Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum For those that love vintage uprights

Something different other than black an shiny.

I know most here would say rebuilding a vintage upright is a bad idea.
When it comes to family heirlooms, some people see a different value.

We work on mostly grand pianos as do many of the rebuilders on this forum.

I wanted to share with you the beauty "I SEE" in old uprights.

Something I can not share is how they sound and perform

I do not sell rebuilt uprights these 4 pianos are custom rebuilds for families that have had them for generations.

It's not often we have a run of beautiful CANADIAN manufactured uprights leaving our shop around the same time. They are all over 100 years old with ivory keys in spectacular shape.

For you East Coast people I know this may seem crazy but our West Coast pianos do not have the same climate related damage as seen in other places of North America.



1906 Walnut Bell Manufactured in Guelph Ontario


1900 Mahogany Heintzman Manufactured in Toronto


1899 Mahogany Mason & Risch Manufactured in Toronto

New Soundboard in the Mason & Rich


1905 Walnut Gerhard Heintzman Manufactured in Toronto

Now THEY are my cup of tea!

I am so glad not to see them 'shiny as a mirror'
What gorgeous wood. Class. Style.

I only wish I could hear them as well.

Vintage pianos always enthraled me. They caught my attention immediately from the reflective ones. They seems to have a lot of stories to tell . I'm so engross with one i've seen and almost wanted myself without hearing it.

They are just fabulous!! I could pant and drool for one of those. HST

you should be so proud. they are absolutely beautiful. thanks for the pictures and sharing what you've done.

Hi Rod,

What magnificent refinishes on those beautifully restored pianos. I'm impressed. You do excellent cabinet work.

Sure would love to hear how they sound.

Best,

Bear

Wow! I can almost imagine what it was like when the showroom floor would have been filled with pianos like these.

Those are beautiful, Rod. They must sound as wonderful as they look. If I were to get a 'new' piano, I would definitely go the vintage route. They are made so much better than many pianos today.

John

Wow! These are beautiful. What did you use to refinish them? Is it laquer? It appear a satin finish. Did you rub with steel woo?. I wanted to get a new european upright in satin, and I understand that they just spray with a satin polyester. I have been advised not to get this because it is hard to repair. I am intersted in being educated on wood finishes with a satin finish. My complliments to the beautiful job on the pianos. Steve

My Dad used to have in his store an incredible Baldwin upright, totally restored, tiger maple. With columns, and all that. It was an amazing piece.

Those are more than beautiful old uprights, Rod!

They look superb and I'll bet they sound and play as good as they look!

Best regards,

Rickster

Wonderful-looking pianos, Rod. I love those vintage uprights too, and have recently had a couple of friends/customers buy some from rebuilders here (a Heintzman and a Nordheimer). I'd love to hear some more Bells; those I've seen & heard have been even better than Heintzmans.

Rod,Beautiful!
Most persons won't go through the expense of complete remanufacture on a vintage uprt. Of course with the exception of those with family heirloom / sentimental value,$ is no object. When you do one right,they can come out absolutely stunning as you can see.So much more charactor
than the typical black shinny syndrome.When people see a vintage art case immaculately restored uprt.they immediately get drawn to it sometimes more so than an art case grand.You just don't see that many in this day and age.
Wow! new soundboard on an uprt.Curious Did you drill and plug the pinblock or use oversize pins?
Could you get the plate out without taking out the keybed/steaming veneer off etc.? Never facilitated a major restoration including a new soundboard in an uprt.Alot of work. I always liked the ornate casting of the pedal plates after you replate them. Rod,Great job(s)

Bravo Rod,
What a treat to see such beautifuly restored pianos. It is apparent that you do quality work.
Really georgous pianos!

Any chance of some recordings?

Lovely!
What kind of price range do these run?
Do you have any 'before' pictures?
Could we have some sound links to hear them?
Thanks for sharing!

Hand rubbed finish is an American thing though both Yamaha and Kawai do polyester hand rub finish. Much easier to cut and colorsand when the finish is new rather than 20 years later after it has fully cured. On a ornate art case piano sometimes it is not practical to do a complete hand rub finish It is difficult to hand rub all the nooks and crannies and make it look as good as shooting parts via "spray finish" satin lacquer, polyester,urethane or ? It is true it is difficult to repair a "spray finish" in that one usually has to shoot the entire panel .Blending and overspray is the problem unless one knows how to do it.Satin black can be done no problem as for repairs on a "spray finish" We can do undetected repairs on "spray finish" satin black from Bosendorfer to all the European and asian pianos.

Thank you everyone!!! Nice to wake up to positive comments Glad you like the cabinets.

Ark,
We use a traditional lacquer finish. The last two coats on these is a satin lacquer. We actually offer 3 types of finishes. Open Grain, Closed Grain & Hand rubbed closed grain. Ebony finishes are always hand rubbed.
I actually prefer the sprayed satin over a hand rubbed. The wood shows up clearer. We have a dust free spay both and we do not have a problem with "CRUD" in our finishes.


Pianobroker,
The Mason and Risch had an open pinblock with number 1 pins. We replaced them with German made #2's They feel great.
When we change an upright pinblock we do not plug the holes we insert new planks.
The keybeds come out of all of these very easily.




Brenda,
Sorry no sound bites. I have no way of doing quality recordings. I could post some before photos if people don't mind. You can also see some stuff on my web site.

I don't know what Rod is getting for his uprights but we're now getting upwards of $10K for Bush & Lane uprights without new boards.

ddf

These are truly beautiful.

Great job on these pianos

These look really great, and I'm sure the sound is magnificent. Thanks for keeping these wonderful old instruments in circulation. I can only imagine the prices on pianos like this if they were made today.