Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum A delightful vintage Grotrian Steinweg

My trip into town a few days ago was met with a pleasant piano surprise, which I thought I would share with you all.
My piano tuner/tech visits me twice a year - about the only time I see him as I rarely go into the town where his store is located.

That particular day I'd taken a drive out to see my favourite watch repairer, as a service was way overdue on a 1967 vintage Moonwatch. After having deposited it and chatted for longer than I should (whilst the O.H. had elected to remain in the car), my return route took me past my tuner's piano shop.
Looking in the window, to my surprise and delight was another fabulous vintage creation. A Grotrian Steinweg circa 1903.

The following photos were all taken through the shop window, complete with unfortunate glare and reflection, but I believe give a reasonable idea of the condition of this superb piano.

Photo 1




Photo 2


Photo 3


Photo 4


Photo 5


Photo 6


A brief description indicated 'restored', but exactly to what extent I'm unable to say. Clearly one can observe that the tuning pins have been replaced, and probably the strings. The cabinet looks in reasonably good original shape, with clearly some cosmetic work performed on the underside of the keyboard. The keys don't look as if they retain the original ivory, although I could be wrong.
I would have loved to have popped-in to ask a few questions, but as I was running late, value my health and didn't want to end up in the dog-house again, I hurried back to the car.

That 'encounter' certainly made my day, and I hope provides some additional enjoyment here too.

Looks like new strings. You can tell by the coils
around the tuning pins.

Very sloppy work on the re-stringing... It could be the angle of the photos, but some of the keys seem to have non-uniform gaps between them.

That looks fabulous, and does the card say £500 ?
And is that a crack in the name plate above a D key, below a in the word Gotrian?

Well Tweedpipe, I enjoyed seeing it. Thank's for posting it. Others seem to enjoy critiquing it - to each his own.

If you ever get to play it, let us know if 7500€ is a fair price.

Calling it restored might be a stretch, but she's a beauty regardless. Thanks for posting!

Rob

Looking closely, it says 7,500 Euros, not 500 Pounds.

Oh, it's lovely! Didn't you ache to go in and play it? I hope you do and then report back to us.

Oh yes. But had I done so I would have ached far more as soon as I reached the car......!
If I get the chance (alone!) to try the piano, I'll certainly report back.

PS: Love the look of your dog.

I was interested in the feedback. Thank you.
To address the comments:-
- Yes it was marked at 7500 euros.
- I don't believe it's a crack near the nameplate, but there is what appears to be a scuff mark there.
- Yes I too noticed some irregular spacing between the keys.
- From a professional point of view, how bad really is the re-stringing/coils around the pins? (This is just for interest as I'm not considering purchasing this piano - unfortunately!

There are some styles of vintage grands that personally I just couldn't live with. Not so this Grotrian, which remains sobre and classic imho.

Ah, it was a bit hard to see and I didnt know where the OP was from.

Thank you. Lewie, the Border collie is my right-hand man. Being a mix he has the smarts of a BC without the intensity of a pure bred working dog. He was the worst puppy I've ever trained but he's now one of the two best dogs I've ever owned.

Oh, and I love your tag line!

There's much attachement/ admirement for these oldies and - for good reason.

But they will have to stand the test against others not much more expensive - new.

Such are the times....

Norbert