1890 Broadwood Cottage Grand Piano
BEFORE
AFTER
Scroll down to see the piano restoration process!
Scroll down to see the piano restoration process!
Piano Restoration Process:
Assessment & Disassembly
Years of neglect had left this piano virtually unplayable when it arrived in our shop. The interior components were brittle and worn, and the exterior case had extensive damage including cracks, dings and evidence of insect damage. The piano is carefully disassembled with parts labeled and organized. Much of the beautiful brass inlay work is missing and will present a challenge to restore.
Piano Restoration Process:
Cabinet Repair & Refinishing
This piano was originally done in a satin black lacquer finish with elaborate brass inlay adorning the case. The old black finish is removed which exposes minor insect infestation (from years prior) and the brass inlay is removed. The case is carefully repaired, including replacing missing and broken parts, and multiple coats of black lacquer are applied and painstakingly hand-rubbed in order to achieve a beautiful finish. Only about half of the original brass inlay was able to be saved; a great deal of skill, time and effort was required to duplicate and replace the missing brass inlay.
Piano Restoration Process:
Soundboard Repair & Re-Stringing
The old brittle strings are covered and rust and have lost all their tone quality. The strings and harp are removed from the piano, and the soundboard and bridges are restored and refinished. Note the unusual bronze color of the harp on this piano; many Broadwood pianos had dark bronze harps instead of the standard brilliant gold color.
This piano presented a special challenge to re-string because of the obscure design of the tuning pins and pin block. Like a number of antique Broadwood grand pianos, the tuning pins are threaded into the harp with metal threads before they come into contact with the pin block. This was a short-lived and poor design, so we found it necessary to modify the harp and pin block so that conventional modern-style tuning pins can be used, substantially increasing the tuning stability of the instrument.
Piano Restoration Process:
Action & Keyboard Restoration
The patented designs used on antique English-built pianos were very different than their American counterparts. Today, parts and materials for these instruments are generally unavailable, requiring us to manufacture these obscure parts "in house" on a case-by-case basis. Our ability to manufacture these parts gives our shop the unique ability to restore these obscure instruments with historical accuracy.
Although this piano came to us in poor condition, the keyboard and action assembly was in surprisingly good, restorable condition. The ivory and ebony keyboard was restored to perfection. The interior action assembly was painstakingly restored with a historical perspective in mind, making the piano play like it did when it was a new instrument.
PHOTOS OF PIANO
AFTER COMPLETE RESTORATION
The piano was painstakingly restored back to its original satin black finish. The delicate brass inlay was restored, much of it fabricated and replaced, so that the piano looks like it did when it first left the factory over 130 years ago!