piano update

The university technician tuned the Steinway L up in the church this week, and it sounds splendid. He likewise re-glued the missing ivory keytop. Also, we received the written proposal from the piano rebuilder, outlining three options ranging from $15,500 to $26,500.

It occurred to me that, since we happen to have a newer Model L in the choir room, I should do some comparative study. I spent about an hour going back and forth between the two Model L's, plucking strings, checking downbearing and soundboard crown, playing and listening. Yes, I can indeed hear the difference in a plucked string in the mid-treble, as the rebuilder demonstrated: “Hear this? There is no bloom to the sound. The tone is dead. Probably the soundboard is dead.” (At the time, the string sounded fine to me, no matter what he said.) He followed that up by demonstrating that, with his dial-type downbearing gauge, there was zero downbearing on the treble bridge, as I mentioned previously. That got my attention; I know from my studies and experience that downbearing is necessary. A piano does not need much, and too much is as bad as too little, but there must be a little bit, or the tone does not transmit from the string through the bridge to the soundboard.

But today, with my old-fashioned mechanical downbearing gauge – a brass device that you place over the strings at the bridge; if it rocks back and forth there is downbearing; if not, there isn't – I found sufficient downbearing at every point on the piano – I checked every note that is accessible without removing the bass strings. I do not know what was going on with the rebuilder's measurement; one of us is wrong, and he is the expert. But this is a very simple measurement, one I have done many times.

Further, I plucked a lot of strings. The one he demonstrated is the only one that is genuinely “dead.” Its neighbors do indeed have some “bloom” to their sound, though not as much as on the 1971 piano in the choir room. This is an excellent sign; one dead string (when said string is 88 years old) is simply a dead string. If they are all dead in a range of an octave or so, one would have to suspect serious problems with the soundboard. The more general (and, in reality, very slight) difference in tone between the upstairs strings and those on downstairs piano is most likely attributable to the age of the strings.

Granted, there is less downbearing upstairs than on the Model L in the choir room, and that could account for part of why I do not like that piano. Excessive downbearing causes the tone to be harsh, and in my opinion Steinway was not doing their best work in the 1970's [see footnote].

Three lessons for going forward:

-- It is likely that the only things our 1924 Model L needs in terms of tone are new strings and new hammers, or at the least re-shaping and voicing of the existing hammers. No new soundboard. But, as the university technician said, if one is getting new strings, it only adds about $1,000 to install a new pinblock, and it would be a good idea on an 88-year old piano. And if one is doing all that, this would be the time to refinish the case. “But,” as he said, “One has to question whether this piano is worth a complete rebuild-and-refinish.” (Am I the only person who likes this piano?)

-- Secondly, I must be cautious about our rebuilder, whom I am glad that I have not named. As I mentioned, I was impressed with the examples of his work that I played at the Steinway dealer, and he comes with the highest recommendations from people whom I trust. But he strikes me as unduly anxious to “pad the bill” with marginally useful work. I do not think him dishonest – though I want to have a talk with him about those downbearing measurements – I simply think that we must be prepared to firmly and repeatedly say “No” to work that we do not consider necessary, and have a contract that explicitly outlines what work is to be performed.

-- Thirdly, I should not have doubted myself so much based on his comment about fitness for “serious work.” I took the time to look more closely at the piano, based in part on his derogatory comment, and found that yes, it IS suitable, even in its current condition, for “serious work.” As am I.

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[Footnote: “In 1972, after a long-running financial struggle, legal expenses, and a lack of business interest among some of the Steinway family members, the firm was sold to CBS. At that time CBS owned many enterprises in the entertainment industry, including guitar maker Fender, electro-mechanical piano maker Rhodes, and the baseball team New York Yankees. CBS had plans to form a musical conglomerate that made and sold music in all forms and through all outlets, including records, radio, television, and musical instruments. This new conglomerate was evidently not as successful as CBS had expected, and Steinway was sold in 1985, along with classical and church organ maker Rodgers and flute and piccolo maker Gemeinhardt, to a group of Boston-area investors." (From Wikipedia, s.v. “Steinway and Sons,” accessed 10/21/2012)

Like much of American industry in that period, Steinway was facing intense competition from Japan, specifically the piano builders Yamaha and Kawai, who were making excellent instruments at very much lower cost. More recent Steinways (since they escaped from CBS in 1985) are much better, and as I noted the other day, the brand-new ones I played in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center are outstanding pianos. Modern Yamahas and Kawais are too, though the prices are now about the same as comparable Steinways. These days, the competition for both the American and Japanese builders increasingly comes from China.

Also of interest: The Making of a Steinway Grand (Lenehan, Michael, in the Atlantic Monthly, August 1982). This is a good description of how a quality grand piano is built. About three-quarters through the article, in the section titled “The Man in the Middle,” one can read about the period where “Steinway change[d] from a family operation to a corporate one, as men like Henry and John Steinway and John Bogyos yield[ed] gradually to the executives at CBS headquarters.” Some reading between the lines is recommended. This part of the article also describes the Teflon bushing episode which would have been impolite of me to mention to the Steinway salesman a couple of weeks ago.]