06 August 2009

Re: Recent restoration of my Bluthner Grand Piano

Dear Roger, Martin and all the Restoration Team,

I am writing to formally express my sincere gratitude to your company
for the totally magnificent restoration of my Bluthner Grand.

From the outset, the service you have provided has surpassed my
expectations in every respect. Your staff were the quintessence of
helpfulness and professionalism at every stage, from providing me with a
detailed list of the restoration to be completed, removal of the piano,
telephone contact during the restoration process, to its return and
beyond, with the tunings that were performed once the piano was safely
in position again in my living room.

I was totally astounded when my Bluthner returned: the restoration has
transformed the piano to its former glory. It is now a visually stunning
instrument to behold, with a perfectly responsive action, and
beautifully rich and bright sound quality.

To anyone wishing to have their precious piano restored, look no further
than Titterington Peck Pianos. I recommend them without hesitation and
without reservation.

With best wishes and thanks again to you all,

Lord Stephen Priestley.

1st October 2007

Earlier this year, we requested a quotation for restoration of an 1892 Bechstein V grand piano.  Titterington Peck Pianos in Preston were one of the companies that we contacted for a quotatio

Theirs was the cheapest of the quotations and, after viewing the quality of their work in their showroom, we agreed to proceed with the restoration. 

The piano was removed very professionally in June/July, shipped to their workshops for its restoration and delivered back to us, on-time, in September having apparently had 700-1000 man hours of work carried out on it 

We can fully vouch for the quality of the restoration, which extends to every part of the piano's structure and mechanism.  Every item from the castors up has been meticulously polished and restored, or replaced.  We were told to expect that we would not recognise the piano and this is certainly true.  The item which we sent away was very dirty and dusty and, after many years of neglect, the rosewood case had completely lost any visible grain or beauty, simply being a dull matt brown colour.  The frame was dull and stained. The ivory keys were stained and dirty. The best aspect of all regarding the restoration is the way that the beauty of the original rosewood case has been brought out.  The finish is mirror like and the wood has been beautifully restored to bring out the original grain and colour.  Similarly, the frame has been regilded to a very high standard.  I have seen other restorations where the regilding process has resulted in runs and pooling, with an uneven and unsatisfactory finish.  This is clearly not the case in this particular restoration.  We look forward to a follow up visit from Maurice Peck or James Titterington, both expert tuners and restorers, who will carry out the final setting up of the piano, which already sounds beautiful. 

We are absolutely delighted with the standard of this restoration which has exceeded our already high hopes.  It is always difficult handing over any cherished instrument but, after seeing the quality of this restoration, we can comprehensively vouch for both the quality and value for money that Titterington Peck  and their craftsmen can provide. 

It is a measure of the quality of this restoration that we are now planning to send a second Steinway grand piano from within the family to Titterington Peck, and we now have every confidence that this will be subjected to the same highest possible quality of restoration. 

In summary, we can comprehensively recommend Titterington Peck  and their restorers to any potential customer as providing the highest possible quality and value for money and, (as above) will have no hesitation returning to them again in the future. 

Peter Duffy

Footnote

We have taken delivery of Mr Duffy's Steinway for a full restoration which includes re-veneering the case in rosewood. Thanks, Peter.

I am the second owner of a Pleyel Piano Upright Grand made in 1887 and my
m/grandmother knew the first owner through connexions in the bakery trade; both
families were Master Bakers.
The Pleyel has a rosewood case and the same design is still in the Pleyel catalogue.
As an antique it was worth around £7,000 but its best days of playing were over and
the
original slide action needed constant attention. However I knew that Chopin
always carried spare actions with him on tour and spare strings so I contacted Roger
at Tittering Peck Ltd., ( they are well known in the trade ) told him I was a
retired professional pianist and asked what they could do to help me bring back to
life this instrument from the past.
It was away for nearly six weeks and when it was returned just before Christmas it
looked just the same from the outside but when I started to play it it had the same
colour in the tone that it had in the 1930s when it came into my possession but it
was more sensitive in the variation from soft to loud because the action was the
newer type which shortened the stroke length of the hammers rather than slide the
action for the hammers to hit two instead of three strings.
It is, as a result, a far superior piano and a very fine musical instrument, rather
than a museum piece. I was advised to retain the old action which has on it all the
tuning dates back to 1895 and it was neatly rapped and returned to me.
Martin has just left after bringing it up to concert pitch and will be calling again
in about six weeks to see how it is holding pitch.
Oh, and they whitened the ivories too!
If anyone in the area wishes to examine it,
they may, by making arrangements with Roger.
Gerald Morris.