I just bought a 21-chord Oscar Schmidt OS-45C Autoharp (serial number 930284) online, that was allegedly in "mint condition." It was delivered yesterday, and I can't tell you how disappointed I am. The most significant problem is that the sound doesn't compare to my 15-chord Chromaharp that I bought from the window of a music shop about six years ago. I'm self-taught, play sing-alongs for seniors, and wanted the additional chords.

The buyer is willing to take it back. He's a nice guy who doesn't know about Autoharps--he bought it years ago for his mother. She hardly played it, and it sat in a leather case. But, I wanted to explain to him what the problems are. He thought it was new when he bought it; but given the condition of the chord bars, I can't believe it was.

1.How can I tell if the chord bars have been refelted? They are all scratched. There's a lot of excess glue between the felt. The felt itself looks completely different from the chord bars of my Chromaharp. I realize there's a difference because those are wood, but the felt is very neat, perfectly symmetrical, and there's no excess glue. These look really messy. Also, the chord names (on four of the chords) have been applied in a very sloppy way. There are two different kinds of screws on the plastic which holds the pins and wires. Wouldn't all this suggest it wasn't done at the factory?

2. There's a significant buzz on the lowest F & G strings. The next four strings (C-F) also buzz to a lesser degree. Most of the double wound strings have rust on them, and there's also rust on many other strings on the very end (where they sit on the metal bar leading to where you restring them). Would all this cause the buzz? (There's rust as well on 13 of the zither pins.) I'm not sure why because it's been kept in a heavy Autoharp case.

3. When I push the buttons, there's a lot of noise. Why is that? Also, the foam upon which the buttons rest is very thin in a number of places (the thin areas that run between the buttons). It looks like it will tear soon. I'm assuming that's just a sign of age.

4. Finally, there seems to be a little sawdust or tiny pieces of wood around many of the zither pins. I'm not sure if it's really sawdust or just that there's some kind of a stamped circle around the pins that is aging, and the wood beneath it has been affected. But, it's odd to me that it's aging this way. Any ideas?

I'm going to return it, but what would it cost to fix these problems? (I'd just like a ballpark figure.) Also, because of the chord bars, do you think it was used when he bought it?

Thanks so much!