Steinway 1909 – the contour of the grain, shows through the bland polishing shows potential for refinishing. Slightly larger pins, swing style music desk. Also fully restored, not by us. Tuning pins are tight, more regulation will be needed. A bass string has been replaced to match the tone very well.
Steinway 1898 – The older of the two, with ivory keys. All of those we look at today have ivories, except the Richard Lipp, which has high quality replacement key-tops. Most parts made with Rosewood, a sign of high quality material approach. Boxwood inlay. We have re-polished this piano, then rubbed it down to retain the antique character of the piano.
Inside the piano has been restrung with larger pins, not replaced pin-block. We can get a richer tone by refacing and toning the hammers, however being restored not too long ago they do not need replacing. A fully new action will change the tone of the piano.
Grotrian Stienweg 1922 – just about to be polished, light concert touch, new strings, and new hammer. Very rich tone. This is a more common Grotrian tone, we recommend this model. A typically good German piano. Well constructed, with unique features.
Grotrian Steinweg (1898), which is surprising for the logo. 88 keys, which is surprising for Grotrian. The wrest plank was replaced for a new one as the strings were dropping in tone. The second Grotrian has a larger resonance, due to its size.
Ernst Kaps – a fine inlay case decorates this upright piano. with new hammers and strings, it has been fully restored by us. It is a Langer action. This is the predominant model that arrived in the UK, although much rarer than Bechstein, and other German manufacturers in the UK.
Richard Lipp – we have personally had these at home for many years before. Ours was hired out to B.B. Kings pianist on a tour with B.B. King. Potentially 1890’s, not 1906 as the number indicates.
The angle of the bass strings are at a greater angle, meaning a longer string length, longer than most other pianos. We are very fond of the tone of Richard Lipp pianos. Blüthner and Richard Lipp tried innovative different designs. Very resonant.
We would be delighted to show you these and other pianos at our Oxford and Sevenoaks locations. For a full list of pianos please see our stocklists.
