Steinway L 1943 Wartime-Pristine Walnut Sounds Amazing! Start Price USD 28,750.00 Current Price USD 28,750.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 29,000.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, November 13, 2008 End Time Sunday, November 23, 2008 Location Durham, NC See more about 'Steinway L 1943 Wartime-Pristine Walnut Sounds Amazing!' Description Gorgeous 1943 "Wartime" Steinway Model L, 5’11” Grand Piano Original Ivories, Walnut Cabinet, Extraordinarily well maintained, and upgraded! Asking Price: $28,750.-  (Serious Inquiries Only, but serious offers may be considered) Terms: Prepayment by cashier's check or bank wire.  Seller will help arrange for shipping, but shipping is at buyer's expense.   Auction states paypal accepted (because our company does by default), but we cannot accept paypal due to the high dollar amount of the auction.  Serial Number 314908 Year Built: 1943 Location: Durham, North Carolina (please arrange for a local inespection of this incredible playing instrument) Description: Gorgeous Figured Walnut Cabinet in Incredible Condition.  Showing extremely minimal wear, despite being an antique from an important time in history. Piano has Original Ivory Keys.  Bench has been covered with a very attractive otter fur.  Sometime in the Recent History the Piano received new strings.  Original Steinway Action functions perfectly; Original Steinway Hammers (which are retained by owner and will be included with the instrument) were just replaced with all new custom Hammers Shanks and Flanges by Renner, and installed by Steinway technician Anthony Pascone.  The piano has been with current owner for 10 years and has been climate controlled, and regularly maintained by Anthony Pascone, who will be available to answer questions about the instrument.  This piano has a nice bright and clear tone with outstanding dynamic range and complexity at all volume levels.  It sounds and plays beautifully, and holds its tune very well.  Collectors refer to this piano as a “Wartime Steinway” because a large portion of the Steinway factory during the Second World War was not dedicated to making pianos.  Not only were far fewer pianos being released by Steinway during these years, because the factory had been partly converted for war use, but the very best craftsman are the ones that historians believe were Steinways best at that time. A current Steinway of this approximate size with the wood and decorative features would add around $20,000 to the base price alone.  L’s have just recently been discontinued by Steinway, and were selling at around $55,000.  So, with these features, a new L such as this one would be selling at approximately $75,000 new.  Others are available for sale on the used and antique market but pianos of this age are rarely in this condition, and often have not had new strings or hammers replaced in the life of the piano, nevertheless, these pianos are typically offered for sale at $30,000 and up.  This one is priced to sell. A handful of examples of sound recordings where this piano was recently used (which don't do the full complexity of this instruments sound justce),  can be found here (scroll to very bottom of this page, and click to download any of the three "associated files" MP3's): http://www.soundpure.com/showProduct.do?id=881 Please contact the owner of this piano directly: Todd Atlas, phone: 919-321-1538 with any questions about this extraordinary instrument, or by e-mail at todd@soundpure.com.  Additional higher resolution images can also be provided upon request.  Arrange for a visit, despite its beauty, this piano must be played and heard to be fully appreciated. Place a Bid!