John Johanson brings a Steinway A's soundboard back to life using a modern approach that relies on marine-grade epoxy. buymeacoffee.com/insidepianos inside pianos.com
Such a great instrument. Being an 1898 model A owner, I really admire this work. A French polish with an antique wax finish would bring that Rosewood back to life. It is expensive but so worth it.
Great work and good looking repair. Original Steinway boards sound better after cracks appear than before. My theory is that the board "relaxes " and vibrates more freely to give a richer tone. At least, that has been my experience. But what do I know? I have only been rebuilding Steinway grands for 43 years.
It’s not just about cracks. It’s about crown or lack of it in a piano of this age. The instrument may sound ok after this but it will not have the sustain it would and should have with a new board. They did a nice job but this is a recondition. The piano deserves a full restoration with a new board.
Had the board been original a full restoration would have been entirely appropriate. I neglected to mention that this board is a Steinway board from the middle of the 20th century. It had gone back to Steinway sometime after the 1936 diaphragmatic patent. My guess is that it was sometime in the 50s. As such, there was plenty of crown.
This is a response to Mr. Linton Replace a soundboard in a piano and put on the Steinway decal and try to sell it as a Steinway? Steinway lawyers have made it clear that they will sue you for brand name defamation. You can name your piano "SteinWAS", but not Steinway. FYI, I have rebuilt MANY Steinways at least 100 years old with numerous repaired cracks, and they sounded amazingly musical. Certainly good enough to satisfy the accomplished pianists who purchased them and subsequently raved about them. And I don't have to make excuses about a "non Steinway " soundboard!
Great video Ben, I love the idea of restoring soundboards rather than replacing them. The piano sounds awesome. Assuming the cracks are small enough to fill with this method, are there times epoxy won't work? I imagine there are soundboards whose fibers are too crushed, or there is too little crown, that epoxy can't bring them back. Is there any testing you do beforehand to determine if this will work for a particular soundboard?
I neglected to remind folks in this video that this piano went back to the S&S factory sometime after 1936 for a soundboard replacement. (It has a diaphragmatic soundboard which they introduced in ‘36.) Had the soundboard been original it’s likely it would not have been a candidate for repair of any sort. As such, it was ideal-an original, bonafide S&S board with good crown and not a great amount of cracking. It mainly had that one down the center and a few of little or no consequence by the bass cutoff. I’m sure you’ve seen extreme warping around the bass bridge on old boards. This didn’t suffer from that either. Bottom line, it’s a judgement call best made by those with a lot of experience rebuilding. John and I recently assessed an early-oughts Knabe with a gorgeous mahogany case and had to pass sadly because the board was just too far gone. From my observation, once you get back to the 20s the piano has to have been a cared for really well to not require a board replacement.
@@insidepianos I see. Well, the Baldwin sounds great. I wish I had room for a 9 footer. Post a recording of the Model A when you're done, curious to see how that one will sound!
@Inside Pianos Really appreciate your expertise and honesty shown on this channel. I have shimmed boards from the late 1890's and got absolutely superb sounding pianos. I feel that the proof is in the pudding. Besides, I don't want Steinways lawyers suing me for replacing the soundboard and then illegally selling the piano as a Steinway ( it should be labeled SteinWAS, according to them).
Roger, thank you for the kind words. We really try our best, John and I. Happy to hear you’re getting great results with original boards. Regarding Steinway lawyers, I get that concern. We had some good news recently: Steinway has approved John for decals on his rebuilds (even in the case of using new soundboards) due to his reputation for authentic and high quality restoration of Steinways. It’s really great to see Steinway working with certain rebuilders and not having a nuance-less policy regarding the Steinway/Steinwas thing. Maybe you’d have similar luck if you reached out. My hunch is that Steinway is concerned with the growing animosity throughout the ranks of rebuilders.
Hi Don! No. The epoxy seeps through. You actually welcome some dripping to indicate a complete fill which is cleaned off before it hardens. John does get underneath to address the rib separation, removing varnish at the point of separation to allow more glue insertion.
The board will now have an imbalance with respect to moisture exchange rates. One might treat both sides equally when applying vapor barrier variables. The board should have been stressed from below to add width to, and shim the cracks flush, enhancing its crown. Sloppy at best.
I haven’t breathed that rare air in person but I certainly admire the company’s approach and commitment, and I like the sound that I’ve heard in recordings. Bold pianos with a huge dynamic range.
@@rogershaffer1 0 to be exact. However I became aware that an awful lot of piano technicians either don't know what they are doing or just don't care. Maybe because most customers don't notice any difference anyway.
@Rik Hendriks Thank you for your honesty! It's not that most technicians " don't know or care what they doing ", its just that most technicians don't know what they are doing. Trust me. Over 40 years I have had to fire at least 15 technicians. Not only do they not know what they are doing, they refuse to learn with a know it all attitude. I have tuned for famous pianists such as Herbie Hancock and rebuilt hundreds of concert pianos in my career. The core of the problem is the lack of the system from a bygone Era. Five years apprenticeship under a master craftsman and then more years of experience. . Today one can buy a tuning kit on Amazon and take a few online classes and then advertise yourself as a piano tuner.
@@rogershaffer1 Thank you! It's the same here in Holland. But I notice some very promissing changes within the younger generation. It's such a shame, but it wouldn't be a problem to me if I didn't have a passion for piano's!
@@Johannes_Brahms65 Hello Rik Even though we live in different countries, we speak the same language and have the same thoughts. And you said it so concisely. We have "passion for pianos "
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*Well done!* I had just assumed that soundboards are removed for cosmetic and minor repairs.
Such a great instrument. Being an 1898 model A owner, I really admire this work. A French polish with an antique wax finish would bring that Rosewood back to life. It is expensive but so worth it.
Great work and good looking repair. Original Steinway boards sound better after cracks appear than before. My theory is that the board "relaxes " and vibrates more freely to give a richer tone.
At least, that has been my experience. But what do I know? I have only been rebuilding Steinway grands for 43 years.
That’s very interesting, Roger. I have two clients with Steinways from the 90s. But have developed cracks in the soundboard. Both sound really lovely.
It’s not just about cracks. It’s about crown or lack of it in a piano of this age. The instrument may sound ok after this but it will not have the sustain it would and should have with a new board. They did a nice job but this is a recondition. The piano deserves a full restoration with a new board.
Had the board been original a full restoration would have been entirely appropriate. I neglected to mention that this board is a Steinway board from the middle of the 20th century. It had gone back to Steinway sometime after the 1936 diaphragmatic patent. My guess is that it was sometime in the 50s. As such, there was plenty of crown.
This is a response to Mr. Linton
Replace a soundboard in a piano and put on the Steinway decal and try to sell it as a Steinway?
Steinway lawyers have made it clear that they will sue you for brand name defamation.
You can name your piano "SteinWAS", but not Steinway.
FYI, I have rebuilt MANY Steinways at least 100 years old with numerous repaired cracks, and they sounded amazingly musical. Certainly good enough to satisfy the accomplished pianists who purchased them and subsequently raved about them. And I don't have to make excuses about a "non Steinway " soundboard!
Great video Ben, I love the idea of restoring soundboards rather than replacing them. The piano sounds awesome. Assuming the cracks are small enough to fill with this method, are there times epoxy won't work? I imagine there are soundboards whose fibers are too crushed, or there is too little crown, that epoxy can't bring them back. Is there any testing you do beforehand to determine if this will work for a particular soundboard?
I neglected to remind folks in this video that this piano went back to the S&S factory sometime after 1936 for a soundboard replacement. (It has a diaphragmatic soundboard which they introduced in ‘36.)
Had the soundboard been original it’s likely it would not have been a candidate for repair of any sort. As such, it was ideal-an original, bonafide S&S board with good crown and not a great amount of cracking. It mainly had that one down the center and a few of little or no consequence by the bass cutoff. I’m sure you’ve seen extreme warping around the bass bridge on old boards. This didn’t suffer from that either.
Bottom line, it’s a judgement call best made by those with a lot of experience rebuilding. John and I recently assessed an early-oughts Knabe with a gorgeous mahogany case and had to pass sadly because the board was just too far gone.
From my observation, once you get back to the 20s the piano has to have been a cared for really well to not require a board replacement.
Oh! I should add that the recording you heard at the "big reveal" is my Baldwin SD6 (in case you thought you were hearing the Model A at the end).
@@insidepianos I see. Well, the Baldwin sounds great. I wish I had room for a 9 footer. Post a recording of the Model A when you're done, curious to see how that one will sound!
@Inside Pianos Really appreciate your expertise and honesty shown on this channel.
I have shimmed boards from the late 1890's and got absolutely superb sounding pianos.
I feel that the proof is in the pudding. Besides, I don't want Steinways lawyers suing me for replacing the soundboard and then illegally selling the piano as a Steinway ( it should be labeled SteinWAS, according to them).
Roger, thank you for the kind words. We really try our best, John and I. Happy to hear you’re getting great results with original boards.
Regarding Steinway lawyers, I get that concern. We had some good news recently: Steinway has approved John for decals on his rebuilds (even in the case of using new soundboards) due to his reputation for authentic and high quality restoration of Steinways.
It’s really great to see Steinway working with certain rebuilders and not having a nuance-less policy regarding the Steinway/Steinwas thing.
Maybe you’d have similar luck if you reached out. My hunch is that Steinway is concerned with the growing animosity throughout the ranks of rebuilders.
Do you do anything to the underside of the cracks?
Hi Don! No. The epoxy seeps through. You actually welcome some dripping to indicate a complete fill which is cleaned off before it hardens. John does get underneath to address the rib separation, removing varnish at the point of separation to allow more glue insertion.
The board will now have an imbalance with respect to moisture exchange rates. One might treat both sides equally when applying vapor barrier variables. The board should have been stressed from below to add width to, and shim the cracks flush, enhancing its crown. Sloppy at best.
What do you think of Fazioli pianos?
I haven’t breathed that rare air in person but I certainly admire the company’s approach and commitment, and I like the sound that I’ve heard in recordings. Bold pianos with a huge dynamic range.
About 98% of the world's finest concert pianists perform , own, and promote exclusively Steinway pianos. Does that sufficiently answer your question?
@@rogershaffer1 because they ship pianos to concert venues. No other piano manufacturer can afford to do that. Does that answer your question?
Some restorers replace the soundboard. I wonder if they even know what they're doing!
Do you know what you are doing?
Please let us know how many Steinways you have completely rebuilt?
@@rogershaffer1 0 to be exact.
However I became aware that an awful lot of piano technicians either don't know what they are doing or just don't care. Maybe because most customers don't notice any difference anyway.
@Rik Hendriks Thank you for your honesty!
It's not that most technicians " don't know or care what they doing ", its just that most technicians don't know what they are doing. Trust me. Over 40 years I have had to fire at least 15 technicians. Not only do they not know what they are doing, they refuse to learn with a know it all attitude.
I have tuned for famous pianists such as Herbie Hancock and rebuilt hundreds of concert pianos in my career. The core of the problem is the lack of the system from a bygone Era.
Five years apprenticeship under a master craftsman and then more years of experience.
. Today one can buy a tuning kit on Amazon and take a few online classes and then advertise yourself as a piano tuner.
@@rogershaffer1 Thank you!
It's the same here in Holland. But I notice some very promissing changes within the younger generation.
It's such a shame, but it wouldn't be a problem to me if I didn't have a passion for piano's!
@@Johannes_Brahms65 Hello Rik
Even though we live in different countries, we speak the same language and have the same thoughts. And you said it so concisely. We have "passion for pianos "