Petrof Imperial

[IanT]

Does anybody have an idea of what these are worth?  I've got one that was built in the 1970's sometime.  It's in pretty good shape although it's in need of regulation.

Is this piano patterned after the Bosendorfer Imperial?  It's 9'6" long and has an extra fourth at the bass end of the keyboard.

Ian

[chickering9]

I didn't even know Petrof made such a beast.  Any pictures you might share would be interesting, as would your impressions of its tone.  Can't help you with anything about its value.  Interesting that the Communist era company would have produced such a thing (and especially that they'd allow that name "Imperial" on it.  )

[IanT]

I looked at the Petrof website and they don't seem to list it anymore.  I distinctly remember asking the salesman in a local (Toronto) piano store about it and he showed me a Petrof catalog with the 'Imperial' listed.  It may have been a name they only used for a short while (maybe Bosendorfer complained?)  I take your point about a communist era company using 'Imperial' as a name.  Maybe this was just for the North American market.

The tone is generally full and rich.  I had it revoiced about five years ago because it was getting just too bright.

I really enjoy playing the beast but I do have some beefs:  First of all, the middle pedal is not a true sostenuto, it's just a bass sustain.  This seems extraordinary in such a large and ambitious instrument.  Secondly, the dampers seem to have a hard job of muting the strings in the lower registers.  The dampers look quite puny in comparison to those in e.g. a Steinway D and I suspect they don't have enough weight to stop the bass strings vibrating as quickly as I would like.  Lastly, the action is really in need of some work.

The construction of the piano befits its communist roots - massive.  The piano movers who delivered it claimed it was the heaviest piano they had ever moved.  They estimated about 1500 lbs!

Ian

[Impresario]

Ian, I would be interested in seeing pictures of this instrument as well.  There are other similarities between Bösendorfer and Petrof.  There plates were made in the same foundry.  They are painted different colors, but structurally the almost the same.  I had a customer who did a stress analysis on the plates of many pianos at Ford Motor company.  He gave only two a "10" on a scale from 1 to 10; the Bösendorfer and the Petrof.  This was before we knew they were made in the same foundry.

There are difference though.  The Bösendorfer is made in the Viennese tradition of piano building whereas the Petrof utilizes the English method.  In the former, the rim is made of many vertical slats of spruce like the soundboard creating an Eighteenth Century sound.  Good for Mozart....The Petrof has a hard rim made of beech which is multi-laminated and bent around a rim press.  This produces bigger projection and makes for a more versatile instrument in a large concert hall. 

[calin]

I'd like to see pictures of this Petrof too, if possible,

Calin

[calin]

I think I have discovered such a piano on the net. Here's the link:
https://www.besbrodepianos.co.uk/showroom/showroom736.htm
They say it has 92 keys. But strangly, only two pedals...

Calin

[IanT]

Yup, that's it.  The serial number is pretty close to mine as well. 

The price is a bit disappointing!

Ian