Video

I wanna know what happened to it. Even in far worse condition, restoring these instruments will pay off in other ways if not in profit with more of them being thrown away then restored in a world where we're running out of resources and modern pianos aren't made anywhere near as well, especially when it comes to period instruments that are almost impossible to find that have almost no market value because they don't sound like a modern piano which ruins the kind of music I create so it was sop hard to find the piano I wanted.

I’ve heard of adding a small rib on the underside of the soundboard to increase stiffness, as there seems to be some debate about whether downbearing is necessary or just stiffness. Sometimes hard hammers seem to make a thin tone. Cabinet edges where it’s light make it look tired and worn and seems like just darkening/makeup on those areas could make it more presentable. Music rack is absolutely disconcerting, gonna be a pain to explain that to all your guests. Someone like Brigham Larson in the USA might create a copy desk of the appropriate Bechstein desk. But at a minimum cleaned up lead dust with some kind of liquid so as not to get in the air, some voicing, cabinet touch up and might be useful to someone.

According to the Bechstein serial numbers listing on your website this instrument would appear to be 1879. It needs a good tuning and voicing of the hammers can be done successfully in the course of a good tuning, as I did on another of your instruments. What worries me is the clear disparity of some of the unisons which might indicate loose pins and to be expected of an instrument of this age. As a visiting technician maintaining this instrument for someone at home, I'd use CA in the first instance before recommending greater information, but as a piano-house selling A1 instruments this would be unacceptable for you as a retail instrument. I wonder if it's had a new soundboard in the past as the Bechstein decal appears to be missing.

A shame you couldn’t assess/restore my Model V. 😬

Yes those side flaps are to place your candle stick on while the music rack is in use. The Bluthners had that slide out section each side of the music rack assembly so you could get your light source out far enough to light the music. I guess the side flaps on the Bechstein lid are just another way of doing that.

Always interesting...

Its the middle two octaves where it all happens,most piano,s have good high and low but the middle that counts imo

Its the middle two octaves that show the quality of the piano imo

This is an excellent and far quicker method to obtaining the necessary down weight than having to remove existing weights in the key, then to fill the holes and re-drill them. There is, however, a downside. There is more weight being added to the key and whilst in the almost static case of measuring down and upweight it will provide the required outcome, it will add to the overall inertia of the key, hence as one plays louder, the effect of the extra weight will become more apparent, irrespective of whether it is placed to make the static weight greater or less. We then get into the David Stanwood approach of measuring various aspects of the action, e.g. hammer weight, action ratios to ensure evenness of action, to determine weighting (including hammers) whether playing pp or ff across the whole piano. He believes this could result in greater downweights than is generally considered acceptable and varying more greatly key to key, and that this is okay. On this aspect I disagree, because when playing very quietly, the inertial effects become less relevant and the static downweights more relevant. What is actually needed is balancing of the whole piano, both from a static downweight perspective and from an inertial perspective. This is outlined in an excellent book by Mario Igrec - Pianos Inside Out.

Peacock looks and nightingale song in one instrument

What a lovely case. From your gorgeous playing it seems as though the action is the delightfully light Bechstein action for which these instruments are renowned. I wonder if the hammers might benefit from a tiny bit of voicing, just a little softer for the softer strike, and these instruments really sing when tuned in a good unequal temperament.

Wow its a Dream 🥰

Tied action?

The brown Feurich: From Gunzenhausen?

moths ruin pianos that's bad

Thank you for posting this.

They ate the felts - all the felts. They ate my suits and I only discovered it just before a business meeting. They ate the carpets and ruined our jumpers. Their larva even melted the synthetic material in my down jacket. We've got pheromone traps exactly like the ones you've got. They alert you to the presence of moths but don't catch all of them, of course. What you see is the tip of the iceberg. We've had some success with lavender patches in clothes drawers, although the price you'll pay will be smelling like your granny from now on. Biological control with a parasitic wasp that hunts them has also proved effective. Nothing has been 100% successful though. Maybe insecticides would, but I don't like using them. I now also regularly steam clean the carpets and steam the floors and corners. It has brought the numbers down to just a few on the traps whereas before they would be covered in them. The place I got the biological control from said they usually enter the home in packets of bird seed. So take note, if you use bird seed store it in sealed containers outdoors. Also, they came hand in hand with pantry moths. They'll eat your kitchen stores. We keep everything in Kilner jars now. I too am keen to hear from anyone who has had success in dealing with these buggers.

What a lovely piano! If the ivory keys were to be replaced, what about the ebony keys? Would they have to be replaced as well?

Beautiful finish

What a beautiful piano. I had not heard of Chappell before.

Man! that Grotian steinweg just sounded the BEST!

Although the action is replaced, was it definitely a roller from new? Can you tell by the keys and the hammer rail? I've played Rhapsody In Blue on a patent, and it can be made to work! I think this piano sounds quite beautiful as it is, and it looks spectacular honestly I wouldn't have anything done to it unless it needed regulation.

The tone on this instrument is exceptional.

Refined sound - sings like a nightingale

En español?

Our pheromone strip needs to be replaced every 3 months. Also I’m told April and May is when moths lay their eggs, so one needs to be particularly vigilant then.

Hi. I'm the owner of a Mickleburg baby grand piano. Please provide me with information on this rare piano.

If a piano is not tune to equal temperament, it will sound out of tune played with other instruments.

Surprised you're not using a Peterson SC5000-II strobe tuner which has stretch tuning to make it more versatile across piano types and 7 different temperaments.

beautiful sound really loved your playing

How can one make an upright piano quieter? Tried voicing, and material behind the piano, as well as room placement.

This is a lovely piano. I'm currently considering a 1935 Bluthner C1 here in Italy which is going for an excellent price, so these videos are very helpful. I remember often coming to your showrooms in Oxford and trying out pianos in the late Seventies - one early 20th century Bechstein upright I tried a few times but didn't buy has stayed in my mind as the most wonderful upright I've ever played - light, precise touch and wonderful tone. I never bought a piano back then because I was living in bedsits and continually changing lodgings (I think I stayed in fifteen different places over the 16 years or so I was in Oxford), but do I have fond memories of your shop.

I would never have a japanese or Chinese piano I prefer German made pianos Wurlitzer(I had two) Bluthner Steinway n the one in this video (console models ) if I had money but luckily I can afford a used Wurlitzer console which I have 👍🏻 n I love it ❤️

Lovely instrument. It should be noted, that not all Blüthners of that period came with the patent action. I own a Style X like this one from 1908 with Jubilee plate and Aliquot and mine is equipped with its original action, which is a double repetition action made by Schwander. The only difference between my action and other double rep actions is that the hammers have no rolls underneath. There is a leather covered cam underneath instead, that is actually part of the wood of the shank. As far as I know, Blüthner always realized a lot of special wishes including both types of actions in most pianos. The dealer who sold the piano actually did tell me that almost all pianos of smaller models (VII and VIII and below) are equipped with patent actions but that the bigger models quite often are equipped with the double repetition action. I really don't know if that was so or not, but I can imagine that these bigger pianos were used more often by professionals than the smaller ones and that professionals might have prefered the "normal" action that at that time already was installed in most other bigger concert instruments, so it would make some sense.

Beautiful instrument!!!!!

I’m not clear about the year of this piano.

Easy on the eye

I bought a 1932 version of this model (in black) a few years ago from the 87-year-old son of the original owner. He had a wonderful story of the piano being purchased by his parents at the showroom in Leipzig, shipped through the Panama Canal, and several month later arriving at the Port of Los Angeles. It only needed some minor restoration as it wasn't played too much. I bought it as a retirement present to myself after nearly 2 years of searching in northern California. There are simply not too many Bluthners in the US overall, especially on the West Coast. I'll never part with it!

I restored several of them and I never had to replace the wresplank, I don`t think this is new. Why are there blue felts under the pins?

Lovely piece at 9:30, is that yours? Evan

according to the serial numbers they built pianos until 1943? or at least 1942... I love my Blüthner baby from 1940

Bluthner and Bechstein are my two favorite pianos. Always a place in my heart for either.

Beautiful, inside and outside.

If you are looking for a C.Bechestein EN Concert grand 9/2 I have it - ivory key tops - bought new in 1983 - am 81, thinking of selling it to some one that appreciates the C. Bechestein sound and action - reply here if interested Phil

It's nice to see people starting to adopt Kellner especially on the Model 3 Bechstein. Here czcams.com/video/EvJIeIXNAYw/video.html is one of my first recordings in Kellner temperament around 2007 and as is apparent, it's not just for early music but makes the instrument sound better. Over the past 17 years I've perfected the application of the temperament so as to get reliable results across the spectrum of instruments as well as to tame the wider intervals. Here czcams.com/video/7JF3YzTG7lU/video.html demonstrates the sheer beauty of sound available from the Bechstein Model 3.

Superb!

I live in a small flat,the other piano,s are too big and costly to deliver and go round corners.this perhaps is why piano,s have been replaced by digital

Too much work I have only been unifying unisons and octaves when something slips too far to keep an old tuning limping along for years.

Beautiful piano ❤❤❤❤

What a beautiful instrument. Must be a joy to play. Thanks for sharing.