Once upon a time, not too many months ago, I [Michael] mentioned a passing interest in finding a baby grand (piano) to Sheryl. Sheryl said it was worth looking into, and that was pretty much the end of the conversation; how often do baby grands change hands in Juneau?
So, while Sheryl was in Anchorage last weekend I took the kids to a garage sale hosted by the Church of All Nations. They placed an ad in Friday's paper about the sale, in which they also noted a baby grand piano. The kids were extraordinarily well behaved while I played a song on it and gave it a cursory inspection, standing close beside me and gazing at the strangers and strange surroundings. The church was asking $3400 for the piano, way out of my price range, but they said they'd consider any serious offer. I left my name and phone number and offered my hope that somebody would offer close to their asking price, but to call me if it didn't sell (I didn't offer a price). I let the kids pick any toy they wanted from the toy racks as a reward for their behavior, and they both brought home airplanes for a dollar apiece.
I emailed Sheryl about it. She said to buy it if I wanted it.
Not too surprisingly, I saw an ad in Monday's paper offering the piano and listing the price. I called and said I might be willing to go $1500 but wanted to look it over again before commiting, and if they wanted more cash than that I needn't waste their time. I inspected it last night, then came home and showed the pictures to Sheryl.
According to my Interent research, Sohmer was a good name in pianos for many years. This one was made between 1915 and 1919 according to the serial number. The piano has obviously seen a lot of use. The action feels loose in places. There are problems with at least four keys: a sticking dampener, a poorly installed hammer, and two keys (the exteme high and low) that have apparently been cannibalized for parts. There is only one major mar in the finish, about four square inches of abrasion on one side, and the finish is also worn along the strip where sheet music and fingers would frequently be expected to rub during normal use. The finish on many of the black keys is heavily worn. Overall, the piano appears to have been reasonably well taken care of despite its heavy use.
So I made my $1500 offer and they said they'd get back with me, that there were a couple of other people who expressed interest. I suspect I may be one of the "other people" because of the note I left on Saturday. This morning I also offered to donate my current piano to them (I was planning on giving it away if I got a replacement) in addition to the cash offer, plus I'd pay to have both pianos moved.
Is there an old piano in our future? Stay tuned...
