I have 2 Pleyel harpsichords circa 1930's in good condition they are part of an estate of a music professor who specialized in baroque music and music history. they were appraised at 15,000 but have been hard to find any interested buyers am open to offers they are in Victoria b.c. there is also an extensive library of related books
———_———————————————————————————————————————————-
Have you tried advertising them through the Harpsichord Clearing House? I bought a Pleyel through them.
To any perspective buyer, I have to issue a warning - the instrument entails a huge expenditure of time, energy and expense to properly maintain. I’ll list some requirements for keeping the Pleyel in playing order:
1. The Pleyel is intended to be furnished with leather plectra. They resemble the thick laces used for heavy boots - but the proper grade of leather is hard to find these days. There was one place in Connecticut that sold the leather when I worked on it.
2. You need extra plectrum and tongues because they can be in need of repair at any time. You need “Hyde Glue” to affix the leather to the tongue. In large Pleyels there are about 320 plectrum that have to be in working order. Two 61 note keyboards with a 16 foot, 8 foot, a nasal stop, 8 foot, and 4 foot sets of strings.
You’ll need a mini-screwdriver to make frequent adjustments.
It’s a beautifully engineered instrument otherwise - but full sized (Landowska Model) Pleyels are very heavy. They’re nothing like lightweight HIP harpsichords due to their iron frames.