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Pianomate

Check online too. Some periodicals are scanned in for access over the net.

Try

http://www.bl.uk

Pianomate

Make sure your tuner is aware he is giving a valuation for insurance / repair / replacement purposes and not for selling it. Check your policy and if in doubt obtain expert advice before filing your claims (for ALL your flood damaged items, not just the piano). Bear in mind the insurance company wil...

Pianomate

Have a look behind the bottom panel - it may be obviousl what has happened and you may be able to work out how to fit the linkage back. Wait before you rush to sell it. Regardless of what has been posted before, I would be reluctant to get rid of your acoustic piano as if you get playing seriously y...

Pianomate

Bill - I know a few player enthusiasts. Restoration depends on the quality of the player mehcanism. Reproducing pianos with Duo Art actions and the like are usually more sought after and considered restoring, but some of the basic player actions aren't at the moment. My tech always leaves player act...

Pianomate

I would recommend for a start spending an afternoon in your nearest City library going through the music periodicals of the time. No idea which ones or even what they would be, but the archivist should be able to help.

Pianomate

I had considered that but I am trying to make it authentic. I'm after a few lumps of mahogany which I can reduce down.

Pianomate

A French Polisher will be able to make a good repair. "Lacquer" can mean several different finishes. It usually refers to Nitrocellulose lacquer (also referred to as pre-cat lacquer). It can also be used for Shellac, acrylic or other. All of these systems are different and not compatible w...

Pianomate

Hi. I'm struggling to find some bits of wood for my square piano restoration. The front bottom section under they keyboard is badly damaged and I am looking for some antique mahogany to replace it. It's not actually veneer but approx 3mm thick, and the section runs cross-grain so grain-wise it only ...

Pianomate

Yes, it says "Holder Brothers" and "Berlin". I guess "Colona" was their trade name. It's a typical huge German upright from the period, similar in construction to my own August Forster piano.

Pianomate

Hi. Does anyone know about pianos under the name of "Colona"? Somebody I know has a relative with one. It's a typical German piano from about the turn of the last century. Possibly "Colona" is a play on "Cologne"?

Pianomate

It's R W Pentland who was a music retailer at 24 Frederick St, Edinburgh. Others may know more but as far as I am aware he didn't actually make pianos but sold pianos under his name. I have some sheet music with a R W Pentland rubber stamp mark on it which is First World War era. The piano is likely...

Pianomate

I'm trying to find out anything I can about James Brunskill's music shop at Bridge Street, Berwick on Tweed. I understand he also had a branch in Newcastle upon Tyne. As far as I have been able to determine, the Berwick shop was active at the beginning of the 1900s, and according to an advert I saw,...

Pianomate

Simplex has umpteen meanings outside of the piano trade as well!

Pianomate

I doubt it's worth much. You might be best listing it on Ebay if you just need to shift it.

Pianomate

You could try asking on one of the US player piano forums.

Pianomate

Gaveau is now part of Manufacture Française de Pianos. All I can tell from the pic is somewhere post 1920 to present day. Need the serial number off the inside of the piano. Nobody can value it without a close inspection, just the same as nobody could value a car from just a photo. Just for fun, I'm...

Pianomate

Number 80489 on the frame if it is actually in the metal is likely to be the foundry part number for the frame itself. The most likely number is the one written next to the frame. If you are able to carefully extricate the far left hand key on the keyboard (you will have to take the top panel and fa...

Pianomate

His Vespa scooter (from his feedbacks) has a surprisingly brief description!

Pianomate

I've never seen one of these before (though I have heard about them).

I presume they were more of a novelty item than a serious instrument.

Pianomate

Looks to have made a nice job and the finish will be quite distinctive. Are the black embellishments a Libyan style?

What kind of final finish will it have?

Pianomate

From your description it is not worth any work being done on it. You could always try to give it away to a less fortunate family, on Gumtree or similar.

Pianomate

You may have more success posting your request on a player piano forum or site, especially a US one as they will have more specialist knowledge of player pianos. If you can post a picture (including of the player mechanisms) on flickr or similar and link to it, we may be able to give you some genera...

Pianomate

If it mentions Zonophone, Parlophone and Brunswick in the same ad it's probably early 1930s

Pianomate

Looks like you at least need a new set of rail punchings (or retrieve the old ones from your vac bag!)

Pianomate

Rushworth and Dreaper were a music supply house who bought in instruments and sold them under their own badge. I expect other more experienced members on the forum will know more, but I expect you will need to look for some more evidence to get an idea of the original maker.

Pianomate

A colleague purchased a padded leather adjustable one from Ebay. I was quite skeptical originally, but on inspection it was surprisingly well made for the price (about £80 I think). Obviously it won't withstand a lot of hammer, but for a private individual was fine. Mine is a Victorian one I purchas...

Pianomate

Many player pianos were well made quality instruments, and commanded a high price when new, making them items which only the wealthy could afford. Saleability depends on the original quality of the player action and also the piano itself. There are a dedicated band of player piano enthusiasts out th...

Pianomate

Burr / birds eye maple was popular in the latter part of the 19th Century. Must have been quite special as it is rare to find large enough uniform pieces of burr maple veneer. It is most typically found on mouldings and picture frames of the period. Burr walnut tended to be used later (burr walnut i...

Pianomate

You are best to get a local technician to appraise it for you.

Pianomate

Any chance you could upload them?

Pianomate

They're probably not worth anything as you say, and there seems to be quite a few keytops missing. Rather than smash them up you could offer them on Ebay (for 99p) or you could offer them for free on Gumtree. Looking at the frame in your second photo, it was probably a decent piano in its day but wi...

Pianomate

He goes under

raymanboy
laddbrookes
chelseadollshouseantiques
my-real-passion-and-charlie-s-birth-of-erotica
and now apparently stenwaypianosltd

Surely there's trademark infringement.

Looking at his posts, I think he needs help!

Pianomate

It looks like what we call a "cottage piano". They were made small and affordable - a budget model in its day. Straight strung and overdamped. Basically think of it as an antique - a piece of musical history. Fully restored, don't expect it to sound like a modern upright. It will have an o...

Pianomate

I guessed as much. I will also contact Lucy Coad for some vellum.

Thanks

Pianomate

You are probably better contacting a US forum for advice as not many of our members know much about US pianos. If it has been exposed to the elements, the structure and soundboard may be damaged or warped and if that is the case, it's probably worthless.

Pianomate

Get another technician / tuner to give you an estimate for the work, and ask their opinion. Speaking from an antiques restorer's point of view, some of these earlier pianos if they were originally of a good quality are very nice and well worth restoring. However if it wasn't a top model in its day, ...

Pianomate

I managed to splice the broken string, so all OK there.

Hi. Can anyone please advise the best way to replace the broken vellum hammer hinges?

Thanks

Pianomate

What type of rolls does it take (88 note / 65 note / other)?

There are specialist forums just for player pianos (look for them on Google) where you may get more information specific to them.

Pianomate

You need to make sure the wood is stained by an absorbins stain else if you get a scuff, you end up with a light coloured mark which is impossible to repair satisfactorily.

Pianomate

Finishing is my main area of expertise and I am familir with what you describe. They will need to apply veneer over the cut edges of the ply so you can't see the "sandwich" of the wood. My guess is the stain and finish will be spray applied. The stain should be what makes the colour rather...

Pianomate

£135 for the cabinet work sounds a bit on the cheap side to me. Is their work of good quality?

Pianomate

Collard and Collard were a respected make and if it's in good order it's probably too good to give to a school where it will get trashed. Many schools now prefer keyboards anyway. Why not post it in the ads on this site? I might have been interested but Swindon is a long way away.

Pianomate

I may be completely wrong but to me the case has a 1920s look - note the single panel in the top board and the shaker style bottom board, and the style of the mouldings at either side under the key bed.

Where is it located?

Pianomate

If it's not been overhauled or restored recently, you are probably best to list it on Ebay. Old pianos generally find their value on there provided you put enough detail and photographs on including the internals. If it's straight strung and / or overdamped, it's not likely to make more than £100. Y...

Pianomate

Do you really need to take the frame off? Can't you manage without doing so? Personally, from an engineering point of view I'd try and manage without taking it off, but it is, however well beyond my level of experience.

Pianomate

When you come to polish the keys, you need to make sure you don't round the edges off with the polishing mop. The way I do this is clamp them between some pieces of wood at the same height. This is a useful place: http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Standard_Polishing_Kits.html They have s ba...

Pianomate

No need unless it has lost its structural integrity. Is the timber sound - can you push a small screwdriver into it?

You may find that more strings break as you try and tune them up. Perhaps wait until everything is back together and you start tuning before you order anything.

Pianomate

You can't do anything about it if it's broken in the middle. Perhaps if you post the length and size on here someone may have a second hand string.

Pianomate

Before you go to the trouble of replacing your broken strings, can they not be spliced? Have you tried yet?

This is normally a much more satisfactory job as keeping the original strings to match the others is best if it works.

Pianomate

Found another listing - they keep getting even longer and more bizarre. I wonder if there is a limit to the amount of text you can put in an Ebay ad. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/C-BECHSTEIN-GRAND-truly-stunning-50-000-new-equivalent_W0QQitemZ160333495227QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Keyboard_RL?hash=...

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