Record month for September

Well September has been a bumper month for piano sales & restoration of both upright and grand pianos.
It is in fact the best September in 20 years of trading.
The month has been very exiting with piano purchases as well.
An excellent baby grand piano by WELMAR and 3 Grotrian Steinweg upright pianos,as well as a pretty Bechstein inlaid upright piano.We also have a small Knight K15 arriving soon.
We have travelled quie a distance looking for pianos for our customers.If there is something special that you require let us know we may well be able to find it. You can contact me direct on 02392 484802

Graham Nicholls
Director

or email graham@bpspianos.com

Progress Update - Week Commencing 15th September

The weekly updates have now become 'progress updates' as it was proving difficult to post a new update every week!

Since the last update, the new pianos mentioned have all arrived at the shop. The Steinway & Sons grand is currently in the shop and playable, although it will only fulfil its potential once considerable restoration has been carried out. The ebony Bechstein upright is also in the shop, although this piano is is need of a greater amount of work before it will begin to play and sound like a Bechstein should.

The 1920s Grotrian Steinweg (pictured) mentioned in the last update is already in the workshop, along with another Steinweg dating from 1905. These pianos will receive a total overhaul and should be superb pianos once completed. Finally, one Chappell upright reserved by a customer has been completed and is awaiting delivery, and another Chappell has arrived in stock to take its place. This piano was restored by us a few years ago, and since arriving back at the shop has already had some small tweaks and adjustments to get it performing at its best again.

In the workshop, work has begun on the two Steinweg uprights as mentioned above, and our Bechstein grand was also put on its feet for the first time after substantial repairs to one of the legs. This piano certainly has a lot of potential, but having come from a school is in need of serious attention.

Get in touch to find out more about any of these pianos, as more information will become available as and when we have a chance to assess them all!

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 Baker - Gosport

Hi Graham ,
I thought I would send a quick message to let you know that my French Cafe Barrel Piano upon which you recently carried out complete re-stringing and other restoration work, is now back to its former glory having had some futher restoration to some of its mechanical parts. It now sounds and performs much the way that it would have done when it was first entertained patrons in Nice, around 1910. That is of course in no small way a credit to yourself and your team of experts in the workshops at Bedhampton. When I first contacted you about the project, I was of course a little cautious as this was the first time you has been asked to work on a barrel piano and although the instrument shares many similarities with the construction of normal pianos, there are certainly many features of it that DO NOT !! However my mind was soon put to rest, not least by your friendly and honest approach to customer relations, understanding exactly what the customer wants, and of course advising accordingly when necessary. I must say that I am certainly impressed by the neatness and quality of the workmanship, and the attention to detail when required.

I will definitely be contacting you again in the future to discuss the restoration of other instruments and will have no hesitation in recommending you to others.

Dr Rachael Ross - Portchester

The piano arrived back safely after its restoration and looks super and plays beautifully. I have been very happy with your advice previously concerning getting it tuned, and I was fortunate in that you showroom and workshop are along my route to work, so I was able to drop in and quiz you about getting the instrument restored after what appears to have been a hard life since 1924-ish. I'm looking forward to showing it to the friend who let me have it a year or so ago. I don't think she'll believe it is the same one! Thank you for all the detailed work.

Weekly Update - Week Commencing 25th August

This week's update sees the completion of both the Broadwood grand restoration and the repolishing of the water damaged Lambert upright.

The owners of the Lambert have already been to view the piano, and were unable to recognise it in the shop, such is the transformation! In fact, two members of the family have since returned a second time to have another look! The Broadwood grand had some finishing touches this morning, and the customers will be visiting the shop later today for a final viewing. If they are satisfied with the end result, both pianos will be ready for delivery, and this will also allow us the capacity to begin repolishing the Chappell upright which has already been reserved by another customer.

With at least three pianos leaving the shop soon, we have been able to purchase new stock to replace them. So far, we have three pianos which are all expected to arrive on Tuesday 9th September. They are a Grotrian Steinweg upright dating from around 1926, a Bechstein upright from about 1898 finished in black, and a Steinway and Sons grand in Rosewood (pictured at the auction house). All three are from highly regarded makers. More information and photos will be available once the pianos arrive at our workshop.

The summer sale has now officially ended. However, it may be a few days before the prices are updated back to their full amounts, so this really is the very last chance to get a bit of a discount!

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/

Weekly Update - Week Commencing 18th August

A few weeks since the last update, as the shop was closed for a week. We are now open once again and restoration work is back up to speed!

The Broadwood grand is now fully operational! The stringing was completed, and we have had the piano tuned a couple of times already. The action has been regulated to produce the best possible touch and response, and the customers spent a couple of hours looking over and playing the piano. The completed internal restoration is shown in the photo, and there are more step-by-step pictures available via our website. The next stage is to repolish the casework to the customers' requirements, and preparation for this is already underway.

The water damaged piano belonging to another client is progressing towards completion as well. The various removable panels and parts are finished, and the relevant brasses and mouldings have been refitted. Once the main case has been repolished, the whole piano can be put back together, and will be ready for viewing by the client. The piano is barely recognisable from the heavily damaged one that arrived here a few weeks ago, and the natural finish allows the beautiful rosewood grain to be fully appreciated, unlike the much darker colour of the piano prior to restoration.

Other work carried out in the last few weeks includes the first stages of preparing the reserved Chappell upright for repolishing, tuning of the barrel piano before it was delivered back to its owner, and regulation work on one of our own small John Broadwood uprights.

As a final note, the summer sale is drawing to a close. It must end before the beginning of September, so there are less than two weeks left to enjoy a discount on any piano in our stock!

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/

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.