Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Steinway rebuilders

I am looking for a rebuilt Steinway grand, model L, O or maybe A, if I can afford it. Can anyone recommend highly reputable Steinway restorers who are likely to have some of these models and are willing to ship within the United States?

Thanks!

jeffrey Potter at http://santacruzpiano.com
or Dale Erwin at http://www.erwinspiano.com/ are both people I could highly recommend. They are both based in central CA.

You don't tell us where you are located. Typically, in each major metropolitan area there are one or more quality rebuilders ie. New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc. Let us know where you are and those that know will jump in and give you information.

Dave,

Do you mean Randy Potter?

I have heard that CountryPiano does a lot of good work rebuilding Steinways, and they have a large selection...they are located in upstate NY. www.countrypiano.com

Based on the other thread, I seem to recall you were located in Atlanta. Were there not rebuilders available in that area you were comfortable with?

I'm sure almost anyone in the rebuilding profession would be more than willing to ship a piano long distance--most of us have done so on many occasions. It does make the doing adequate research on the establishment increasingly difficult as you get further away though.

Playing on a number of their pianos, talking to some of their customers, and perhaps technicians in the area that know them best are all things that one should do in selecting a restored instrument. Especially in restorations, you aren't simply purchasing Brand X and model Y. You are getting the workmanship, experience, judgment and reputation of the team doing the work.

Best luck

Depending on your location, I suggest visiting a rebuilder (or two). Watch the work being performed. Speak with the people actually doing the work. Play the finished product that is available on display.

If the rebuilder passes this muster, you may be in the right place.

(If you are in Atlanta, start your investigation by calling Don Bennett at Pianoworks).

Good Luck,

Rod,

No, while I know Randy, I mean Jeff Potter. He does great work.

_________________________________________________

Dave the link you supplied goes to Randys web site not Jeffreys

Rod,

Oooops...you're right! But there is a Jeffrey Potter in Santa Cruz who does great work. He rebuilt my piano some years ago. I can't seem to dig up the link for him. I'll keep looking.

My aunt and uncle shipped their Steinway grand piano from North Carolina to Philadelphia to have it rebuilt at Cunningham Piano Company and Factory. They were thrilled with the results. My post-retirement uncle has started a second career as a concert pianist, thanks in part to the job Cunningham did rebuilding his piano.

Riolima:

Many rebuilders do good, even great, work. What distinguishes the Steinway & Sons dealer (as long as they have a superior rebuilder, which most, but not all, do), and their piano, is being able to rebuild it with all original parts. ONLY THE AUTHORIZED STEINWAY & SONS DEALER, HOWEVER, CAN USE A NEW STEINWAY & SONS SOUNDBOARD IN THE REBUILD. NONE OTHERS CAN. Any rebuilder can buy original Steinway & Sons parts, BUT NOT THE SOUNDBOARD. THE SOUNDBOARD IS THE SOUL OF THE INSTRUMENT.

As this is the case, MOST rebuilders will tout the following in order to garner business:

1) "we can make a soundboard just like Steinway's. Its not that hard, etc..."

2) "Abel parts are superior, hornbeam is superior, etc.... (i.e. anything but original Steinway parts)"

The biggest competition for NEW Steinway & Sons pianos is Used and rebuilt Steinway & Sons pianos. This is a fact. What is the biggest competition for Oakley sunglasses, for Louis Vuitton purses, for Rolex watches: used or fake ones. I've seen some rebuilds that are less than 20% a true Steinway & Sons. Its a travesty, but some are more worried about making a buck, then reproduce a masterpiece. Some buyers buy the Steinway & Sons piano for the name only.

I hope that you are not just buying for the name, Riolima! If you do choose to buy a rebuilt, tread carefully.

This is a generalization, but, the closer, price-wise, the rebuild or used Steinway & Sons piano is to a new one, the more likely it is to have all original parts and/or to be a true masterpiece of rebuilding work.

By the way, Steinway & Sons pianos rebuilt by the factory in New York are deemed "Heirloom" Steinways and come with a certificate.

If you choose not to go with a Steinway & Sons dealer, go with "pianobroker" in California. He, in my assessment, seems to be very knowledgable and appears to have quite a following on this forum, as far as Steinway rebuilders go.

By the way, PIANOBROKER, what do you think of my comments above and how do you match the quality/tight-grain of the Steinway & Sons soundboard?

The technician who works on my piano has had nice things to say about the recent work being done at the Steinway NY rebuild shop at the factory location. He also has equally nice things to say about the pianos rebuilt by a well-known shop 30 minutes away from here in Texas. This tech does all kinds of concert level work, all over the country, and knows enough to see the difference between a rebuild that LOOKS good and one that IS good.

I've heard the argument Pianomadam states before (it only seems to be reiterated by steinway salespeople, not even by musician/consumer steinway "enthusiasts"). It rings hollow with me as a potential future consumer of a fully rebuilt steinway for the following reasons:

1. Until Steinway patents its own tree species, I believe one can source spruce of equal quality from likely the same part of the world as the OEM board. Speaking of that, if I remember my history correctly, the specific soundboard spruce has been sourced from different places around the world for different generations of Steinway pianos (and possibly different locations concurrently for each factory's piano at some point).

2. To the best of my knowledge, rebuilders can get steinway replacement action parts with little difficulty. Whether or not they choose to replace parts with Steinway or Renner is a matter of personal preference for the rebuilder. It's up to the consumer to decide if the results are satisfactory. Lest we not forget who the Hamburg factory sources their action from... I saw a NY model D at Faust Harrison's back in October that was rebuilt with a Renner action and NY hammers. Seems like a novel concept to me. Would anyone here care to have their CBS-era Steinway action replaced with an exact duplicate of the original?

Regardless of who did the rebuild, I'd probably want the instrument inspected by an independent tech knowledgeable about rebuilds to go over it with a fine-toothed comb before delivery. To have the warranty backing of a large, well-known and funded company would probably be a good selling point.

I often see the RPT's on the pianotech list referring to now as the "golden age" of rebuilds/rebuilding technology. I think the beneficiary of this will be a well-educated, discriminating buyer with "tier one" tastes and a "tier two" budget!

_________________________________________________


A Steinway dealer can only get a Steinway board if they send the piano to the factory for a complete belly job. The factory has to install it. A dealer can not.

If I wanted to do that I could as well. And I'm not a Steinway dealer.

As far as action parts go. Steinway New York also offers Renner parts if technicians wants them.
In fact if I am not mistaken, if they do not have the correct parts for certain years they ship parts produced from Renner.

Not all action parts produced in New York will work on all Steinways manufactured.

And the soundboard material that is used often by Steinway is available to all rebuilders and is sold from Hoquiam Washington.

Regarding action parts, the current Steinway and Sons parts are nothing like the vintage parts. Put them together side by side. They are nothing alike. Different dimensions. Different wood cores on the hammers. The current parts usually work well enough, but so do parts made by other makers.

The whole "all Steinway parts" argument is just silly. Does the soundboard come from trees in the magical Steinway forest, just north of Lake Petrof? It's wood, which comes from trees, just like any other wood. There's nothing magic about the wood that Steinway buys.

If I were looking for a rebuilder in the Atlanta area, I would look up Brian Krefting. I worked beside him in his dad's (Jack Krefting) shop for years. He's rebuilt hundred's of Steinways, I can tell you that. He does good work.

Pianomadam
We do appreciate your kind words of recommendation /referal as for one looking to buy a preowned restored Steinway grand though you've never seen our facility or played any of my pianos.I will say this much, we have many many to choose from in that hand made restored Steinways are all different no matter how precision your restoration level is. Depending on where the poster resides there are many great reputable restoration firms all over the country and most being active participants on this forum.Cunninghams,Pianocraft,Verhnjaks
Allegro only to mention a few, though there are many others.

Rod's prior post is pretty much on point as for Steinway parts availability to the independent rebuilder.
Your point as for replicating a Steinway soundboard,authenticity sake may be a valid point to many in that N.Y. and Hamburg soundboards are "diaphramatic". As for acquiring soundboard spruce we acquire quantity shipments of both Alaskan Sitka Spruce (same as Steinway's source) and Canadian Bolduc. If one wanted(bellyman)one could replicate a soundboard spec wise to that of a N.Y.soundboard down to the nontapered sugar pine rib scale and configuration if one chose to do so. Many technically rescale Steinways bettering the instrument but may be viewed differently by the Steinway buyer. I'd have to confer with my bellyman for any more detailed info spec wise. Again Thanks!

This dealer does magnificent work. He has many already-rebuilt pianos, and he also has plenty of unrebuilt pianos if you want to start from scratch and customize your rebuild:

http://www.classicpianos.com/

Highly recommended.

Moreover, he is having a sale right now, with plenty of tempting bargains. Yes, I know, every dealer has sales, but for him it's pretty rare.

I know you are looking for a Steinway--he has plenty of Steinways, and I am a Steinway owner myself--but I should mention one more thing, on the oft chance that it might interest you:

Sitting in his showroom right now is the best piano that I have ever played. It is a Mason and Hamlin CC with the tension resonator--one of only about 250 ever built--and it is on sale at a huge discount. An acquaintance of mine who is a conductor recently played it, and his comment was, "It is not a piano. It is an orchestra."

I heartily agreed. Magnificent tone, mind-reading touch, great subtlety, terrific everything. You can easily find pictures of it on the website. It would be marvelous on a concert stage, and anyone who took it home would neglect everything else ever after, because he would play that piano non-stop.

As much as I would love to buy that CC, I am afraid 9' 4" is just too large for my house. Hmmm... time to get a bigger house.

Anyway, there are plenty of Steinways on the website also. Good luck whatever you do.

riolima -- I worked with one NY rebuilder and spent (a lot of )time with another and would suggest caution in dealing with rebuilders. There are no standards or clear definitions about what work is done.

You can buy books detailing work to be done and you still will be challenged unless it's your business.

My experience was Steinways rebuilt by Steinway sounded different than Steintways rebuilt by others. Steinway's were the only one to produce the real Steinway sound I had expected to hear and to produce the action that I sought.

My criteria were action first and sound second, case can be important but lining up all three is almost impossible hence the preference for ebony.

A lot depends on your current and future playing needs. My advice is to be cautious with any rebuild. And if you seek rebuilders, get the names of customers - preferably those who are serious players and see what they believe.

Happy hunting...

Hey PB,

Go look closely at the Hamburg Steinways you recently received. I think you will find that their boards are tapered similarly to a NY Steinway, although they might be a bit thicker depending on model.

Keith,You're absolutely right.Checking Steinway website technical data Edited my post. Talking to by bellyman,diaphraming a board was fairly an unsophisticated procedure tapering the entire panel from 8mm to 5mm or whatever,the main objective to make the treble end thicker and the bass end thinner. Evidently even way before 1936 all Steinway soundboards were diaphramed by the bellymen in the Steinway factory. Learn something new everyday in this biz. In changing these turn of the century tortured soundboards you have probably noticed they were diaphramed way back in the early 1900s or even before. We diaphram our boards though finding these Bolduc soundboards are relatively thinner than Alaskan Sitka Spruce .