My piano is done!

danno858 · 2025-06-06T23:25:55+00:00

A couple of years back, I bought a 1911 Steinway A. It had been owned by the same family since 1935 and had some amount of rebuilding done in the past, but...

Nightowl

I bet you can't wait to have it back, it looks great!
If you're happy to share further info, I'd love to know how much the work cost, or even just the hourly rate. Not that I'm ever likely to buy a grand piano and commit to the upkeep, but I can imagine that it's very skilled work and the charges will reflect that.

danno858

Nightowl It wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t a decision I made lightly - it took me a year or two to decide. I will say that it was significantly less than buying a new Model A, which they still make today.

The cost of doing something like this will vary and will depend on what work will be done. I dont know how many hours they spent on it, but on its return it will have been gone exactly seven months. There’s so much I learned about pianos going through this process and before I even went down this road, it’s really been a fascinating journey for me. They sent me a quote with price ranges for each thing they did. The end price came out well within the quote. There were no surprises

Once I get it back and have some time with it again I’ll try to share a video - I haven’t had the courage to upload anything on these forums yet.

And you are correct about the upkeep. It’s almost like having a car that you have to maintain on a regular basis. It should last another 100 years. Much longer than I will be around!

Nightowl

danno858 Well, from what you said they virtually rebuilt the whole piano, so that would probably have taken many hours of work by experienced craftsmen, plus an added cost for components. You've basically got a vintage instrument restored to mint condition, all for less than buying a new instrument - sounds like a good result. There are far worse ways to spend money, that's for sure. I look forward to the pictures and would love to hear you make the instrument sing.
If we had the space I'd love a baby grand piano - all the curves and glamour, without it being overly dominant. In theory we could make room, but my playing level would not do it justice and the noise level would probably cramp my playing style - I often practice late at night with the volume low on my DP. Maybe one day... when I'm not fit enough to do much gardening, when I'm indoors a lot more and my husband's hearing has gone! 🙃

cheeeeee

That sounds like a great journey from the initial research to the eventual completion of the rebuild. I’d be very interested in knowing about the components selected for the rebuild. For example, what hammers you decided to use and whether the rebuilder voiced them to your liking, etc.

danno858

cheeeeee We used Ronsen Weickert Felt hammers which are made to match the type of hammers used in NY Steinways in the early 20th century. They are voiced not too bright - I’m actually amazed at how much its voice has been preserved.

Strings: JD Grandt bass strings and International Gold plain wire. German Diamond tuning pins. New hand crafted Sitka spruce soundboard, uniform grain 18 to 28 grains per inch, vertical grain maple pin block, new tight grain maple bridge caps, WNG plate suspension system, renner action parts.

The action was balanced using the Stanwood Precision Touch method. It’s like having a brand new clutch and tightened steering in a manual transmission car.

It was delivered Friday morning super early and I had to go to work right after. I have a tuning scheduled for about 3 weeks out. It will need 4 the first year while the strings stretch and settle. I have a dampp chaser installed with a wool string cover and a cover for the whole piano. So far it’s keeping the RH at 48% under the piano and inside according to my hygrometers

The 250 mile moved knocked it slightly out of tune but that was expected

cheeeeee

danno858 amazing! Thanks for sharing the details about the major components. I’m impressed that the builder even used the Stanwood method for the action. I heard it took a long time to regulate the action this way, and would end with a very smooth and balanced action throughout. Congratulations! It sounds like that the piano found a great home and that you found a great piano. 😄

Jane

danno858 "grains per inch", "vertical grain", "WNG" (whatever that is).....
You've really nerded out on the piano tech, Danno! (Not Pianoteq!) I'm impressed! 👍

Dragging yourself away from it and off to work must have been painful!

Glad your baby is safely home!

danno858

Jane I had to learn about all these things and their purpose - it sounds like mumbo jumbo but it all checks out. There’s more like relocating capstans and installing damper underlever adjustment screws which is something that was added to make it easier for a tech when regulating the dampers during future service.

I’m very happy with how it all turned out. Next month after the first tuning I’ll have you stop by and you can evaluate the difference in how it plays and sounds now compared with before

And yes, it was awful being at work all day!

danno858

Jane WNG = Wessel Nickel & Gross. They make piano action parts and are well known for their carbon fiber piano action parts. Hammer shanks and wippens, etc. In my case we used their plate mounting system which allows for fine adjustment to the down bearing settings. Downbearing, the pressure exerted by the strings on the soundboard, plays a key role in the efficient transfer of energy from the vibrating strings to the soundboard via the bridges.

Jane

danno858 And yes, it was awful being at work all day!

I can only imagine!

danno858 Next month after the first tuning I’ll have you stop by and you can evaluate the difference in how it plays and sounds now compared with before

Thanks! I'd love to.
I think it's probably different for you also - hearing how the piano sounds from various parts of the room when somebody else is playing versus how it sounds when you're at the keyboard yourself.

Jane

Yes, Danno's piano is done.
And Jane got to play on it today!
He was kind enough to record while I was playing. I'll post a few snippets from that in the member recordings section.

Much as I'm grateful for my Yamaha Avant Grand, comparing it with his Steinway is like a Yugo versus a Corvette.

danno858

Jane the funny thing is, is that I actually always wanted a Yamaha CFX model but they were not in my price range when I started my quest to get a grand. In the end I’m very happy how it all turned out.

ShiroKuro

danno858 I think I missed this when you first posted it, but congratulations!!!!
🙂

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