B.Squire Baby Grand

[mikf]

I have a B.Squire baby grand purchased around 1975 from a dealer in Reading, Berks , but it had already had some restoration so I guess it is a late 1940's or 1950,s vintage. I can find little about this brand or model except that B. Squire was a Kemble brand. But all the info I see is on uprights. Anybody know anything about this piano? It has a nice polished mahogany finish and I would rate it very good as a piece of furniture and plays /sounds well probably rated fair to good as a piano.
I now live in the US and am about to trade this piano for a new Steinway, but the dealers here have never heard of the brand.
Mike

[Bill Kibby]

Squire was a well-known London piano name, but no archive material survives. Alastair Laurence (of the Broadwood firm) is about to publish a book about the various Squire firms. You have not told us anything that would identify the individual piano, or tell us anything about it.

[mikf]

Afraid can tell you much else. The piano has the name b.Squire est 1829 on the lid, and inside on the frame it has B.Squire and sons with some patent numbers. No serial no. Its possible this piano pre-dates the acquisition by other companies.
Mike

[Gill the Piano]

The last 2 digits of the patent can be a rough indicator of age. Look amonst the tuning pins, or through the strings at the treble end to the edge of the wooden soundboard nearest the gap through which you can see the hammers. The number may be stamped there.

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

General advice off the cuff....

Despite the fact that no dealer really wants a B.Squire baby grand, take whatever part-ex offer you have received and insist that the dealer to doubles it or threaten to spend 6 months waiting for a private buyer to come along. The dealer wants your money this month, not next month so this will certainly help improve the part-ex price for you.

Ask for a discount on the Steinway. Whatever discount you are offered, ask the dealer to double it.

Stick to your guns for a couple of weeks. Don't budget from the above position. Don't budget an inch until he makes good progress. But don't waste his time with long-winded emails, you'll just put him off. Keep your messages short and to the point

Phone around and see what part-ex price you can get from other dealers if you want to buy a Steinway worth $xx,xxx from them. Use that info to knock the dealer down.

Many dealers start at huge margins. You either pay their asking price and fund their next posh holiday or you knock them down and fund your own next big holiday.

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Disclaimer:
None of the above will work if the dealer's pianos are in high demand, sensibly priced and he is low on stock. He won't budge under those circumstances unless his house is about to be repossessed or he has a huge order arriving and no cash to pay the invoice. If, however, he has loads of pianos in stock and he is not drowning in a flood of customers, then his prices will be very negotiable.

[mikf]

Thanks for all the info. Confirms what I supected, ie the piano is not worth much, and the value even at best is 'in the noise' compared to the cost of a new one. So I will probably give it away to a charity and just work on the best discount I can get for the replacement. Since I live in the USA I can write off donations to a charity as a tax deduction which nets me something, and gets rid of it at the same time.
Mike

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

That way you could set the value at the same price you paid for it?

[mikf]

I thought some of you might find it interesting how things ended up with this B. Squire baby grand. I bought a new Shigeru, and the dealer where I now live in Houston Texas took the Squire in part exchange without ever looking at it as part of the negotiation. He later told me that he found the serial number which I could not find which dated the piano in 1935. Also that it was a little bit uniqure because it was really a micro grand, only 4 ft, and made to fit in very small rooms where they wanted the 'look' of a grand -which I suppose is really why I originally bought it. After tuning, he said the sound was very reasonable for such a small piano, and sold it about 6 weeks later to someone who is now shipping it to Belize for a small apartment. So this little piano which started life in London in 1935 was owned by me since about 1971, has now been shipped around the world to Scotland, Houston, Massaschusetts, back to Houston and now Belize. And it stll looks and plays pretty good. I was very happy with the deal, and now so is the dealer! The Shigeru BTW is brilliant, probably one of the finest pianos I have ever played.
mike