Hi, may I have your opinion about choosing one of the two pianos: 1. Howard 36inches, or Hampton 40inches, both made in the middle 1900s and similar price and in good condition. thx
Hi Steve, Today I was asked from a customer to evaluate two pianos for her. She wanted choose one of them. I just want to make sure that I gave her correct information. The first one was a piano made in Canada, Willis, from 1906. It was a large vertical. The treble touch was not good and one of the keys were completely down. and the sound board was broken almost behind the bass bridge (it was just visible from the back. it was not crakced only. it was broken and one of the ribs was detached from the board). hammers were reshaped but very carelessly. The other one was a Chines studio upright piano, named Strauss, in good condition but inherently low quality.( two hammer heads were loose. the keys were not very even and some of them needs squaring and spacing. One pin was loose. 4-5 keys were clicky) I recommended to my customer to keep the Strauss piano. (personally I liked the Willis because its touch and sounds was still more pleasant to me than the Chines one eventhough the soundboard was broken)
From this information it sounds like you made a good recommendation. The older piano sounds like it had more structural problems which are much more costly to repair than some of the minor action issues on the Strauss piano. Most of the issues there are fairly simple to resolve.
Great video Steven. Same thing applies to very old grand pianos. I can give ye many, many cases where I've seen and heard old grands like C. Bechsteins, and many others that they say have been fully restored when really they need a full rebuild inc a new soundboard because they're soo old the soundboard#s lost it's crown and it sounds lifeless. That's not saying ye can't find a brilliant older grand that's 100 = years old, ye can, but I just thought I'd bring that up. I tried an 8'3 Schiedmayer that I was really looking forward to playing and found out that it was totally worn out thought it would've been worth rebuilding if I'd had the money to do it. However it just shows ye sometimes ye can find large ancient grand pianos even here in Britain, I've seen loads over the years online but like I was saying I've played a few of em and I have come to expect even though I'm not a tuner or a tech I just like playing for my own enjoyment, what they can often sound like.
Thanks Sam, Yes, in many cases pianos that old can need a lot of work to bring them up to their full potential. In some cases though, you can replace strings and action parts and the soundboard may not need to be replaced. I own a 1915 Mason & Hamlin AA which I rebuilt with new strings and new action parts and had it refinished. It sounds amazing with lots of life. Having the tension resonator I'm sure helps preserve the soundboard crown.
@@howardpianoind Yeah I do like the sound of a Model A I heard atleast on video though I've never actually played one LOL. For a 170cm I thought it sounded absolutely phenominal especially the bass end. Ye don't see them over here in Scotland much if at all, I think I've only seen about 2 in my 7 years of looking around at pianos for sale here in the UK.
Hi Steve I live in Scotland and have grew up with older British uprights, mostly out of tune Lol. If you look at my channel you'll see my Bare Necessities video which I play on my old 1920s Hayes upright which I still have. I can't see music so I play by ear and I have been playing since I was about 6, nothing professional just for fun. I also had a 1930s Paul Newman 4 ft baby grand which is also on my channel but now I have upgraded toa 1989 Yamaha G2B Disklavier which is my 2nd most recent video. I love your stuff, just found your channel today, really informative although me not being able to see well I obviously have limitations on what I can do inside my piano. Keep up the videos and have a look at my channel if you've got a minute. Hope you enjoy. Cheers
Hi, may I have your opinion about choosing one of the two pianos: 1. Howard 36inches, or Hampton 40inches, both made in the middle 1900s and similar price and in good condition. thx
Given only this information I would go with the larger console piano because when it comes to pianos, all things being equal, bigger is better.
Hi Steve, Today I was asked from a customer to evaluate two pianos for her. She wanted choose one of them. I just want to make sure that I gave her correct information.
The first one was a piano made in Canada, Willis, from 1906. It was a large vertical. The treble touch was not good and one of the keys were completely down. and the sound board was broken almost behind the bass bridge (it was just visible from the back. it was not crakced only. it was broken and one of the ribs was detached from the board). hammers were reshaped but very carelessly.
The other one was a Chines studio upright piano, named Strauss, in good condition but inherently low quality.( two hammer heads were loose. the keys were not very even and some of them needs squaring and spacing. One pin was loose. 4-5 keys were clicky)
I recommended to my customer to keep the Strauss piano. (personally I liked the Willis because its touch and sounds was still more pleasant to me than the Chines one eventhough the soundboard was broken)
From this information it sounds like you made a good recommendation. The older piano sounds like it had more structural problems which are much more costly to repair than some of the minor action issues on the Strauss piano. Most of the issues there are fairly simple to resolve.
Great video Steven.
Same thing applies to very old grand pianos.
I can give ye many, many cases where I've seen and heard old grands like C. Bechsteins, and many others that they say have been fully restored when really they need a full rebuild inc a new soundboard because they're soo old the soundboard#s lost it's crown and it sounds lifeless.
That's not saying ye can't find a brilliant older grand that's 100
= years old, ye can, but I just thought I'd bring that up.
I tried an 8'3 Schiedmayer that I was really looking forward to playing and found out that it was totally worn out thought it would've been worth rebuilding if I'd had the money to do it.
However it just shows ye sometimes ye can find large ancient grand pianos even here in Britain, I've seen loads over the years online but like I was saying I've played a few of em and I have come to expect even though I'm not a tuner or a tech I just like playing for my own enjoyment, what they can often sound like.
Thanks Sam, Yes, in many cases pianos that old can need a lot of work to bring them up to their full potential. In some cases though, you can replace strings and action parts and the soundboard may not need to be replaced. I own a 1915 Mason & Hamlin AA which I rebuilt with new strings and new action parts and had it refinished. It sounds amazing with lots of life. Having the tension resonator I'm sure helps preserve the soundboard crown.
@@howardpianoind Yeah I do like the sound of a Model A I heard atleast on video though I've never actually played one LOL. For a 170cm I thought it sounded absolutely phenominal especially the bass end.
Ye don't see them over here in Scotland much if at all, I think I've only seen about 2 in my 7 years of looking around at pianos for sale here in the UK.
Yes, they're made in Boston so most of them are probably here in the USA.
Hi Steve
I live in Scotland and have grew up with older British uprights, mostly out of tune Lol. If you look at my channel you'll see my Bare Necessities video which I play on my old 1920s Hayes upright which I still have. I can't see music so I play by ear and I have been playing since I was about 6, nothing professional just for fun.
I also had a 1930s Paul Newman 4 ft baby grand which is also on my channel but now I have upgraded toa 1989 Yamaha G2B Disklavier which is my 2nd most recent video. I love your stuff, just found your channel today, really informative although me not being able to see well I obviously have limitations on what I can do inside my piano. Keep up the videos and have a look at my channel if you've got a minute. Hope you enjoy. Cheers