Category — Piano Rebuilding & Restoration

 So, as mentioned in our last post, the significant cost and undertaking of rebuilding a piano  requires deep consideration of whether or not it’s truly warranted in your piano’s case. Here are some of the instances where rebuilding makes sense:
1. You are rebuilding a fine grand (or really incredible upright) whose worth will well exceed the cost of the restoration once the work is completed.
An example would be rebuilding a Steinway grand that is only worth about $10K in it’s present run-down condition, but which will be worth over $40K after being completely refurbished. Obviously, the cost is worth it, and if it’s properly rebuilt, it could result in a piano that sounds as good, or better, than a comparable new model of the same make. I have performed many of these full restorations on fine older pianos of every top brand name imaginable (and a few lesser-quality brands, which leads us to instance #2.)

2. You are rebuilding a piano, grand or upright, that will NOT be worth a lot of money after rebuilding, perhaps even a bit less than what it costs to rebuild it, but the piano has sentimental value for you – a family heirloom perhaps – and you have no intention of replacing it with another piano, so you must restore your treasured instrument as best you can.

3. You have a “special” instrument – a rare antique or highly ornate piece of furniture – with worn-out parts and sound, which, due to its age and old design, won’t sound that great even AFTER it’s rebuilt. But you have the wherewithal, and want to restore it as a special piece of furniture or conversation piece, for your mansion:) That may seem frivolous, but you’d be surprised how many rich customers have hired me to do just that. Restore some weird, off-brand antique piano, one that, even after restoral, will produce thin, poor tone quality when compared to any modern grand. This is especially true of the dreaded “square grand,” a long, rectangular box of a grand with strings running side-to-side instead of front-to-back, sitting on four legs instead of three. It looks a bit like a coffin, and sounds just as dead, due to the tiny soundboard and bridges and an amazingly poor action design. Major piano makers, even Steinway, produced these from about 1840 to 1900, and blessedly stopped after that. I rebuilt two of these, and that cured me of it…never again!

So there are definitely times and reasons for investing in full restoration of your piano. But here’s a caveat and an admission you may not expect from someone who can make tens of thousands of dollars every year, restoring pianos:

Rebuilt pianos, even ones restored by master rebuilders, rarely sound and play as great as they did originally, and almost never as good as a new one.

I’ve been a tuner-rebuilder for over 35 years. I’ve played many, many older Steinways, Baldwins, Bosedorfers, Bechsteins and Bluthners, restored by the finest rebuilders in the country, including pre-1940s Steinways rebuilt by Steinway themselves, at their factory. Truth be told, even though they all sound and play ten times better than when they still had their old parts, and get “close” to how they sounded new, they fall short of the level of touch & tone excellence available in a well-built, well-prepped new instrument. I’ve simply never played a finely rebuilt Steinway or Bosendorfer, then gone to the dealer and played well-regulated-and-voiced new Steinway or Bosendorfer, and felt the rebuilts were nearly as resonant and wonderful. That’s just the way it is with new parts in an older piano. Even if you replace everything but the plate and cabinet, it’s still older, and something is still missing, still falls short, when compared to the new ones. So I will contnue to rebuild fine pianos for all customers citing any of the reasons above, but these days, I tend to recommend, “Get a new one” a lot more often than, “You should rebuild the one you have.”

Or Purchase A Rebuilt/Refurbished Piano?

Should You Rebuild Your Piano, or Purchase A Refurbished Piano?

When families, piano students and players need a good-sounding, well functioning piano for their home or studio, they actually have 4 choices:

1. Buy a new piano with full warranty
2. Buy a used piano in its present condition
3. Buy an older used piano that’s already been completely rebuilt
4. Buy an older used piano in poor or run-down condition and pay to have it rebuilt yourself.
And of course, if you already own a piano that is older, and most of the parts are wearing out, causing poor sound & touch, you can add a fifth possibility to our list of choices
5. Rebuild your existing piano

Obviously, the first two choice are the easiest to undertake. Choice 3 can also be easy enough as long as you can verify the competence and quality of the rebuilder and his work.
Here, as in our earlier post about buying a used piano, one caveat cannot be overstressed: Take an expert technician with you who has the experience to accurately gauge to rebuilders skill level and qulaity of their work.

But choices 4 and 5 are tricky, and require deep assessment to determine whether or not any given piano warrants rebuilding.

First, let’s clarify what is meant by rebuilding a piano. Rebuilding a used piano, also reffered to as piano restoration or refurbishing, is the process of gutting the instrument of all it’s worn out parts, and replacing them with fresh new parts.

There are different levels of rebuilding. In some cases, simply replacing the hammers, dampers, key & action felts, and all the strings, is enough. In the restoration of much older instruments, it may also be necessary to replace many wooden action parts like the hammershanks, wippens, springs, damper levers, and even the wooden keys or keyframe, as well as cutting, fitting and drilling a new tuning pin block.

So rebuilding often may start with gutting the piano all the way down to the bare cabinet, iron plate, soundboard and bridges. As mentioned in the earlier post, full soundboard/bridge replacement is rare for most “piano shop rebuilders,” usually a factory job.

Rebuilding usually takes place in the piano technicains shop, for considerations of space, noise, messiness, and the tech’s access to all his heavy and technical tools. But, if it’s strictly an easier-level rebuilding job (just restringing and action-parts replacement) with no refinishing of the cabinet included, some rebuilders will offer to bring their tools and parts to the home and carry out the work there, saving the owner back-and-forth cartage fees.

Obviously, this is a LOT of work, usually consuming 4-8 weeks and costing from $3,000 to $10,000, depending on the type of instrument (old upright or fine grand) and depth of restoral needed. And that’s just for the inner restoral; we haven’t added the thousands for professional refinishing of the case.

With those kind of figures, it’s obvious that full piano rebuilding only make senses in a few instances. In our next post, let’s take a look at when rebuilding is warranted.