148 year old Ronisch Grand

[uniskinner]

I have just been left by will a 148 year old Ronisch Grand, Address on piano is Mickleburgh Stokes Croft Bristol.

This piano is magnificent, to see is to believe, I do not play, plus no room in house, can anyone out there give me advice on what this may be worth please.

[Gill the Piano]

I know this will hurt but you're going to have to PAY a tuner/technician to come and have a look.
If I said I'd been left an old Bentley, what's it worth, you'd need to know how old exactly, how's it been looked after,how hard it's been driven, what conditions has it been kept in, etc., etc.. Well, the same applies to pianos. Depends if it was used as a plantpot stand/parrot cage stand, parked 6" away from a roaring log-burner,had fifteen learners a day thrashing it, lived in a conservatory...you name it, we've seen it. All these can affect the instrument, and however shiny and pretty it looks, there could be nasty things happening inside .
Try to get an independent tuner - one not linked to a shop - then you know you're being given an unbiased opinion. Good luck!

[uniskinner]

Thanks for that speedy reply, a specialist had been to the owners home just eight weeks ago for tune up, first class I heard as he came to his house often, the tuner just loved to tune it as it was his favourite, two weeks ago had a session pianist try it, who was visiting the university, he was extremely impressed with the inside, for some reason, I didn’t understand much of what he was saying, but I took it he just loved it, not to mention the outside, but he is now gone back to England,

I want to give it a good loving home as it was dearly loved, all I got is when I had asked them,, both said, the same thing, Ho No they wouldn’t want hazard a guess, we have no clue nor have any specialists near, so stumped, have been round many photos on the web haven’t seen one that even looks close to this,, so stumped still looking at photos today, but nothing yet, the owner was a classical pianist.

uni

[Gill the Piano]

Right, well then, you contact the tuner who was used to tuning it and ask him for an idea on price; he knows the instrument, and will be aware of any potential problems (loose pins, cracks in bridges/soundboard, etc) which might affect the price. He will also know the local market and may even know of a potential buyer.
Problem solved...hopefully !

[Geminoz]

Hi
Putting my 2 cents worth in here ...my knowledge of anything technical with pianos is zilch ...but if the regular tuner can't give you an idea of the value of the instrument, maybe s/he could give you a professional report on its condition and you could then approach one of the large auction houses with a view to having it auctioned.
Shame you can't keep it and learn to play yourself.
Good luck.

[uniskinner]

FOR PHOTOS OF ROENISCH GRAND GO TO http://www.filehigh.com/viewgallery.php?f=1736

[Brian Lawson, RPT]

My 2 cents - from the angles of the photos I can see it has new bass strings and new damper felt (which seem a bit uneven), though the steel strings seem original. Soundboard has at least one repaired split. If you could take out the music desk at provide other photos of the inside.

Interesting as later pianos are called Ronish and yours is Roenish


As for price, yes ask the tuner, he would know local market prices or else compare at www.pianomart.com

[Geminoz]

Hi again....I have just had a look at the gallery of photos you posted....wow....I am drooling . Good luck with the valuation. Darn shame you can't keep it.