Flying Piano Co.

Well, with all this talk of gloom and doom here is a touching tale with a hint of drama! ( I would like to also say that pianos are 'flying out of my workshop', but that would be obviously too corny)

Sometime in September I was contacted by a woman from Woodbridge who was interested in a Baby Grand. I had one in stock, a Murdoch, reconditioned & repolished for a very reasonable £1500. She liked and asked about delivery, adding that she wanted it in her living room on the first floor. Unfortunately the stairs were very difficult and a stair-lift made the situation more-or-less impossible. However, there was always the balcony! For a mild and sweet 'little old lady' she certainly had guts and determination, or that's what she was expecting in my dept.

She was quoted over £600 by a delivery firm 'near Woodbridge', cor what a rip-off I thought and made a few calls to some good ole local boys. The car restorer and vehicle recovery expert Peter Teager of Tunstall had a look, we agreed a sensible price and so it went.

I roped in ( almost literally ) the help of Carl, a large Lifeboat Man and allround strong person and we (they) got it up with out any trouble. Here is a picture of him sizing up the situation.

The touching part of this, as mentioned, was the fact that the woman was determined to buy this piano for herself, for her 91st BIRTHDAY!!! I must say it looked great in her living room and she was thrilled. So much so that she played a couple of songs before I left (which I attempted to sing along too). Oh Happy Days! Oh, and her name was Mrs.Diamond and she certainly lived up to that!

(I haven't really got the hang of spacing the pictures out on this blog, so please excuse my skills in this dept. I really am much better at tuning and restoring pianos. And occasionally moving them!)

My Tool Case

This is strictly for tool 'nerds', of which, I believe, there are plenty.

I have had most of these tools since the 70's when I completed my training in London. A woman came into The Piano Workshop, which was then on Fleet Road, Hampstead and asked if we would like to have her deceased husbands piano tech tools "yes pleeease" was the chorus of replies. As soon as she closed the door behind herself a disgraceful scrum ensued. I must admit I was pleased with my haul of a handful of ancient tools, some I have dated back to pre-1880's, when Buck & Ryans, tool suppliers,Tottenham Court Road, were simply called Buck.

I have tried new tools and have had to return them to the suppliers, slipping handles, poor steel, etc.

I rarely use power tools, sometimes to drill a hole, or polish ivory keys and can more-or-less rebuild a piano from this collection of hand tools.

On the right I have laid out the tools needed for tuning only, I could almost fit them in my back pocket! But I rarely visit an instrument that doesn't need a little adjustment here and there.

I live in fear that someone would break into my car and steal these tools, as they would have no use for them, except perhaps a screwdriver, pliers and a small hammer. The rest would probably get thrown over a wall as useless! Fortunately this is a rare occurrence in this part of Suffolk.

I hope you found this chapter interesting, especially all you other tool 'nerds' out there.

Westminster Abbey

I am not one for blowing my own trumpet ( or playing my own piano, come to think of it!) but I keep forgetting to add a little brag about my business.

I sold a piano to Westminster Abbey just before Christmas 2007. I personally delivered it, around the back. All went well and it was a fun experience. The piano will be used by the Choir Master to train the boys. By coincidence my nephew attended the school and choir many years ago.

This was one of my standard overstrung reconditioned upright instruments. He just liked the touch/response of the keyboard and the tone. It was also re-polished, so looked respectable enough for its new surroundings.

So there we have it: By Appointment To The Queens Church, Westminster Abbey.

China in grip of a 'piano fever'

I recently heard an article on BBC Radio 4 which left me totally amazed, but then perhaps everything we hear from China is magnified beyond conception. I have since found said article published in the Spectator 4th June 2008.


Petroc Trelawny visits the world's biggest piano factory in the country where under Mao it was dangerous to play the instrument.

He visited the Pearl River Piano Company in the Southern China city of Guangdong where they made 100,000 pianos last year and rising!! Its almost one instrument for every minute of the working day. A basic Pearl River piano costs about £800, a fortune to many Chinese, but well within the budget of the country's burgeoning urban middle classes.

Conservative estimates suggest that 30 million Chinese children are currently learning the instrument; many reckon the figure is much higher. One academic suggested the country was in the grip of 'piano fever'.
Looking for a Pearl River piano in Shanghai Trelawny was told to head for Jin Dong Street. He stopped counting after passing 35 independent shops selling pianos and other instruments, none of them short of customers!

Well, that would keep a piano tuner busy. Who said the piano was in decline? I only hope they don't send them here, especially used ones, the quality is extremely poor. The materials to rebuild a decent European piano cost more than £800!

Online

I now seem to have this online and will start using it to inform of new developments and instruments in the process of restoration. (this is actually just a test, to see if it works!)

Piano Updates

I am starting this blog with the intention of publishing the details of reconditioned pianos coming through my workshop in Aldeburgh.

Here is my first example. A fully reconditioned CHAPPELL 7 1/4 octave upright with ivory keys.

I have stripped and repolished the case with french-polish. This is one of the finest English pianos from the '30s. The price is £1200 including delivery and initial tuning/set-up.

www.pianotuning.uk.com