Weekly Update - Week Commencing 27th July

Our ongoing projects are all progressing well, with some of the long term work now finished or nearing completion.

Restringing of the barrel piano is now completely finished, and the 'action' has been returned to the piano. This allowed adjustment of the strings and the action to ensure that the hammers would cleanly strike their correct strings. The strings can then be bought up to the correct tension and tuned for the first time. This will be an interesting job in itself, as the piano cannot be played in the usual way, so each string must be plucked instead!

The Broadwood grand is also approaching the point where it will once again be playable. The repaired soundboard has been repolished, and the frame has been returned to the piano. New felt parts were made based on the old worn ones, and hitchpin washers were added. The piano is already partially restrung, with all of the steel 'treble' strings in place. The copper wound bass strings should be completed within a couple of days. The dampers have already been replaced for those notes that have the new strings, and they have been regulated to lift off the strings in unison when the sustain pedal is pressed.

There is still plenty of restoration work lined up. The client's water-damaged piano is now prepared for polishing, and we have also carried out some reconditioning of the action. One of our own Chappell pianos has also been reserved by a customer who wishes to have the case repolished, and there has also been interest shown in the Bluthner grand.

Visit our website at http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/ to see details of the restoration work that we do, and to view all of our current stock.

David - Senior Technician
Bedhampton Pianoshop
02392 484802
http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/

Sarah - Hampshire

We bought a baby grand Steck piano from Bedhampton Pianos - we were very impressed at the painstaking way in which our piano was restored and the team have been consistently friendly, efficient and helpful. We are delighted with our piano and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them!

Weekly Update - Week Commencing 14th July

A few different jobs to update this week.

The Broadwood grand soundboard has been repaired, and all the preparation work has been carried out ready to repolish. The bridges have also been cleaned up and sanded, before applying liquid graphite to the tops, to ensure that the strings slide easily across the bridge as they are tensioned.

The Hopkinson piano is completed and ready to be delivered back to the customer. The repolishing was carried out, with the piano being finished in a deep mahogany colour. The piano was re-assembled, with new felts and brass screws where necessary, and finally the regulation of the action took place. A few finishing touches and a final check over complete the job.

One new project for this week - restoring the case on a water-damaged piano, as part of a joint project with a local antiques/furniture dealer. Although the piano itself is of the straight strung and overdamped variety, stripping of the old polish revealed a beautiful rosewood which will be highly attractive when repolished. The brasswork has been polished, and the keys will be cleaned up.

Visit our website at http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/ to see details of the restoration work that we do, and to view all of our current stock.

David - Senior Technician
Bedhampton Pianoshop
02392 484802
http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/

Katy - Nottingham

Hi Graham,

The piano arrived yesterday safe and sound. It's a beautiful piano and we have all fallen in love with it! Thanks for everything, you've been incredibly helpful.

Weekly Update - Week Commencing 7th July

Plenty of restoration work done on several pianos this week.

The Broadwood grand is progressing well. Following on from the last update, the new rollers have been fitted (see photo), and the hammers have all been refaced to remove indents. The keybed was regulated to adjust the level of the keys, and the amount of travel or 'dip'. The whole action is now reassembled and ready to be returned to the piano, whereupon further stages of regulation can take place. The iron frame has also been resprayed (pictured), and the retaining bolts polished. Repairs to the soundboard splits are underway, with the wooden shims fixed in place. They now require sanding, before the whole soundboard is cleaned up and repolished, ready for the frame to be replaced. Hopefully the piano will be ready for restringing in the near future, after which the remaining regulation work can be carried out, and the piano will be playable!

A new project this week is the internal and external restoration of a Hopkinson upright piano for a client. The action has had a series of standard reconditioning jobs completed, including new return tapes, refacing of hammers and application of liquid graphite to high friction areas, as well as a thorough check for any other necessary repairs. Both front rail and centre rail key bushings have been replaced, and the keys have been cleaned and buffed. Brasses have been polished, and the casework is stripped and prepared for repolishing. Hopkinson pianos are generally very nice instruments, and the end result of all this work should be satisfying.

Finally, as anticipated in the previous update, the barrel piano has had the majority of the treble stringing completed. The bass strings are due to arrive in a few days time, and the job should be finished soon after.

Visit our website at http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/ to see details of the restoration work that we do, and to view all of our current stock.

David - Senior Technician
Bedhampton Pianoshop
02392 484802
http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/

Paul Bowler - Winchester

Having bought a bargain upright Bechstein unseen and unplayed from ebay, I entrusted the task of restoring it to its former glory to Graham and his team. The transformation has been staggering. What was a musty, rattling and tired old instrument now looks and plays as though delivered new from the showroom. All this was achieved for a fraction of the price of the quotes I received from other restorers. I couldn't be happier!

Weekly Update - Week Commencing 30th June

More progress is being made on our main projects.

Having stripped the old polish from the John Broadwood grand's soundboard, the wood has now been bleached to remove discolouration and marks. Once the splits have been repaired, the soundboard can be repolished to leave it looking almost like new. Also in the past week, work has begun to restore the action so that this will be ready to put back into the restored casework. So far, the front rail key bushings have been replaced, and all of the hammers have been removed from the action to have the old and worn rollers replaced with brand new ones. The old rollers were removed from the hammers, as shown in the picture, and the new ones are ready to be fitted. This should be completed within a day or two. Finally, a sample of the old bass strings and the relevant measurements have been sent to our string maker, who will prepare a set of copper wound strings designed precisely to fit this piano. To ensure the best tone possible, this is a crucial and specialised job.

The same process is also underway for the bass strings on the barrel piano which we are restringing. In the meantime, the necessary preparation for the restringing has taken place, and the main work will start tomorrow, when the treble strings will begin to be replaced.

As ever, visit our website at http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/ to see details of the restoration work that we do, and to view all of our current stock. Don't forget that the UP TO 20% SALE is still ongoing!!

David - Senior Technician

Bedhampton Pianoshop

02392 484802

http://www.bedhamptonpianoshop.co.uk/