Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Any thoughts on buying an M&H A refurb?

I looked at a 1920's M&H Model A today. New strings, dampers, felts, hammers, pins, pinblock, finish. Really nice tone, touch. Sound had a nice sustain. The action on the tenor and treble was fantastic; the action on the bass was a bit heavy but not bad.

Keytops had been replaced, but the key faces were still the ivory. Plastic was a bit whiter than the ivory on the faces, I didn't like that much, but it's not too bad.

The soundboard, plate, ribs all look great.

The piano is selling in the $15 K range. Is this a good price? How are your feelings on refurnished M&H A's? How long will a piano like this last? Should I be concerned about any one thing?

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JF

IF THE WORK WAS DONE RIGHT, it is a great price and a good piano.

I would however be suspect. The work you describe generally costs 15K or more, not including finish work nor the cost of the piano.

It sounds like it meets your personal performance criteria so... the next step would be to get a credible tech/rebuilder to give a fair impartial assessment on the rebuild. As Steve noted the labour itself of the rebuild can exceed your total proposed price of the piano.

As for the keys ,most nowadays use one piece tops and fronts. In that the rebuilder chose to keep the fronts you can always bleach or whiten the fronts hopefully closer to the new tops. Check and see if the ivory fronts are curling or cracked or ? You can always change the fronts only.If that is a big issue and contingent as for the consumated sale,the rebuilder will change them or ?I know I would.

One thing that I noticed was that the far upper treble and far lower bass keys set a little lower than the rest of the keys, almost as if they were sloping downhill a bit. This occurred only on the last 4 to 5 keys on each side. It was slight, but still noticeable to me.

Do you think this is a problem? Is it a warped keybed? Will this affect tone, hammer strike, or anything important?

I believe this shop has a good reputation; I am working on verifying this.

JF

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I agree with Steve. The price is suspect. How recent is the work?

This is really a question that should be addressed by the piano technician forum. Technically key level should be straight.When many level the keys on the bench,they compensate for that 80 year old keybed by raising the keys in the mid section on a super flat surface.This compensates for the inconsistency of the keyframe and keybed approximately. Now when you put the frame in the piano it is different than on the super flat bench surface. I think the exact way as for leveling the keys is to do it in the piano in relation to the fallboard and side blocks. I know enough to be dangerous. In conclusion they should be level across the board as in keyboard.

When buying a rebuilt piano, you're essentially buying the rebuild.

Please hire an experienced tech who has no affiliation with the seller, to do a thorough prepurchase inspection. It's Ok if your tech knows the rebuilder, you just don't want him to be beholden to the seller. As Steve C. posted, the price is a little suspect. That said, the seller could be just trying to raise cash.

If the Yellow Pages are not productive, the Piano Technicians Guild maintains a registry of Registered Piano Technicians here.

JF:

Before you purchase this instrument, consider three perspectives:

1. Brand

In 1920's Mason & Hamlin were great built American piano.

2. Condition

To get a proper assessment for the condition, you should contact credible and independent rebuilder/piano tech, to conduct an on-site evaluation of the piano.

3. Price

The price for the piano = (cost before restoration + restoration + seller profit)

Based on my experience dealing with wholesale prices. The price for Mason & Hamlin A is generally between $2,000-$6,000. (depending on the condition)

The profit of the seller (if he is not in a hurry to sell it and not so greedy) from $3,000 to $6,000.

You can calculate that the general investment in the restoration of this piano would be from $3,000 to $10,000.

As you can see, that this might be a good deal or can possibly be not so good deal.

Best regards.