Pianoforte Restoration and Conservation
- Restoration and Rebuilding -
Alcyonis is chiefly concerned with rebuilding instruments made between approximately 1889 - 1939.
Our printed guide "What is good piano restoration and What do we mean by conservation" which is available on request is designed to give some idea of why piano rebuilding is so worthwhile, the importance of good restoration, some of the problems encountered and what is meant by conservation.
Most piano reconditioning or restoration ranges from 'bad' to 'appalling' and lovers of the piano have few ways of knowing who is competent and who is not.
Sometimes wrestplank replacement is unavoidable. This original is from Steinway model "C" Grand no.159310 once played on by Vladimir Horowitz. This piano now in restoration suffered from a series of disastrous & inept attempts at reconditioning, creating a host of additional difficulties to overcome.
The above shows grooving of the bearing surface on the capo d'astro bar from a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand, which in many instances results in falseness of sound. In this case frequent string breakages were also occurring, therefore re-shaping and burnishing was necessary.
A hairline fracture in a casting can spell an impending disaster.
- Action Rebuilding -
Wherever possible we try to conserve the original action and when applicable return it to original specification and touch weight etc.
All too often action suspension springs are removed; we restore them.
Modern Hammers are usually too heavy for older actions. A roller knuckle that is 1mm to large can have a disastrous 'knock on' effect in later regulation. See our printed guide.
In addition we are now able to offer a specialist custom finishing service on secondhand Grands such as Kawai & Yamaha pianos, which can be supplied to us directly from Japan without any polyester on the case parts.
See 'Bespoke Casework'