Estonia Concert Grand - 06/26/19 05:31 PM
Hello all!
We're long-time lurkers here reading so many interesting topics, and we're glad to finally join the forum! The timing is also good, since we'd never have expected to imagine ourselves owning, let alone rebuilding, a concert grand piano so soon!
For a bit of our background, we have a 17-year-old Yamaha C5 at home (just our age!), and we've been using it for the past 10 years of daily practicing. Recently we had the desire to have a better piano, and with the Yamaha being a pretty decent intrument we ended up replacing some action parts (Abel hammers and new knuckles) and treble strings. That was a huge improvement, but certainly not enough for us twin pianists.
We then became obsessed with finding, playing, even getting a look at any larger grands we run into. At the university's school of music where we study, it is a pure joy just to sneak into rehearsal rooms/concert halls and find a concert grand piano sitting in the corner! Last month we came home for the summer break, and got in touch with a former piano teacher in Thailand who repairs and sells used European pianos. Out of 3 Blüthners, an August Förster, and an Estonia he had, we chose the latter, mainly for its "voice", even though they all sound good (despite being equally out-of-tune and unregulated!).
Other than the (moderately acceptable) refinishing, the Estonia was all in original condition of circa 1973 Soviet-built standard, so a few things were looking apparently in need of repair; the rusted strings in particular. This led us to the idea of repainting the iron frame, since it's now or never for the strings to be completely taken out and replaced. The work wasn't short of difficult, so we're taking one step at a time, and thanks to the kind helps from the piano teacher and his skilled piano technician friends, we're progressing steadily, and safely! Being painters ourselves, we have all the ideas drafted for this restoration, so it won't be just technical improvements!
Here are some photos of the piano in its poor, humid storage room, and after arriving in its new home and hyper-cleaned (every accessible corners!):
Before:
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/g4KvWKs.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/J9YbJA1.jpg)
After:
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/rgmMNK1.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/ieRaM2N.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/Glnnl3A.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/blTUMHO.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/RDDrAQq.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/w7oPTCi.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/1bynyfn.jpg)
We'll be posting more pics of the restoration process as we progress!
Cheers!
SKs
We're long-time lurkers here reading so many interesting topics, and we're glad to finally join the forum! The timing is also good, since we'd never have expected to imagine ourselves owning, let alone rebuilding, a concert grand piano so soon!
For a bit of our background, we have a 17-year-old Yamaha C5 at home (just our age!), and we've been using it for the past 10 years of daily practicing. Recently we had the desire to have a better piano, and with the Yamaha being a pretty decent intrument we ended up replacing some action parts (Abel hammers and new knuckles) and treble strings. That was a huge improvement, but certainly not enough for us twin pianists.
We then became obsessed with finding, playing, even getting a look at any larger grands we run into. At the university's school of music where we study, it is a pure joy just to sneak into rehearsal rooms/concert halls and find a concert grand piano sitting in the corner! Last month we came home for the summer break, and got in touch with a former piano teacher in Thailand who repairs and sells used European pianos. Out of 3 Blüthners, an August Förster, and an Estonia he had, we chose the latter, mainly for its "voice", even though they all sound good (despite being equally out-of-tune and unregulated!).
Other than the (moderately acceptable) refinishing, the Estonia was all in original condition of circa 1973 Soviet-built standard, so a few things were looking apparently in need of repair; the rusted strings in particular. This led us to the idea of repainting the iron frame, since it's now or never for the strings to be completely taken out and replaced. The work wasn't short of difficult, so we're taking one step at a time, and thanks to the kind helps from the piano teacher and his skilled piano technician friends, we're progressing steadily, and safely! Being painters ourselves, we have all the ideas drafted for this restoration, so it won't be just technical improvements!
Here are some photos of the piano in its poor, humid storage room, and after arriving in its new home and hyper-cleaned (every accessible corners!):
Before:
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/g4KvWKs.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/J9YbJA1.jpg)
After:
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/rgmMNK1.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/ieRaM2N.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/Glnnl3A.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/blTUMHO.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/RDDrAQq.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/w7oPTCi.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/1bynyfn.jpg)
We'll be posting more pics of the restoration process as we progress!
Cheers!
SKs