CAUT

  • 1.  Beck Pianoforte 1777

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-16-2021 07:43
      |   view attached
    The university I tune at has this instrument and wants an insurance estimate on it.
    Beck Pianoforte 1777
    I have no point of reference for this instrument.

    They spent a great deal of money to have It restored,
    then subsequently stored in the hottest driest room in the building in a box pushed flush up against a heat vent.  (before my days there)
    The soundboard is now badly cracked and concave, and the bridge split, it would need major work again....
    Nevertheless, this is a collectors item,

    Any thoughts on how to price such an item for insurance purposes?. Any points of reference? 

    Thank you
    David Renaud


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    David Renaud
    Duclos QC
    613-288-9046
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  • 2.  RE: Beck Pianoforte 1777

    Posted 02-16-2021 10:00
    This piano is listed in the Clinkscale database, no. 7103. Another Beck from 1777 is listed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, but it's in a larger piece of furniture. Tom Strange has one from 1778; maybe you could get an estimate from him. A later one is at Colonial Williamsburg. Beck was an interesting maker, but condition is everything.
    Laurence Libin
     
     
    The university I tune at has this instrument and wants an insurance estimate on it. Beck Pianoforte 1777 I have no point of reference for this... -posted to the "CAUT" community
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    Beck Pianoforte 1777
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    Feb 16, 2021 7:43 AM  |    view attached
    David Renaud
    The university I tune at has this instrument and wants an insurance estimate on it.
    Beck Pianoforte 1777
    I have no point of reference for this instrument.

    They spent a great deal of money to have It restored,
    then subsequently stored in the hottest driest room in the building in a box pushed flush up against a heat vent.  (before my days there)
    The soundboard is now badly cracked and concave, and the bridge split, it would need major work again....
    Nevertheless, this is a collectors item,

    Any thoughts on how to price such an item for insurance purposes?. Any points of reference?

    Thank you
    David Renaud


    ------------------------------
    David Renaud
    Duclos QC
    613-288-9046
    ------------------------------
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  • 3.  RE: Beck Pianoforte 1777

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-16-2021 13:12
    David

    There are two reasons why someone insures anything. To buy a new one or to repair it? 
    If the university wants to insure the p'forte to buy a new one, find out what a comparable new one sells for.
    If they want to insure it to be repaired, estimate the cost of the repair, even if it's a total rebuild.

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    Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
    Mililani, HI 96789
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  • 4.  RE: Beck Pianoforte 1777

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-16-2021 14:24
    They want insurance for fire and vandalism...

    They neither wish to fix it nor replace it.  It is in a glass case in their library as a display piece. 

    Cheers
    Dave Renaud





  • 5.  RE: Beck Pianoforte 1777

    Posted 02-16-2021 14:29
    Is this piano playable?

    A quick google search pulls up this maker in London in the 1770s, but it
    looks almost as though these are considered pieces of antique furniture
    (some quite beautifully painted) rather than actual playable instruments.

    On the other hand, Mozart and Haydn were both sometime visitors to London
    around that time, so they may still be valuable as 'period' instruments.

    Hank