Bechstein Model L

General discussion about piano makes, problems with pianos, or just seeking advice.

Moderators: Feg, Gill the Piano, Melodytune

Post Reply
joseph
Senior Poster
Senior Poster
Posts: 740
Joined: 08 Apr 2008, 23:34
Location: Norwich

Bechstein Model L

Post by joseph »

Hey folks,

A friend of mine recently inherited a C.Bechstein model L, from a mutual friend of ours that sadly died two weeks ago.
The piano was this man's pride and joy, although he didn't play it much. Sadly not having played it much, he didn't have a particularly great technician.

I think the piano dates from the mid 1920s, so it is very old. When we went round to his house the other night to check out the piano (neither of us had played it in a long time) there we noticed the following:

Compression ridges in the soundboard, although it doesn't appear to be cracked.
Every note on the action clicks loudly, and the action lacks much in the way of response.
The key return is very sticky, making the piano very very difficult to play.
The dampers aren't damping properly anymore.

On the positive side, the piano has a long sustaining quality to it, and a rather meliflous sound.

Because he is getting the piano for the price of moving it (from Dundee to Frankfurt) he wants to know what his options are for the instrument. He will be keeping the piano, not rebuilding it to sell, which I said to him was very important, because he might have to spend more than the piano would be worth on restoring it. Right? But for him, this piano is really special because of the importance of our friend who died.

Basically, he wants to know how much of the piano he should and can keep original. He wants to know if he should have it fully rebuilt with a new tuning plank and soundboard, rebuilt action, or whether he should take another course of action.

I said to him that if money wasn't a problem, he should look at someone like the Leveretts, who will make a fantastic job. Thing is, for some reason, he is a bit sentimental about the originality of the instrument.

He is a pianist, and his other piano is a Yamaha C2 silent. HE is now an official member of the two piano club, which Openwood should also join at somepoint soon, by the looks of his posts :wink:
Barrie Heaton
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3603
Joined: 30 May 2003, 20:42
Location: Lanc's
Contact:

Re: Bechstein Model L

Post by Barrie Heaton »

If the soundboad has compression ridges and by your description a sluggish action the piano has been in a damp environment once the piano dries out the cracks in the soundboard will appear compression ridges happen when when there there is nowhere for the wood to go when the wood swells up

The big problem with compression ridges is that the fibres in the wood have been crushed. When the board drys out you get cracks, the cracks themselves in most cases are not a problem but the crushed fibres can causes dead spots in the sound board and have a bad effect on overall sustain

When a piano is of that age and has not been looked after a full rebuild tends to be the best option to avoid disappointment in the results

Barrie,
Barrie Heaton
Web Master UK Piano Page
joseph
Senior Poster
Senior Poster
Posts: 740
Joined: 08 Apr 2008, 23:34
Location: Norwich

Re: Bechstein Model L

Post by joseph »

Although I'm not a tech, I had thought that this may be the case! Thanks for the info, I'll pass the info on to him. I think the piano should turn out to be a really nice one!
Model V
Persistent Poster
Persistent Poster
Posts: 157
Joined: 09 Nov 2008, 11:28

Re: Bechstein Model L

Post by Model V »

My wife had a Model L before we were married. Simply the poorest Bechstein grand I've ever played - terribly false on the breaks and we couldn't get rid of it soon enough (it had been in her family). We sold it to a very respected tech who fully re-conditioned it - and it was still hideous (lol). Don't know whether the Model L is poor usually though.

MV
Post Reply