Joined: May 2001. Posts: 11,248. Philadelphia/South Jersey. Enjoy your new piano! I admire what the Lester company did with their spinet.
MANUFACTURER FACTS – Lester Piano Co. 1888 in Philadelphia, PA. Lester pianos won a high place in the world of music because of their sweetness of tone and the care expended in their construction, adherence, on the part of the Lester Piano Co., to the principle of creating quality instruments, rather than to build vast numbers of pianos. Lester known for the name Betsy Ross spinets & consoles are equipped with the exclusive Damp-Chaser to insure regulated moisture control at all times. The Lester is the only piano equipped with the Damp-Chaser that protects the piano from dampness in all climates, reduces the number of tunings, keeps the piano in perfect playing condition and prolongs the life of the instrument.
The Lester “one name.one quality. One price” policy was met with the universal approval of dealers and consumers. MODEL – 5’6″ Grand Description: Serial No: 89302 Built in 1924 Compare to “Southern Steinway” (59,400) – Hand Built Traditional Ribbon Mahogany – Completely Restored to original – Vintage Classic Colectors Edition – Professional Series.
'It's worth what you paid for it.' :rolleyes: Well, BDB is being optimistic here, I believe. At one point, Lester was using plastic elbows on their spinets (not ABS like in modern pianos, just clear plastic like BIC ballpoint pens used to be made of, and just as brittle). These elbows are a royal pain once they start breaking, which they will do sooner or later. If your piano has them, they'll be visible when you remove the bottom panel. However, 1948 may be an early enough mfr. Date to escape the Curse of the Plastic Elbows.
If so, a nice looking, decent playing Betsy Ross could be worth a few hundred dollars at least. If by some miracle the hammers & dampers have been replaced within the last 25 years, it would be worth even more. BTW, how much did you pay for it? Lester was the largest manufacturer in Philadelphia many years ago, and was our biggest competitor when we made pianos. There are two technicians in our factory that used to work there and they closed down in 1960! The Betsy Ross spinet usually has a sticker on the underside of the lid that says, 'Endorsed by the Philadelphia Orchestra', who used them in their practice rooms. They also have the 'waterfall key' which has no lip, it is one continuous piece.
If they are in good shape, they are a very nice starter piano. Re: Lester piano 07/15/04 11:41 AM 07/15/04 11:41 AM Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 18.
Oh thank you for all of your responses. I especially like RJ McIlhenny. I was told about the 'waterfall key' and it is of course what we have. I think it was a good $300 investment for a six year old to start on. I love how it sounds-though I know it's not a concert grand.
I'm going to try to get as much information on the piano(maybe I should have done that first?) and enjoy every minute of 'Heart and Soul' that I can play and whatever my daughter does as well. THANK YOU for the wonderful information!!! Re: Lester piano 07/15/04 11:54 AM 07/15/04 11:54 AM Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 916. Maybe I seem like I'm being unnecessarily negative, but when you've had to deal regularly with older spinets that people have traded in on newer pianos, and have tried (usually in vain) to invest a reasonable amount of time and trouble to bring them up to an acceptable level of performance, you may very well tend to discourage anyone from buying or owning an older spinet. I think it's premature to say 'your piano is fine,' when in fact it may not be. Saintniec asked, 'what is our lovely piano worth?' The truth is, it's not very likely its worth much at all.
If the Philadelphia Orchestra endorsed Betsy Ross spinets for use in their practice rooms, they were either (1) dumb as a box of rocks or (2) unable to afford decent pianos. Why the heck would any group of professional musicians prefer a piano that has the thinnest, weakest tone of any type piano, the most difficult kind of action to service or repair, and is the hardest to keep in tune? Yes, it's probably a fine piano for a six year old to start on. Actually, I have heard that many youngsters prefer a spinet to a concert grand or a larger upright. They are less intimidating! Please have it tuned.
A professional tuning will probably run you between $75 and $100. An out-of-tune piano will be frustrating and discouraging to a budding young musician.
Your tuner will let you know if there is anything else on your piano that wants or needs attention. If your budding young musician starts to show some serious talent, please consider moving up to a better instrument.
You will find a wealth of information on this forum. My first piano was a Lester. They made a good piano. If the plastic elbows have turned to crumbly goo, but the rest of the piano is basically okay, you (yes, YOU!) can replace them with nice new Vagias elbows.
A set of new elbows is less than $50. Re: Lester piano 07/15/04 12:08 PM 07/15/04 12:08 PM Joined: Jun 2003 Posts: 27,107. Yeah Jimbo, you are right, you are being too negative.
Would you recommend that they instead spend $300 on one of your Casio keyboards? Or maybe a nice rent to buy program on a Fukuyama at 22% interest (whatever that is)? Sometimes when a customer only has $300 to spend, a piano like this from a private party is better than a keyboard, better than a beat up old upright, better than spending $2500 that they don't have on a new piano from (insert former third world country here), and more importantly better than nothing at all. We have reconditioned many spinets and many Lesters and although there are better choices for more money, they are fine for what they are, and if it is one without plastic elbow problems the Lesters were better than a lot of the crap that this country produced in the 70's and 80's. If the keys play and it can hold a tune, for her six year old, it is not the worst choice she could have made.
She has already gotten it, and is happy about it and you want to make her feel bad and have buyer's remorse? When you lose a deal to the competition do you trash the piano that the customer bought just so they feel bad if they didn't buy from you? Re: Lester piano 07/15/04 03:51 PM 07/15/04 03:51 PM Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 18. Dorrie, Thank you for the kind words and each other of you that gave them as well!
As I said I'm thrilled with our Lester.perhaps especially since Mr. Lester's name was Noel.
That is our 2 year old's name. I hope our little Betsy Ross holds up through his older sister, older brother and him. (and me as well). This has been quite and experience to get so much feedback. It has been very helpful. Thanks again Dorrie.
Re: Lester piano 07/15/04 08:26 PM 07/15/04 08:26 PM Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,351. Nothing wrong with this piano as a starter. Lester made a lot of pianos and was established in 1888 in Philadelphia and went out of business in 1960. I have worked on several and even with one that had an inverted action like a grand.
The last Lester I worked on was owned by a single mother who had it given to her by a school that did not want to spend the money fixing it. As a pro bono service, I treated the block for her and also repaired the action so that she could have a piano. Congratulations on getting an acoustic piano to start your daughter on. If the pin block is loose ask the technician to treat it with CA glue. The Lester may not be the best but it certainly is not the worst. The absolute worst I have seen is a spinet made by the Grand Piano Company of North Carolina.