell. Since they can’t sell new Steinway pianos, it is to their benefit to advertise that their used Steinway from the “Golden Age” is more desirable than a new one. Artists demand the finest.The myth of the “Golden Age” is easily disproved. Just look at the concert halls throughout the world who cater to the most discriminating pianists of our time. How old are the pianos you are hearing? On average, they are less than 10 years old. If the world’s most prominent pianists felt that pianos from a “Golden Age” were superior to those produced today, we would not see new Steinway pianos on these stages. There are hundreds of companies and technicians who rebuild Steinway pianos.
However, there is only one piano rebuilder in the world who is authorized by Steinway & Sons to restore Steinway pianos: the Steinway Restoration Center which operates out of the Steinway New York factory and the Steinway Hamburg factory. A piano restored by the Restoration Center is the closest piano possible to a brand-new Steinway. Benefits of Selecting a Used Steinway Piano Restored by the Steinway Restoration Center.