Steinway & Sons model B

Thank you for viewing this newly restored and rebuilt turn-of-the-century Steinway grand piano.

This particular piano is a 6ft 11in Steinway B. It is the full 88 key version and was handmade over the course of at least a year in New York in 1901, under the eagle eye of the Steinway's themselves. Remarkably, it was around when Queen Victoria was still alive and before the first powered aircraft flight! It has spent the last year being completely stripped down and returned to its original glory by TP Pianos in Preston.

The Steinway B is arguably the most desirable piano in the Steinway range, possessing deep, growling, room shaking bass and a clear and singing treble. It was so good that it has remained unchanged in virtually every detail right up to the current day. It is the instrument of choice for most recording studios around the world and is the perfect piano for a medium to large sized living room.

It is serial number 104811 and has been finished in Ebony.

Please take some time to study the photographs. It really does look this good and the same attention to detail has gone into the things that are out of sight. Every last little component in the action has been either cleaned or replaced and the piano is an absolute delight to play.  You are very welcome to play the piano yourself as well as some of the other instruments at TP Pianos showroom, web address below. Best to phone ahead and arrange a viewing at a mutually suitable time.

Please find below a testimonial for the recent sale of a Steinway A:-

Hi Peter,

Many thanks again for the piano, it is stunning, I only hope I will be able to do it justice with my playing sometime over the next few years. Although I have messed around on a piano for quite a number of years now, I only started taking lessons last winter, so I have a long way to go, there is no doubt though, that what little I can play at the moment already sounds so much better.

I would of course be absolutely delighted to give an endorsement. Never having done one before I am not too sure how you would like me to script it but I can honestly say I have been impressed at every stage of the process of buying the piano. From the advert which was most informative and very well presented with the personal touch. Viewing was easy, it was done at an hours notice, the pianos are in an easily accessible showroom, the staff were welcoming, helpful, knowledgeable and informative. The method of payment was flexible to meet with my timetable and commitments as well as being reassuringly secure.

Delivery was on time as arranged, the piano was delivered into my home without any fuss or damage and I felt confident to leave the technicians to do their job. I was treated with the very personal touch of the vendor travelling close to a 100 mile round trip to ensure I was entirely satisfied with the piano and service, which indeed I was.

Kindest regards, and thank you again, Bernie W

Please take some time to google other restored Steinway B's. I'd be suprised if you find any fully restored 88 key examples for less than £30000! Last time I looked, the two currently listed in uk-piano.org are £33,950 and £39,950!

Some additional general information

Soundboards

There is a huge amount of discussion/argument on the net regarding whether or not soundboards should be replaced during restoration. Since there is no consensus, it makes sense to keep the original soundboard where it is possible and where the soundboard still has many decades of life left. Where the soundboard has deteriorated to the extent that it compromises the rebuild, then it obviously ought to be replaced from the same supplier as supplies modern soundboards to Steinway themselves.

This piano has the original soundboard in excellent condition.

88 key vs 85 key

Some of the earlier Steinway's had only 85 keys. This is unlikely to have much effect on the sound quality and the extra keys are not much used. On the other hand, 85 key pianos typically fetch less money than the full 88 versions and, if possible, it is probably best to opt for the latter. Look for three black keys to the right-hand side of the keyboard. If there are only two then it is an 85 key version.

This is an 88 key piano.

Sound

It is not too difficult to tell the difference between, say, a Bechstein and a Steinway. The more practised ear can hear differences between individual pianos, even identical models from the same manufacturer. This is particularly the case with Steinways as each piano is individually handmade and hence lacks the uniformity of mass produced, machined pianos. Having said this, these differences are very subtle and probably not particularly evident unless you are an expert or gifted with very sensitive hearing.  It is very important to realise that, however a piano sounds in the showroom, it will most certainly sound rather different in a domestic room as solid/suspended floors, ceiling height, room volume, soft furnishings, temperature, humidity etc all influence the sound. It is also important to realise that a new or newly rebuilt piano will go out of tune quickly as the new strings stretch and settle down and the piano will probably need to be retuned quite frequently over the first couple of years. Finally, I personally think that It is important not to get too obsessed with a particular sound! The consequences of this are well detailed in “Grand Obsession” by Perry Knize!  http://www.grandobsession.com/reviews/index.html

Steinways as an investment.

The link below shows how Steinway pianos have performed over the years in comparison to other investments. However, these are instruments to be played rather than long-term investment vehicles!

http://www.steinway.com/steinway/sound_investment.shtml

Other Steinway models

The Steinway line up can be a little confusing. Here's a quick summary:-

Steinway's "premium" range of grand pianos over the last 120 years or so has consisted of the A, B, C and D.

The A is the "standard" grand, measuring around 6ft 1in, and with 88 keys from around 1893.

The B is a larger, 6ft 11in piano with 88 keys from 1894. The ideal grand for a larger room but perhaps a little overpowering for a smaller room.

The C is rare; I've never seen one "in the flesh" although I'd like to get hold of one! Variously 7ft 2in to 7ft 5in, and 88 key from 1870. Probably best for small concert halls unless you're lucky enough to own a genuinely huge pad.

The D is the full size concert grand. Humungous, at 8ft 6in to 8ft 11in. 88 key from 1869. Realistically, it is too big for domestic use.

In the early part of the 20th century, Steinway, aware that they were losing sales to cheaper competitors, began to introduce a new range of smaller and more cost concious 88 key grand pianos. The first of these was the model O.  This measured 5ft 10in, and is nowadays well thought of. However, at the time of its introduction in 1902, Fred Steinway regarded it with contempt and privately saw it as a sign of capitulation to the "cheap trade".

The model L was introduced in 1923 in New York, measuring 5ft 10in and replacing the Model O whilst Hamburg continued to manufacture the latter model. The O has a broader "tail". There are other minor differences but the pianos seem to be pretty similar otherwise. In 2006, New York switched back to making the O and discontinued the L. Overall, the O seems to be the better regarded of the two.

Model M was introduced in 1911 measuring 5ft 6in. It seems to be the commonest of the Steinway grands historically and represents a reasonable compromise between size, performance and cost, but not as impressive a performance as the bigger grands.

Model S was launched in 1935 at 5ft 1in. Steinway had long eschewed the production of a "baby" grand but, with sales in decline in the '30s, they took the plunge and the S sold strongly, even, according to some, being responsible for the survival of the Steinway name. However, like all baby grands, this piano is inherently compromised by its small size and is best avoided unless space is at an absolute premium.

Old versus new

Sellers of new pianos and Steinway themselves would argue that a new piano is probably better than a fully restored antique or vintage piano, but then they would wouldn't they? In reality, grand piano design has remained pretty much completely unchanged over the last hundred years, a point made by one of the remaining Steinway heirs in the highly recommended DVD “Note by note. The making of Steinway L1037”. A preview is available at:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE0ayK_wmqo The craftsmen in this DVD also point out that the materials going into modern pianos are of a significantly lesser quality than those that were available to the craftsmen a century ago.

A century ago, pianos were made to last, and to be restored over and over again. Quality was the determining factor. With the exception of Steinway, and a tiny number of other top end manufacturers (Bosendorfer, Bechstein, Fazioli, Bluthner), todays pianos are mostly mass produced in the far East (even those with N American/European names), machine built down to a price with the cheapest possible materials, will never be worthy of restoration and will become effectively worthless over a shockingly short period of time.

Restorations/rebuilding

The phrase "rebuilt" can mean different things to different people.  "Rebuilt" or "restored" pianos can range on the one hand from little more than new strings and hammers and a quick spit & polish, to, on the other hand, a meticulous 700 - 1000 man-hour stripping down and complete rebuild. The quality of the latter can also vary hugely as my researches (see below) revealed. Not all restorations are created equal. Be careful out there!

New York vs Hamburg

As regards the Hamburg vs New York debate, this seems to have raged over the internet forums for years. Not suprisingly, European contributors generally favour Hamburg, and the Americans favour New York. However, the origins of this argument seem to go back to the switch made by Ashkenazy, Arrau, Barenboim, Gutierres, Pollini and Serkin from New York to Hamburg instruments in the 70's, seemingly due to dislike of the "tampering" with the basic design that was going on in New York, especially the use of the dreaded teflon which proved such a disaster for New York Steinways. There was a feeling that Hamburg continued to build historic instruments to historic standards, whilst New York had slipped. As regards turn of the century instruments, however, the debate is completely irrelevant, especially as New York Steinways at the turn of the century were arguably the most highly regarded in the world, picking up a string of international prizes and awards, whilst the Steinway family were constantly frustrated by the perception that Hamburg instruments did not sell as well in Europe as Bechstein, Bosendorfer and Bluthner, despite being priced at a discount to the New York models.

This piano is a New York instrument.

It's all in "the Steinway saga" by DW Fostle.  A good read!

Restoration parts

All parts used in the restoration are sourced from the same suppliers as are used by Steinway themselves, such as Renner hammers, Roslau strings etc.

Styling

This piano has been faithfully restored to the way it looked when it left the Steinway factory. However, replacing the legs and music rest to provide a contemporary appearance can easily be arranged.

A word of warning

Steinway pianos are expensive and there are a lot of dodgy individuals out there who recognise that high priced items are ideal material for a bit of internet fraud. It is not uncommon for such characters to download pictures of pianos for sale and then offer them for sale themselves, usually via sites such as craigslist/ebay and with a promise to ship the piano once funds have been wired. If the deal is too good to be true then it probably is! If you are worried about a deal, insist on escrow and offer to pick up the extra cost yourself. I've used escrow.com on two occasions and they're very good (eBay recommend them). If the seller won't even discuss escrow, then draw the obvious conclusion and walk away!