This is the type of work we live for.  High quality pianos from the golden age are a thing apart, and a high point in the musical crafts.  They were made of the most select materials by the most skilled artisans of their day.  They were singular creations by visionary men.  In our estimation they are works of art because they are fine instruments. And is not instrument making an art?  And as art pieces they deserve more respect than to just have their parts swapped out.  This is especially true if there is an option that both preserves and performs.  This has always been the burden of old pianos;  they must perform and compete with new pianos.  To accomplish this the trade has had no choice, up to this point, but to replace any component that is compromised at all.  Thus, new actions and new soundboards have been installed in some of the most precious pianos in the world.

        This never seemed right to us.  It is always claimed that a rebuilt piano will be as good as a new one, when we feel that these vintage pianos have the potential to be much better.  Consequently, we have spent the last twenty years developing techniques for the proper restoration and re-utilization of the native components.

        To restore the soundboard, we have learned how to steam the board from the case, steam  the board apart into its component parts, make any necessary adjustments, and then, using completely standard bellying practices, reassemble them into a solid, properly crowned soundboard.  I mention that we use common bellying techniques to highlight the fact that what we are doing is not really revolutionary, but that what we are doing it to is.  Similar work is standard on the most expensive violins,and anything short is considered butchery.  This is, of course, where we got our inspiration.  It was clear that spruce, as a musical wood, improves with age.  Spruce,as it ages,becomes lighter, stiffer,and stronger.  These are all acoustic qualities whose combined improvement creates a material uniquely suited to a musical purpose.  This explains the efforts made to preserve every part of a fine violin-not simply that an antique dresser is worth less without its original brasses.  These are working instruments, not museum pieces.  The work is toward a musical end that cannot be reached any other way.

        So it is with these soundboards.  It is a massive undertaking, far more time consuming than a simple replacement.  But when completed,  these boards have such presence of tone and projection that we feel it is no exaggeration to say that you have never heard its like.  This is not just a boast but a solid assertion.  Please remember that there was a day before the first violin from the Cremona school was repaired.  But after that day, the musical world would accept no less because it knew it could find no better.  

      One of our pianos with this type of soundboard-the original- is in public performance, and has been since we delivered it in 1989.  That year, we delivered to the Iron Horse Music Hall a beautiful 1895 Steinway B.  It has been on their stage for over 18 years, now.  The board is still fully crowned, and the downbearing of the strings is still as we set it.  The board has no cracks and has not moved.  The action, I understand, is showing some signs of 18 years on the stage, but the belly is showing great endurance.  We encourage everyone to hear this piano in performance, and opportunities to examine this instrument personally can be arranged

        The action is our other special concern.  Sometimes,as in the case of Steinways, replacement parts are available from a number of suppliers-none of which we recommend over the originals.  Conversely,as in the case of an 1890's Chickering concert grand, the parts are just not to be had.  They are just so proprietary, that if the originals are not restored, the only choices are to either use them as is , or to have a new action made using conventional parts.  That is a very expensive proposition that I do not think would have been successful in the case of this most unique action.  In either case, We feel that the best results are to be had with the native parts.  The actions were made specificly for the cases in which they are found, and replacement parts are never truly identical to the original.  There seem to have been, in the case of Steinway, a long series of small alteration to the action over time that gave rise to the variety of historical configurations found in that make.  This is to be contrasted with the limited choice offered by the suppliers:  two choices of hammer-shank geometry, and maybe, two choices of wippen geometry, from which the tech is to make the best compromise in order to make a workable action.  Compromise is not the ideal we are working for, we are trying to re-establish the extraordinary.  

        Recall how I said that the aging of the wood gives rise improved acoustic capabilities.  Something like that takes place in the action as well.  Wood becomes lighter, stiffer and stronger with seasoning.  the action is a series of wooden levers, each pushing on the next to propel the hammer into the strings.  Lighter; stiffer; stronger levers make for an action that feels more positive with less energy lost to the bending of parts under stress.  This is another benefit from the retention of  the original wooden parts.

        The finish on the piano is still another concern.  The wrong finish can doom the looks of an antique piano.  By this I mean that there is no place for polyester in the restoration of old pianos.  Once this material is applied, I know of no way to remove it without damaging the case.  It makes the piano look like dipped candy apple; completely inappropriate.  Original finishes were thin, and this let all the carved details of the case stand out sharply.  Polyester blurs any detail.  For our work, we have settled on nitro-cellulose for our finishes.  It has been the standard piano finish since the 20s and a principal constituent of earlier gum-resin finishes.  Both easily applied and removed, it is the ideal coating for musical instruments.  Here are some Photos of a  recent refinishing project

        Pianos from the greatest houses during the best years are testimonials to an age of musical endeavor bolstered by a new scientific method.   No expense was spared in their creation.   Each piano, the Steinway, the Mason&Hamlin, the Chickering, the Knabe, were all individual visions of what the ultimate piano was to be.  And as such they rank as works of art, as cultural heritage.  They deserve to be treated with the same respect as anything else that cannot be replaced.  

        We do not know how to build a Steinway piano better than C.F.Theodore Steinway; nor do we know better than Mr Mason or Mr. Hamlin; nor any of the other luminaries of the art-form.  We are their students, and with guidance from the instruments themselves, the work of their hands, we strive to re-establish these pianos as, not only the finest of their era,but as the finest available today.