I'm very very excited.
My grandfather bought a Bechstein from a market stall in the mid 1950s for a few pounds, it was being rained on under a tarpaulin. It then sat for about 30-40 years being barely played until I started playing it as a child. He had a fairly high profile position in society and there were big parties where occasionally top pianists who were guests would play it and make it sound stunning but stop after a while before it "wrecked their technique."
I learnt to play the piano on it at my family home.
And it's coming to my grown up adult home soon! Out of tune and needing some love. It had a restoration 20 years ago and became properly playable at that time but has deteriorated a little since. I'd imagine any purist would be horrified and I'm sure lots of the hammers are wrong etc.
First thing I'm doing is getting it's first (of many I suspect) tuning done, and getting a local piano technician to give me a little early advice before I learn more about it. It still sounds stunning when in tune. The action is poor in places - sticking keys and delayed repitations etc.
My beloved Rogers Eungblut upright from the 50s is going to my mum's as I won't have room for it. I think it'll be shock to move from that as the action on that is soooo heavy by comparison to the Bechstein.
It's going to look ridiculous in my sitting room. It looks identical to the link below. One thing the restoration did was make it look stunning - when I was a young child I remember how awful and water stained it was.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503448Any ideas what veneer this is? Mahogany?
To me it just seems like the archetypal grand piano. It's a Model III, 7ft 8, with the case number "7338" which dates it to about 1890 if you treble it to get a rough serial number. Not found the serial number yet but intend to on Friday and will post it if anyone is interested. I used to sit and watch how it changed as the sunset hit it as a kid - used to glow red in the setting sun
Would love people's thoughts.
Mainly, just on how good a Bechstein Model III actually is - unvarnished/brutal opinions are fine - this is just a beloved heirloom, I'm realistic that it's unlikely to also be a modern Steinway in terms of quality. I'll hopefully have it for 60 years or so, so that's plenty of time for me to get it back in perfect condition. I'm sure I'll be back on here asking for repair/restoration advice eventually.
As regards what it'll be used for - my 6 year old daughter is doing well and can now play very simple pieces (slow 2 handed waltzes etc), and I can struggle through most grade 8 pieces but only practice a couple of times a week.
