Pianos

[Moh 10]

A couple posters on Rocky Talk asked me to post about my piano.

I love pianos.
My earliest memory is of going to the YMCA and making a bee-line to the dimly-lit lounge where old men were smoking cigars in overstuffed leather chairs.
There was an old Knabe grand, there and I'd ask the nearest stranger to lift me up onto the piano bench.

It wasn't till I was in my 40s that I got my first piano.
This is my third piano.

It is a new Blüthner 9" 2" concert grand.
Blüthner is a small 150-year old family run company in Leipzig Germany that still makes pianos by hand.
In good years Steinway makes about 5,000 pianos and Yamaha about 100,000 a year.
Blüthner makes only about 200 pianos with prices that start at $24,000 for their cheapest vertical to $172,000 for their concert grand with the fanciest case.
Mine concert grand has the least expensive case, polished ebony.

I have taken lessons from a fine teacher for about 10 years.
I love playing Mozart, Bach, Copin Ravel and other dead white guys.

Let me find some pics.
I have a zillion.

 

[Moh 10]

Here she is all closed up.
I had to get her a real Persian.
She insisted.

 

[kimmyintexas]

(piano and your house!)

 

[Moh 10]

All warm and cozy in the evening.

 

[monarch64]

Omg! *Falls out of chair in dead faint*

I''m completely inarticulate right now. Must come back later to offer some sort of praise that is worthy of that majestic instrument.

 

[Moh 10]

One thing unique about Blüthner''s painos. . .
The hammers are sawn differently.
Hammers start out as a long continuous piece and are sawn into 88 hammers.

In all other pianos they are sawn perpendicular to the bottom and glued onto their shanks at angles that vary to match the changing angle of the strings.
On Blüthner they are sawn at varyng angles that vary to match the strings but glued on at 90 degrees to the hammer shank.
Blüthner claims this delivers more power from the hammer to the string.

 

[Moh 10]

Note the wool felt covers I made for the music desk.

Many music books have metal spiral binding that scratches the finish.

 

[Lorelei]

WOW!!!!!!! And that is a beautiful duet stool you have too there moh, the piano is a DREAM!!!!! * swoon*

Great pics, thanks so much!!!

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/16/2009 4:58:04 PM
Author: Moh 10
Note the wool felt covers I made for the music desk.

Many music books have metal spiral binding that scratches the finish.

Fantastic Piano Moh- and what a clever idea on the covers! Thanks for posting it!

 

[Moh 10]

Note fishing line holding up the 100% real wool felt string cover so it does not sag down onto the strings.

Dust can hold more moisture than air.
So when your strings get encrusted with dust they rust faster.

The cover keeps the strings sounding clear and new longer.

 

[Moh 10]

Moving day.

Let''s see, where should we put this monster.
Note cork underlayment that absorbs some of the formidable sound a concert grand puts out into a living room.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/16/2009 5:07:11 PM
Author: Moh 10
Moving day.

Let''s see, where should we put this monster.
Note cork underlayment that absorbs some of the formidable sound a concert grand puts out into a living room.

She really is a beauty and I can see how you cherish her * rightfully so*

 

[Moh 10]

In the evening I may put remove the music desk, close the lid and put the music desk on top.

Plenty of volume.

 

[Lorelei]

How many hours a day do you play Moh?

 

[Moh 10]

I commit to an hour a day but want to increase that.

I love these new lights.
The use the entire ceiling as a large soft directionless light source.

Harsh lighting causes the black keys to cast long shadows onto the white keys that vary over the keyboard.
When playing you use the patterns of 2 and 3 black keys to see where you are.

Those varying shadows confuse your sense of position so this shadowless lighting solution is like a godsend.

 

[Moh 10]

Close up of the lid prop hinge.
The wood lining the interior of the rim is Bubinga.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/16/2009 5:12:13 PM
Author: Moh 10
I commit to an hour a day but want to increase that.

I love these new lights.
The use the entire ceiling as a large soft directionless light source.

Harsh lighting causes the black keys to cast long shadows onto the white keys that vary over the keyboard.
When playing you use the patterns of 2 and 3 black keys to see where you are.

Those varying shadows confuse your sense of position so this shadowless lighting solution is like a godsend.

That looks stunning the effect you created there, I can just imagine sitting there and putting her through her paces!

 

[sba771]

WOW! My neighbor is a professional piano restorer and has an amazing workshop in his house so I have seen lots of beauties, yours is amazing! I think you and he would get along- he also gets to restore/tune all the pianos at the Philly art museum. It is really cool and made me appreciate them. Sadly the only piano I can play is his player piano

More detail pics please!

 

[Moh 10]

Another unique thing Blüthner does:

Count the strings for this note.

The top two octaves or so have 4 strings per note instead of the standard 3.
The 4th string is not struck by the hammer though, because it is raised up slightly at the other end.
It resonates sympathetically on loud blows adding color and power to the highest treble where all pianos have trouble projecting.

 

[Moh 10]

To damp that extra raised string those dampers for the notes with 4 strings need an little extra felt piece glued on a little higher than the main felt.

 

[Moh 10]

99% of other makers save money by looping one piece of wire over these termination pins.
That way one piece of wire serves as two strings.

Blüthner still does it the old fashioned and labor-intensive way.
Each string gets individually wrapped and placed onto its own pin.
This slightly improves tuning stability and is an advantage if you break a string during a concert since you loose one string not both strings of the loop design.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

That is a gorgeous baby grand!

I remember being around 13 and my parents took me shopping for my first "real" piano (we didn''t have much money or space when I was younger, so I practiced on a nice keyboard). They let me pick out a nice Baldwin upright, with beautiful carving, I was so in love with it!

Unfortunately I stopped playing my junior year of high school. I didn''t have natural talent for the piano, but I did have a knack for the visual arts, so I switched to that.

 

[Moh 10]

Thank you.
FWIW a baby grand is a grand shorter than about 5' 8".
This piano is 9' 2 "

Opps, sorry.
I posted this pic twice.

 

[Moh 10]

A pic looking from the floor up into the open lid in the store.

 

[Moh 10]

Again, there are four strings and tuning pins per note up in the treble.

 

[Moh 10]

Large casters that lock so when you play aggressively the piano does not roll away.

 

[jstarfireb]

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

*drools*

WANT.

I've played piano since 2nd grade (I'm 26 now). My parents have a Yamaha baby grand, but given that I live in a tiny city apartment, I only have a keyboard (Yamaha P80...a good keyboard, but still a keyboard). I don't play anywhere near as much as I used to, but maybe if I had a beauty like that one...

ETA: I love the dead white guys too! Classically trained, what can you say...

 

[Moh 10]

Last pic.

I think.

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Bluthner concert grand! Swoon! I''m so jealous! It is gorgeous. I''d love to hear it. Wonder if we can post a recording on Pricescope . . .

I studied at the New England Conservatory under Miklos Schwalb back in the 1970''s [among others prior to that] and all I have is a Steinway grand which I bought back in 1982 [I learned on another Steinway grand which my parents refused to fork over - LOL - they still have it and my mother has learned to play a bit!]! I have always wanted a Steinway concert grand. I have played some amazing ones [others not so much . . .].

How many pianos did you test out before selecting this one? The process sure can be tedious.

Good work!

 

[Dancing Fire]

WOW !! beautiful piano

and i thought Steinway and Bosendorfer was expensive.