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sorry to go back to "hammer rest" bit. On a grand it was always hammer rest to us. After all one rec-vered it with "hammer rest felt" Don't think Fletchers ever stocked " staccato rail felt."

try turning up a COUPLE of the capstans in the middle of the keyboard so the hammers hover 1/8th " above the hammer rest and see if that cures the trouble. If it does do the lot!
If it does not improve things,turn the hammers back level with their companions and get out the drawing board

It's taken 81 years for me to learn that the hammer rest is called the"staccato rail." crikey as Boris would say

Could be the hammers are resting ON the hammer rest. They should sit clear of it

hair spray, nail varnish or stewed old celluloid key tops are all the same stuff basically. They should make it nice and bright.. My uncle likened the result to a Steinway tin bath full of old nails. I'm sure he exaggerated. He really didn't like steinways.

In the 30s was C Bechstein London that were prone tp frame cracks. Best avoided

One cannot begin to give any sort of guide price for a piano without personally having inspected it. We are often asked for a "ball park figure" but the same answer still obtains.

too dear for that age

If there is a short sustain I cannot ascribe it to any of the reasons you suggest and I can't think that the work you have done can effect it.. It would suggest an inherent constructional defect. If the initiation of the string is achieved then logically the transference of the "sustain" t...

If you wait two weeks,the piano of your choice may be sold!

You are the customer and you tell the dealer what you want not the other way round(I.m a dealer!) Bear in mind the one from the box may not play exactly as the shop one does. You can also suggest the dealer gets a new one for you to choose,providing you contract to buy one of them. By the way they d...

You'll be happy with that piano I'm sure and I hope you found the advice on this Forum was of assistance.

Wherabouts are you so we can direct you to some sound advice?

Without knowing the condition of any of the pianos you mention I would say they are all grossly overpriced.

With your budget you go for new.
There is life beyond the Central Belt bubble of Scotland and I suggest you Google further north for a bargain!
Try Perth,Aberdeen and Inverness

Gebrueder Soehne is a new one on me(keine Umlauten auf meine pc!). and not a piano I've met I think. I really feel it is needing very careful examination by an expert before parting with ANY money. A wide berth is indicated especially at the price mentioned.

I think someone is talking nonsense to you.Get hold of a reliable dealer to advise you.
I wouldnt part with more than £200 for a twenties piano unless it was super special. For that money you could get a decent modern Kawai if you looked carefully

Good modern s/h try a Fazer if you can find one. About £1200 Steinmayer new under £2000. Modern Kawai s/h if you can find one £2000 ish Yamahas are a minefield. Any E German s/h £700- There are a few to avoid but it's very subjective so you've got to find an honest dealer with a name to look after.t...

We used to buy Ajellos from Ajello in Manchester in the 1950-60s
I remember them as very good

the third black bolt head from the right goes where there was once a wrest pin hole. viz missing string- no wrest pin for it!. Obviously has had some drastic re-designing

If you have any sort of click then a competent technician should be able to pinpoint it on the spot. If the click is there with the action out then it's most likely not regulation. There is no definitive list of sources of clicks-- only experience!. If you can remove the click for 15 minutes by fluf...

I have a customer in a wheel chair who cannot operate the sustain.
Does anyone know of a commercially available remote system. I'm sure I can make one but something readily available would be better.

It's because we do it all the time. We unconsciously disregard all the weird noises,overtones,buzzes etc that plague most pianos of all sorts and qualities.Some people are beset by noises that only they can hear. The tuner "hears" through all of these and often has to compromise with some ...

It's because we have been doing it for years and are almost unconciously able to filter out all the weird overtones,false notes and extraneous noises that inhabit all pianos of all qualities.Some people are plagued with overbearing noises that only they can hear.The tuner "hears" through a...

Always let the pianist decide whether she's 10 or twenty. She is going to play the piano, not the teacher,not mum not the tuner,not the salesman.
Keep your hand on the wallet and turn her loose on what you can reasonably afford.
Don't let the teacher have her finger in the pie!

T hammers were for a different age. The clue is in the "hammer" bit. Try knocking in a pin with it nowadays. My dad,granddad and uncles all used T hammers up to the War. When new modern pianos started to creep in after. they all surreptitiously bought a lever. What an advance the star head...

Colin Put me right. I thought the Kawais were all made in Japan save the K15 built in Indonesia and the K200,assembled in Indonesia. Anything wrong with Indonesia? My son and our japanese family were in Tokyo this summer and didn't elaborate on all these constructional subtleties. I thought the Yams...

Colin Put me right. I thought the Kawais were all made in Japan save the K15 built in Indonesia and the K200,assembled in Indonesia. Anything wrong with Indonesia? My son and our japanese family were in Tokyo this summer and didn't elaborate on all these constructional subtleties. I thought the Yams...

sounds to e as though the regulation was duff when you got it. Double-blow is generally a symptom of shallow touch so after a year the touch should be deeper with use. Also, less responsive notes as you describe could be lost motion that WILL naturaly increase with use. You need a tech to put it in ...

You can't do any lasting harm touching up unisons, providing you have a proper lever and not a socket set.. However, don't fiddle with regulation. This is a complete trade that must be done in strict sequence otherwise each adjustment will adversely affect the previous one and you will rapidly send ...

Does anybody do a retro fit kit for a grand?
What's the cheapest reliable new piano with it fitted?

OK with me Bill.
If we now have two examples of Brinsmeads with prints then it is reasonable to assume they were feature of a line of Brinsmeads as no one would add them later just to Brinsmeads. Hein Moriarty?

Colin old bass strings were certainly not hex core but just plain steel wire. Obviously you are a youngster and probably less than seventy years old! You will have come across old Bech and Bluthner bass strings that ere SOLDERED at the ends to stop them buzzing. I'm doing one at the present(1909 Blu...

The picture on ours is; "A foretaste of Summer" by George Logan.(qv on Google) A woman reclining on a punt with a parasol and two swans in attendance.Very beautiful This is new to me. Are there any other examples of Brinsmeads putting actual pictures on the front panel? It seems new to our...

My dad worked at Brinsmeads as did my uncle(Head rep.Liked a drink) and cousin around the 1900s. I have a picture taken from a centre panel of a Brinsmead in a similar style to the illustration.I know nothing more about it. It's a copy of a well known victorian print. I can't identify the one you sh...

The string looks like an emergency "hexacore" that one cuts to measure. However, you're supposed to chose one as near to the original as possible. Also, you need to turn off the copper winding properly otherwise it will BUZZ

the larger apparent string will let you know immediately if it has any concern---like you may not be able to tune the two together.

re Baker=" if they worked back then can't they be tuned now? " unfortunately often not.

As I tell all my slaves, the first job on removing keys is to re-number them so that when they all fall on the floor it doesn't take a day to sort them so two sets of numbers is usual tho'it helps if they add up to 85/88 It all looks pretty good and well looked after. BUT-- you must get a technician...

The idiosyncratic shape of the bottom of the sides looks very like a Zender as you observe Bill..I don't remember Spensers still being on the go in the 60s.

The grooved hammers are of no consequence.
The dampers appear to be too high though why they all seem in line is problematic.
Anyway, it is the job of a moment for a competent technician to crank them down a bit. I bet you will notice little difference tho'!

I would confidently put this pre-war post war they started with the model with the grand fall, and the bottom door was angled in three pieces, only the middle of which came out,thus making it almost impossible to get at the pedal works.It had curved top corners before the vogue for "modernising...

there are other people watching with interest I can tell you-- with interest and some encouragement. As an old hand ,like Colin, I wouldn't have touched this with yours. However, as a project it is interesting and in the end you will find your Holy Grail. As a hobby it's probably cheaper than sailin...

That sounds like an acceptable result

If it originally "held candleabra" then it will be pre 1918 war.

The adjustment of tapes is one of the many actions done by the skilled regulator as a mater of course and is no cause of discussion

You did mention that the una corda pedal seemed to affect it and wondered if it was a damper problem. The una corda mechanism has no connection with the dampers so,if you get another tech calling, if they are not now all in hiding, get him to probe there. Just along shot. That seems to be all you ha...

Did not Yamahas have an acoustical problem with their C3 s in the 80s?
I am am sure there was some correspondence here on the subject.

I don't envy your tech guy tomorrow.
If he's a young technician(under 60) he will be sent crackers.

It could be a hundred things. Most likely is a sympathetic resonance. As it's appeared since delivery it could be a resonance in the room. look at; electric fire grills, glass windows in cabinets,piano lid, components,ornaments, glass in pictures,bits of paper behind the frame,hair grips, paper clip...

In old pedal organs you could raise the pitch by simply moving each reed up one socket. If your piano is almost past it you could remove the keys and the frame that supports them. Saw off the approprite length at the the top,shed a key and move the whole lot up. If it'e a straightish strung there ma...

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