How to sell an unusual piano

[emilyemily]

I hope this is in the right place - I've read the guidelines on selling a piano, I will be getting my piano tuned shortly so will ask my tuner then if he/she will be able to value it, but I do wonder whether it would be best to go about selling my piano as a piano, or as a curiosity, item of furniture, or even museum piece. It's a Fazer transparent upright piano - I don't know much about the history of it, as when I bought it 11 years ago the seller didn't know much about it either, but I understand it may have been made as a demonstration piano for exhibitions etc. It's definitely a very interesting looking piano! I've very much enjoyed playing it, although it hasn't been tuned for quite a while now. Has anyone any advice to offer, or possible insight into the history of the piano? Thanks in advance!

[Colin Nicholson]

Tuning is usually a separate task to valuation. Its like asking a builder to repair your wall, then asking him/her 'on-the-spot' what your house is worth! You would be best to contact your tuner and also inform them you want an assessment/ valuation done aswell.... its not free, and you may pay slightly more than a tuning. If you want a 'very rough guess' - then they may throw a price at you,,,, but that would be worth exactly what you paid for that information.

Fazer I believe were from Finland (is that where you live?).... and were taken over in the late 1980' s by Hellas pianos. There is no info as such on these pianos, just a few dates, ownership and affiliations.

The tuner may be able to date it for you - but it should have a serial number inside, near the tuning pins. Some piano tuners have a 'piano serial number book' .... but again, you will need to ring them to ask if they can provide this information, and if they have any resources.

So please remember:
Some piano tuners just 'tune'
Some builders just 'build'
A reputable tuner/ technician/ piano restorer/ piano shop/ trade etc... should be able to assist you, but even then - alot of it is guess work if there is no serial number. There are sometimes clues hidden inside - amongst the cobwebs!!

Hope that helps.....

Colin

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Also there are several different valuations depending on who is doing the selling and who is doing the buying. It's worth vastly different amounts. Please upload some photos of the inside and outside of your piano.

[NewAge]

I'd be interested to know whether you bought the Fazer for it's unusual looks, it's musical ability or a bit of both. Being transparent one presumes the cabinet is plexiglass. Does this affect the sound compared to a wooden cabinet?
I assume there must be a market somewhere for 'unusual' pianos, but methinks finding an interested buyer could be a little difficult. Try an ad on ebay or the like to reach a larger audience.

[NewAge]

A short 'googling' session shows that if you had a grand transparent piano from a well known maker it would undoubtedly create a lot of interest.
Here are a few that whet my appetite.
A Schimmel perhaps? http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregshin/169442602/

And two Kawais
http://www.flickr.com/photos/althouse/326133900/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscrusher/2080340994/

As these are very limited editions, I don't doubt for a minute that these would excite a lot of potential buyers, and fetch amounts into three figures.

With the exception of some very high-end Gary Pons pianos, I've yet to find a photo of a transparent upright piano, which may mean you have a sought-after asset.

Can you provide us with one or more photos?

[emilyemily]

Thank you all for your advice - I will get some pictures up over the weekend. Didn't realise I had any replies - will remember to tick the 'Notify me when a reply is posted' box this time!

[Colin Nicholson]

.... presumably one of these might go nice with it .....

http://www.coachhousepianos.co.uk/catal ... 34/id/127/

>> ????

[emilyemily]

I finally have five minutes to sit down and write a post! I'm based in the UK, down in Cornwall - I did try to contact a piano workshop in Finland about it after seeing an article they'd written on another Fazer piano, but have had no reply as yet. I also tried the Hellas website, but I can't seem to access it?

The serial number appears to be quite recent - 798848, so I don't think it's of any great age. The piano will definitely need a tune and possibly some additional work to get it up to scratch. I did buy it because of the unusualness of it, but played it before I bought and found it way above the pianos I grew up on - I love its tone (when it's in tune!).

I did look for a transparent piano stool when I first bought it, but couldn't find any! Here are some photos - not the best quality but hopefully they'll give you an idea of what it looks like.

Ok, can only add one as an attachment - will upload the rest and post them separately!

[emilyemily]

I did a couple of posts yesterday with pictures and more information, but they don't seem to have made it on here yet - does that mean they've been lost, or could they still be waiting to be approved? Just want to know whether to try and post them again! Thanks.

[markymark]

I did a couple of posts yesterday with pictures and more information, but they don't seem to have made it on here yet - does that mean they've been lost, or could they still be waiting to be approved? Just want to know whether to try and post them again! Thanks.

New users must have their first three posts authorised by a member of the Moderating Team. They won't display until they have been cleared for publishing on the forum. It's part of our ant-spam policy.

As for the post yesterday, the four links do not lead to a photograph. This is what displays when I click on any of the four links:

I've deleted that post consequently so try to re-submit the pictures again.

[emilyemily]

Ah ok, thanks! Will try again when I get home tonight.

[emilyemily]

Second time lucky! This should be a link to the album with the pictures in:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1055233078 ... directlink