1929 Apollo Baby Grand

BEFORE

Before restoration, the pedals and music rack are missing from the piano. Years of neglect and abuse have left the piano in overall poor condition. This is a family piece that is being restored and handed down to heirs of the original owner.

AFTER

The transformation after restoration is almost unrecognizable! With a historically accurate pedal lyre and music rack made for the piano, the instrument is now whole and is comparable to any better quality new baby grand piano. Although the piano is made of mahogany, the family who inherited this piano had us restore it in a beautiful black lacquer finish by special request.

Scroll down to see the piano restoration process!

ABOUT THIS PIANO: This small “Apartment Size” Apollo baby grand piano would have originally been built for apartments or small cottage homes which were popular in the late twenties and early thirties. Built in 1929, this piano was made of imported Honduran mahogany wood but was restored in a custom black lacquer finish by special request for its current owner.

After years of neglect, the piano was inherited by the heirs of the original buyer. The Antique Piano Shop was contracted to restore the piano so that it could be passed down through the family as a functioning, usable instrument. The idea was to make this piano as good as (if not better than) a new baby grand of similar quality, which we were able to do. The piano will be used by the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original owner.

When we received the piano, several major parts were missing including the pedals and the music rack. Our expert woodworking team was able to re-create these missing pieces with historical accuracy. Our biggest challenge, however, was that this piano was built with an experimental and obscure metal pinblock (the part of the piano that keeps the piano in tune), something that we nor any of our colleagues had ever seen before! It was clear that the original metal tuning apparatus was not restorable, and the attitude within the conventional piano industry was to throw the piano out with the trash and buy a new one. The family inheriting the piano didn’t want just any piano, they wanted THIS PIANO because it was purchased new by their grandmother so many years ago. We knew we had to figure out a way to make it work.

Our team got together and put some serious thought and consideration into how we might make this piano work. After some serious brainstorming and hours of brain-numbing geometry calculations, we were able to make the major modifications needed to install a new conventional pinblock so that the piano would have the best tuning stability required to give good service long-term. In the end, the piano turned out perfect and will give the owners another generation of enjoyment before it needs to be restored again! Words can’t express how much it meant to our team that we were able to restore this irreplaceable heirloom which was otherwise deemed un-restorable by the conventional piano industry.

Note: We have tuned, serviced and restored hundreds of Apollo pianos over the years. This is the only example we have ever encountered with the metal pinblock and it is unlikely we will ever encounter another one. If you are considering having your Apollo piano restored, please do not be alarmed by this example.

Scroll down to see the piano restoration process!

Piano Restoration Process:

Assessment & Disassembly

Years of neglect have left this piano in dirty, deplorable condition. Parts of the case are missing and the old mahogany finish has cracked and turned almost black over the years.

Piano Restoration Process:

Cabinet Repair & Refinishing

The old mahogany finish is removed and the bare wood is restored. The cabinet is carefully repaired and all broken and missing pieces are repaired and/or replaced. The case is carefully sealed with multiple coats of lacquer, each coat being painstakingly sanded to ensure the finest luster and patina. This customer requested a custom satin black lacquer finish on special order rather than going back with an original mahogany finish.

Piano Restoration Process:

Soundboard Repair & Re-Stringing

The old original soundboard was lovingly restored and the old-growth wood preserved in restoration. All cracks and splits were repaired and the piano had a new hand-made pin block installed for long-term durability and tuning stability. New strings were installed and the harp was re-gilded with gold lacquer. Even the elaborate blue and gold APOLLO soundboard decal was painstakingly reproduced with historical accuracy in order to make the interior of the piano look and sound like it did when it was new in 1929!

Piano Restoration Process:

Action & Keyboard Restoration

Years ago the original ivory keys were replaced with celluloid keytops which have cracked and chipped. The old brittle celluloid keys will be replaced with new plastic keys. The piano action is restored with new hammers, felts and leather. The lower action is restored to like-new condition so that the piano plays like a new instrument once again.

PHOTOS OF PIANO

AFTER COMPLETE RESTORATION

Although this piano was originally done in a Mahogany finish, the customer requested it be restored in a custom black lacquer on special request. The piano looks and plays like a new piano after professional restoration!

SEE AND HEAR THE FULLY RESTORED PIANO!

Learn more about restoring your heirloom instrument!

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Antique Piano Shop, Inc.,
1158 Lane Drive,
Friendsville, TN 37737

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