Steinway purchase

I have recently negotiated to purchase a Steinway grand piano and during this was shown some paperwork linked to its past.  One such letter was from Steinway & Sons in 1943 and the address of Steinway Hall at the time was 1 & 2 St. George Street, London.  This brought back early memories of visiting Steinway Hall as a very junior technician just starting out in the piano trade.  I remember meeting the legendary Bob Glazebrook who was most kind in showing me around and as I remember it I was left to wander about the huge stock of concert instruments entirely as I wished.

Things I remember from those visits were the large scale letters on the short side of the main rim simply saying -STEINWAY.  This rather vulgar advertising was scaled down in time and we have seen the size of letters on the side of the piano go up and down in size over the years.  I also remember scrounging as much literature and brochures as I could and eagerly reading and soaking up the information on the train on my journey home.

Ah…them were the days….

5 minute job…..!

With so many pianos recently sold brings with it all those little 5 minute jobs that are saved up just before a piano leaves here.  As one of our staff commented not so long ago ‘the world is full of 5 minute jobs’.  Having spent the last two days doing 5 minute jobs I have come to the conclusion there is NO such thing as a 5 minute job.

These points in question are often to do with the casework and in our trade the fitting together of caseworks with all the associated buttons and felt-work is known as ‘fly finishing’.  I have often wondered where this term ‘fly’ originated from, certainly nothing seems to have ‘flown; by in the last two days!  There is however a certain pride and sense of achievement when looking back at a finished restored Steinway as I have done today, the recently sold Steinway model C has been the result of nearly 18 months work on and off and it looks stunning!

A very grand staircase

A recent visit to the Hochschule fur Musik Und Theatre in Munich gave chance to climb this grand staircase.  It was here in September 1938 that the British Prime Minister of the time, Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler to sign the Munich Agreement.  The building that today houses one of the world’s most respected music schools was constructed for the Nazi party and was called at the time of their occupation the – Fuhrerbau.

Dark days indeed and not one that I would have cared to live through and I am pleased to report that the atmosphere there today is hugely more pleasant than what would have greeted Mr. Chamberlain.  But if I had access to a time machine, how I would like to be transported back to the wonderful piano factories in Germany in the late 1930′s.  Here they produced some of the most beautiful pianos still existing and if you are lucky enough to own one of them you will know what I am talking about.

 

 

The old and the new

On a splendid bright November day I made for the lovely city of Bath…unusually for me, just for a day out.  It was most relaxing to mooch about the streets there and take in some of the sights, in years past I had visited many times before but when working and always tearing about there seems to be less time to take in some of the nicer things in life.  My visit today also reminded me of how bound I have become to the company workshop/showrooms and how little I travel around these days.  If you could see the number of pianos being overhauled and waiting for work in Witney, you would though understand my dilemma over this.

I could not then resist my photograph for this blog of the new against a background of the old.  We are looking at the brand new Nissan Leaf, a 100% electric vehicle being charged up while at rest in the 244 year old Bath Royal Crescent.  I feel electric vehicles have to be the way forward and in time we might see more than the single charging point in this historic landmark setting.

New W. Hoffmann for Shackell Pianos Ltd.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure to visit the Bechstein piano factory and coupled to this was a visit into the Czech Republic to witness the W.Hoffmann pianos being made.  Now at long last I have taken up the agency to sell these pianos, the first one being delivered last week.  We have the top of the range traditional 128cm tall instrument in stock and I must say, very nice too!  These pianos are very well made and are a part of the C. Bechstein group of companies so there is a strong link with the Bechstein factory which is so well regarded.

More upright pianos are on order and we hope these excellent quality pianos will add to the overall picture of our business here.

The Rotherham job.

This unusual view is not one that you will readily see, not even if involved in the piano trade.  The huge steel casting suspended high in mid air is of a Steinway model D concert grand plate.  This was removed today from the inner body of the piano known as ‘the rim’.  We have just started work on a 40 year old model D grand restoration for the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and I jumped down from the driving seat of the reach truck to take this shot while it was being transferred to the upper floor of our workshops for storage.

We have been asked to make a photographic record of the restoration that will last over 6 months, to keep up to date with progress why not ‘like’ our Facebook page where further images will be added as the work unfolds.

The Steinway family revolutionised piano making in the 1870′s and 80′s with their ground breaking developments in many areas of piano construction.  One such area was in the casting of plates and this familiar shape must have been gazed upon by millions of people over the last century and more.  I have never personally seen a piano plate being cast but I can only imagine and admire the skill involved to produce such a part.  The reach truck of course made easy work of handling the plate but I can assure any of you wondering….yes, it is very, very heavy!