Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts

Thursday 12 October 2017

The Tuning Snob

If a piano is not in tune, surely it is out of tune! Simply put, it is one or the other!

Imagine if we piano tuners would turn up to work, flick some kind of switch, tinker about for an hour or so, play the 'Tuner's Waltz', have a cup of tea, get paid, smile and... on to the next job!

But alas, a tuner's life is not so black and white, not so easy. Whatever the piano may be: Steinway, Schimmel, Schiedmayer - just a few of those beginning with S - but Bluthner, Bechstein etc. and all the rest. All these good pianos, need regular tuning and maintenance to keep them sounding good.

Videos posted online, recordings heard on the radio, programs on the TV, all demonstrate the vast spectrum of ideas about in-tune-ness. The concept of 'in tune' can range from the boringly bland to the ridiculous clang of a poorly tuned street piano. Some people seem able to tolerate the most terrible twangs and jarring noises, oblivious to the blatant affront to musicality, while being quite serious in their playing.  

Perhaps being a piano tuner, one is unable to appreciate the honest effort of sincere musicians wanting to express their musical abilities. I find it surprising however that there is not a more widespread appreciation of the concept of being 'in tune'. 

Unhappily, 
we tuners are not among the most accommodating of people, often disagreeing about ways of doing things. For some, their own ideas and practices are the right ones - anything different, is simply wrong!

There is no point in being snooty about other ways of getting the job done - it is good that the profession is still alive and well! The truth is we can all improve. I'd be embarrassed to be met with some of my earliest tuning efforts. Thankfully, after so many years, nobody is going to complain now. We can only deal with the pianos we tune today with our very best efforts. Building experience one piano at a time. 

Tuner's Journal
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Saturday 25 July 2015

How to Donate a Piano

Pianos are not the smallest pieces of furniture in the house. So  when the family piano is no longer used and taking up valuable space, often the thought is to donate the piano to the school, the church or the village hall. Anywhere it can be played and appreciated.  

While donating a piano to a school or college is a generous gesture, the kind of piano and its condition might throw a different light on the gift.

Institutions need any donated piano to be up to scratch, up to pitch and ready for continual and rigorous use without the school having to spend any new money. Pianos of a certain age will never be fully up to scratch, and pianos that are ripe for being donated are often pianos that are simply unloved and unwanted by the owners. In this age of trying to recycle everything, passing on a surplus piano seems a very 'green' thing to do! But not always the most helpful thing to do.

Being given a 'grand' piano seems like manna from heaven to an institution with limited funds. Surely a grand piano
 can be used for concerts and recitals - what can possibly go wrong? But alas, most of the pianos I have viewed on behalf of hopeful clients, have been poor examples of mediocre manufacture.

It is better to turn down the offer of a poor piano than to be obliged to take it and be forced into paying good money trying to make good an inherently bad piano.

Occasionally there are happy endings:
One was when a parent of a child at a certain school very generously bought a piano for the school. 
Another, an 'old' parent wanted to donate their 1970s Yamaha to the school and even paid to have safety casters fitted, the piano moved and tuned! 

This is how to donate a piano!

So if you are considering gifting a piano to a school of college, be doubly sure the piano would meet the demands expected and actually be a blessing to the school.
    

Tuner's Journal

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Pianology



Saturday 29 November 2014

Bechstein Pianos - Pictures

Bechstein is among the very best-known names of piano-makers. Every piano in their range has its own characteristics but, the qualities of good design and solid construction are clearly seen in these pictures of the various models. Only extreme age or excessive wear will defeat these wonderful pianos!

Model V
(older, straight-strung piano)
The Bechstein Model 7
The Bechstein model 8
The Bechstein Model 9
Bechstein Model A
Model S

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Kimball Piano Serial Nos.

Year
Serial No.
Year
Serial No.
1902
89000
1942
444000
1904
129000
1946
480000
1906
158200
1948
500000
1908
183000
1950
517000
1910
211000
1952
537020
1912
244200
1954
553000
1914
267800
1956
571300
1916
288000
1958
586500
1918
307000
1960
604000
1920
322000
1962
617900
1922
336000
1964
646800
1924
352000
1966
678500
1926
364000
1968
717900
1928
372100
1970
764200
1930
383000
1971
771000
1932
389000
1972
817000
1934
399000
1973
820000
1936
414000
1974
901000
1938
426000
1975
951000
1940
438000
1976
1000100

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Jewett Piano Serial Nos.

Year
Serial No.
Year
Serial No.
1890
10000
1911
36000
1891
12000
1913
38000
1892
13000
1916
40000
1893
14000
1919
42000
1894
15000
1920
43000
1896
16000
1921
44000
1900
17000
1923
46000
1902
18000
1925
46250
1903
20000
1926
46600
1904
22000
1928
47100
1905
24000
1929
47500
1906
26000
1928
47100
1907
28000
1929
47500
1909
30000
1930
48000
1910
34000
1931
48826

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas