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Topic: Renovating an old Bösendorfer... (Read 1968 times)

rogerbann

Newbie
Posts: 23

Renovating an old Bösendorfer...

on: February 27, 2016, 05:46:49 PM

There is an old, from around 1845, out of tune Grand offered. It has been indoors, but stored for 30 years in a basement, scrathed and lost some ivories. All keys work mechanically and the soundboard seems intact.Do not know about the tuningboard yet. For an old Bösendorfer, where should/would/could you put an upper limit for restoration...will the instrument be worth it?

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indianajo

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 1105

Re: Renovating an old Bösendorfer...

Reply #1 on: February 27, 2016, 07:06:40 PM

Read wikipedia on piano action.
The modern piano action was codified about 1900 with the Herrberger-brooks merger, it says. Somebody has edited out the Erhard portion of that article, so I don't know the date, but before that grands did not have a repeating lever. The article does say something about a Schwander action improvement in 1844.
So no, I wouldn't pay a lot of money for a 1845 Bosendorfer however good the name is. I buy pianos to play, not for prestige or resale. A lot of post 1850 repretoire requires fast repetition of a single note. Nights in the Garden of Spain comes to mind. Repeating a single note with two hands is one of my tests that used pianos must pass before I consider moving it into my home. A lot of ugly $50 consoles and free uprights will pass that test. Try that test on the Bosendorfer, it would be interesting.

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