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Tickling the Ivories: PianoManagement.com
Written by Lorie Lee Steiner
Photography by Brian Usher
Picture the sultry lounge – candlelit tables, glasses
clink, conversations hushed and intimate. The
mood is sexy, anticipating … then from the stage
a trickle of dulcet jazz tones, ‘Cry Me a River’
softly peals from the baby grand and steals the
room, so perfect and beautiful you want to cry.
Our growing global love affair with jazz music
has seen the piano enjoy a surge in popularity,
both in public venues and at home. And a
virtually unknown restoration quartet in Guelph,
Ontario is a key player in the renaissance. Enter
Mark, Steven, Jeremy and James – together they
rescue rare and antique grand pianos destined for
obscurity and give them new life, sending them
back out into the world better than new. Continue article >>
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Piano Management's new ad in Arabella Design Magazine
Click the image below for full sized version.
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Pianomanagement.com
Is a remanufacturing and location service for rare and antique grand pianos.
We are a small passionate group of individuals that specializes in older Steinway and Heintzman pianos
with a combined sales and service workforce experience totaling more than 50 man years. Our clients
included international artists and world renowned facilities.
Unlike many other north American piano remanufacturers in high cost city centers we operate out of a
small workshop in Guelph Ontario, run by classically trained musician- craftsmen.
Our love of music
and passion for fine instruments is evident in our commitment to the highest level of quality for the fairest price.
Every piano we work on is a intimate part of our lives and like a family member we continue to service
and maintain a relationship with all of our pianos. All of our remanufactured Steinways have a 10 year warranty, which includes (4) four free tunings. We will regularly post updates on the pianos we are
working on and have recently acquired.
Here is a recent youtube video of our most recent project. |
Work in progress
July 31, 2011.
Here are some images of the newly built sound board for an 1879 Steinway Model 'A'. Click the images below for a larger view.
We are presently remanufacturing a 1909 Heintzman Grand (rare golden colour) whose original home was the Shaw Festival Courthouse and a late 1800's Knabe Grand 7'4"( great for a church or concert hall).
This Heintzman 5" 7 made in Toronto 1907/8 (the Keele and Dundas location) and has lived for years at the shaw festival. This piano is in the throws of a complete rebuild. An interesting and extremely solid design, modeled with steinway scaling in mind, will have a totally re-engineered sound board and bridges to start. The original 'floating sound board' has been removed and will be a classic full rim. The pin block will be replaced with 13 ply maple. Bass bridge will be modified and ribs will be slightly less bulky than originals, creating a more open and resonant sound. The colour will be hand polished gloss black with a lighter wood stained mahogany on both the inner rim and the flutes on the legs. All action will be replaced excluding ivory keytops which will be preserved and restored as they are un-chipped. This is the first work this piano has ever seen so there's no worry of past tampering and all original parts are in tact for extensive reference. GC will be doing the strings with roslau wire in the tenor and treble.
1925 NY Steinway Grand Model L (5' 10.5")
Serial Number 239889 - New Alaskan-Sitka soundboard with pine ribs & sugar-maple bridge caps. German copper bass strings. New Wessel, Nickel & Gross action. Renner "Blue" hammers. Hand-rubbed satin black epoxy finish
(looks exactly like vintage Steinway rubbed satin). Arrow-corner music desk & window-pane spade legs. Click here to see all the images of this piano.
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A sound investment
Here is an article explaining the appreciation of Steinway pianos.
A sound investment (steinway.com) |
The Skin |
The client chooses the colour, depth and sheen of their piano.
The piano is first stripped, sanded and filled to ensure high gloss is possible. It is then coated with primer and a single coat of stain where after it is sanded yet again till all pitting in the veneer is gone. If needed a second coat is applied and the process repeated. Then, a clear coat of catalyzed varnish is applied and sanded thrice to ensure high gloss is attainable. After which, the scratches are removed by hand using a rag and various liquid buffing compounds till full and clear reflection is achieved. |
The Soundboard |
The Soundboard is carefully removed and measured then discarded. If modifications are in order they are done here (higher crown, crown apex location, bridge position) The original laminated bridge bottom is removed from original sound board and location carefully noted. The cap is then cut off and discarded, new wood is fitted and a new bridge is chiseled from scratch. The layout of the bridge is also re-engineered to maximize hammer contact, down bearing and strength (many old piano layouts were hastily completed and thus caused undue wear and cracking from too much side bearing). Our soundboards are kiln dried to 4-5% humidity and allowed to restabilize to a natural humidity before being installed in the piano. White spruce, Sitka spruce, bolduc spruce are among the choices of wood we use for our soundboards and we use Sitka spruce ribs to hold the crown. |
Pinblock |
The pinblock is replaced and refitted with a varying degree of thickness and ply count depending on space and model. Care is taken when drilling to ensure ease of tuning and longevity as well as proper alignment to the plate. |
Plate |
The plate is stripped and refinished in our custom gold paint. |
Voicing |
All of our pianos are voiced to our taste or a specific player’s taste, everything can be modified to suit the performer. How heavy or light the key feels to the touch, how loud or quiet the sound, How much attack (how bright or dull), how fast the repetition need be, all can be adjusted to our taste or made subject to the scrutiny and preferences of the performer. |
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