Mehlin Grand Upright Piano 1893, 62" Fully Restored NEED ADVICE

[johnny899]

Hello,
I recently found this posting on Craigslist and was very intrigued by this piano. It is one of the largest upright pianos I have ever seen and it appears to be in excellent condition. I can't find much info on Mehlin and Sons pianos made before 1900 so I'm not sure if this is a good deal or not. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Piano was made in 1893 and is 62" tall. Also it has been fully restored.

Craigslist Posting: https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/4746783688.html


 

[indianajo]

It's going to draw a premium, maybe $150-$200, because it has all that fancy woodwork.  
Whether it is a good piano or not has to be determined by you in person.  Many were, most were not.  Uprights were built as kits from parts wholesellars, so you can't really tell anything about the 1500 brands that were out there pre 1929.
Read my post under "best upright piano" nearby https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=56680.0,
 for how to test out an old piano without paying the Tuner $100.  Only they can tell about cracked soundboards or iron frames, really, but for a  $200 piano spending $100 to protect your investment is pretty silly.  Getting it moved (takes 4 men on stairs, and a professional dolly on the sidewalk) costs more than the piano. If it does have a crack, it takes another 4 men and truck, and in my town a $25 disposal fee down at the town dumpster.  Probably more in Boston.  All out, in case of a disaster, you're out $400.  90% of the time, they will stay the same as they were when you bought them, barring a few ivory tops knocked off.  
One thing to look at on really old uprights, look at the wood jacks etc carefully, to make sure they are not coming unglued.  That is about a $500 job to take them all out and reglue them, although i think unlike voicing that requires experience, , re-glueing is a job an amateur could handle.