SteveS Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Has anyone seen this? An Aeola TT, fully restored, for £7000. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiposx Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Fabulous looking instrument. I haven't heard of the seller before, or the firm of piano restorers he directs. I would want a lot of historical evidence about the previous and current ownership of the item, and how it came to be in the UK from Namibia. I would be very cautious about spending that much on an unseen item on eBay. If it all went badly I would consider that I had acted foolishly in buying it. That's just my take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprunghub Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 The vendor has a fairly healthy history ( in feedback ) of selling "nice", mid value £2k and above value Concertina's, which may provide some reassurance. When I was first looking for a Concertina for my wife initially I found an on-line selling site akin to Gumtree/Preloved based in southern Africa which had a lot of Wheatstone's. They were marginally outside my pocket, although several sellers were happy to post. There were quite a few very nice ones about, albeit mostly those 1950's ones which folk know about as having been produced for the market. The market was presumably there before the '50's, so no surprise some good ones were in circulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 (edited) £7,000 for a 1938 plywood Aeola with hook action? ? Heavily filed reeds, original valves (many of which could do with replacing), but all new pads. Nice case. Aeolian (established 1898) went out of business in 1985 and were acquired by Wurlitzer, then they got taken over by Baldwin in 1988. Baldwin, including the Aeolian piano brand, has been owned by Gibson Guitars since 2001. Click on the link to read up on Aeolian & Aeolian American Corporation. Edited March 22, 2020 by Stephen Chambers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Stephen, I think the eBay seller is associated with this business which also uses the Aeolian name. It’s in the Scottish Borders where the Aeola is located. https://www.aeolianpianos.co.uk I have to agree with your assessment of the TT. The seller has a history of asking unrealistically high prices. He has contacted me direct in the past to try and sell me concertinas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Theo said: Stephen, I think the eBay seller is associated with this business which also uses the Aeolian name. It’s in the Scottish Borders where the Aeola is located. https://www.aeolianpianos.co.uk Only the business in the Borders says they're "a family run company, established in 1960", whilst the eBay seller claims "established 1898" - which is the American firm of that name... Extravagant claims! ? Edited March 22, 2020 by Stephen Chambers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) I forgot to mention - the fretwork is relatively crude in execution, which had become normal by 1938. And I find it strange that the finger rests look like they may be chromium plated, when the fretwork is nickel plated - though I've had an Aeola treble from the same year that had originl chrome-plated ends.... It certainly wasn't Wheatstone's "best period", though nothing like their worst either. Edited March 23, 2020 by Stephen Chambers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Laban Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 the Quote retiring after 75 years restoration activity as Director of Aeolian Had me wondering about the age of the seller, or that he perhaps had an early start at it. But never mind, the auction was ended early because of an 'error in the listing' . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Stephen Chambers said: Only the business in the Borders says they're "a family run company, established in 1960", whilst the eBay seller claims "established 1898" - which is the American firm of that name... Extravagant claims! ? Indeed! Also says "retiring after 75 years restoration activity" so must have started very young! The claims about the reed steel seem to imply some sort of stainless properties, but I'm sure I can see the kind of marks on the reeds that are left when surface rust is removed. Well it's now been pulled from ebay because of "an error in the listing". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I thought all this "rang bells" with me, and now I've found a previous thread from 2014: Big Maccann On Ebay - Interesting Instrument And Description Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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