Acoustic Piano Restoration Query

[Gamefreak501]

Hi everyone,

I have an old Acoustic Piano at my parents house, that I learned and practiced piano on between 1996-2009 before a mixture of losing interest, my girlfriend (now ex) and my working life got in the way.

It has mostly been left alone, has been out of tune for a while and has never been that nice to play on, it seems to have a very 'hard' action on it, so it's hard to play softly on it and the definition therefore is quite poor.

It was only a budget piano, so I came to accept it's limitations. The surface of the plastic coated keys are also in need of restoration as they look like they have deep scratches along them.

Fast forward to about now and having recently played on a friends Yamaha Clavinova digital piano, along with leaving my girlfriend a few months ago; it's instilled some interest back into it for me and I think I could probably get back into it, whilst juggling my hobbies and interests.

I am wondering if restoration costs would be a little too much on a piano which originally only costed £400 for the work stated above, (and if the action can be softened) or maybe a dealer will be able to offer some kind of part exchange for a digital piano?

I know digital pianos aren't the best comparison to the real thing, but as I'm going to be moving at some point, I would rather a more portable digital piano, as replacing for a new acoustic will probably bring about similar costs for the eventual restoration and the regular tuning, as well as portability issues.

What are everyones thoughts?

Kind regards,

David

 

[Narj]

What make is it? It sounds like restoration might be a bit extreme on a £400 piano. You might be better off getting yourself a second hand Yamaha U1 for a few grand (if you can stand the ear-splittingly bright tone - although a technician could calm that down for you).

I have a digital that was top end when I bought it, and I'm constantly nagged by my teacher to get a proper acoustic as it shows that I'm a bit thrown by playing on his each time I have a lesson.

I love my digital (Yamaha CLP-270) and it has its advantages, ie: recording, MIDI, volume control, headphone jack, but it's clear that it's not a great substitute if you want to get back into some serious playing. I think that if you're going to spend a few K on a digital, then you may as well get a half decent acoustic if you can get away with it.

A proper removal firm will have no issue moving a piano (or you can get a specialist piano mover in) - I'd not worry about it.

BTW, I completely understand the situation - I took up playing seriously after splitting with the ex and it was the best thing I ever did. Really enjoy it now!

 

[Gamefreak501]

Cheers for your reply PianoBasher,

The Piano is by a company called 'Godfrey' of London, who I never heard of!

I was looking at the CLP-403 and the CVP-501 series Yamaha digital Pianos, but if I can find a decent second hand Piano, I may have to go for one of those! Just a shame my parents live on a hill so bringing a piano up and down the stairs to the door is quite dangerous and time consuming!

I got up to grade 6, so I still have 1-2 grades left I think.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Narj]

Cheers for your reply PianoBasher,

The Piano is by a company called 'Godfrey' of London, who I never heard of!

I was looking at the CLP-403 and the CVP-501 series Yamaha digital Pianos, but if I can find a decent second hand Piano, I may have to go for one of those! Just a shame my parents live on a hill so bringing a piano up and down the stairs to the door is quite dangerous and time consuming!

Not heard of those myself!

Get a higher end CLP if you want a better sound - the CVPs have more "bells and whistles" at equivalent price points from what I remember but less focus on the actual piano sample quality.

If you do want a digital you should go for the absolute best piano sound you can get, rather than compromising it to get a few extras.

You also might want to try out the Roland digitals as some people prefer those to Yamaha. Maybe a trip into London to try out a load of them at Chappell's might help make up your mind?

I got up to grade 6, so I still have 1-2 grades left I think.

That's how I thought about it but it seems that at grade 5 you've opened a lot of doors but in reality have only just started learning - don't forget that post grade 8 there are diplomas! I'm beginning to tackle Grade 8 material now and it's really opened my eyes to how damned difficult this can get. I have to play loads of easy stuff on the side to stop myself from going nuts!

BTW a few Chopin Nocturnes should be within your grasp now if you're confident and haven't tried them already. I did Op72 No.1 a while back and still love playing that. Some of the preludes Op.28 are good fun and doable at G6 too, No.20 and No.15 for example.

Enjoy!

 

[Zogger]

I have an old (about 13 years I think!) CVP 107. It was never completely perfect in terms of key action but it took me all the way from Grade 1 - 7, together with my teacher's real pianos in about 5 years... then I stopped playing from 2004 to 2011 while living elsewhere. I finally got it back and have been playing it more recreationally since (I don't do any scales or anything), but the main issue is the keys have lost all of their noise dampening by now so they sound quite clicky. In that respect a well maintained normal piano would well outlast a just-sitting-there-forever digital piano.

Anyway... what I was going to say is that I believe clavinovas have a number of types of keyboard action, the better one is Graded Hammer (GH, as well as GH3 and GH premium or something which are supposedly 'even better') and the less good one is Graded Hammer Standard (GHS). I don't know exactly what the difference is but if I was going for a clavinova again I would go with the best possible keyboard action.

Unfortunately, they're expensive... but I don't think I could live with having a non-digital piano because of the need for tuning, the lack of volume control etc.

 

[Narj]

Unfortunately, they're expensive... but I don't think I could live with having a non-digital piano because of the need for tuning, the lack of volume control etc.

I know that mine has GH3 which was (and still is) pretty good. I suspect that things can only have improved since then. I do find that going from a digital to an acoustic, I have a difficult time playing softly, mostly because I have the volume on mine down most of the time!

I'll be getting a grand later in the year if things go to plan, but I'll still use the digital for the majority of practice to keep things sweet with the neighbours!

 

[Gamefreak501]

Many thanks for your replies, PianoBasher and Zogger,

PianoBasher - I'm probably going to be going to Chappells in London, see if I can make the 'transition' from acoustic to digital and find out where I want to go. They may even do a part exchange on my Piano (maybe). It's only a train journey away anyway. Any piano I get is bound to be better than my one.

I still remember a fair bit of the Moonlight Sonata Adagio Sostenuto movement despite not playing piano for a long time. Talk about elephant memory! Plus a little of the Presto Agitato movement.

I did honestly think I would be able to get to the diploma standard, but with time and dedication, I don't see why I can't.

When I get a piano sorted though, I'll probably purchase some Chopin music books, just listened to a few on youtube - they're very nice, and look like they'll be great fun to play.

P.S. Good luck with the grand piano

Zogger - my concerns have always been the durability of the digital piano keys - apparently, if you go for a high enough spec the keys are wooden which makes for a more authentic feel and without the expensive repair costs associated with repairing one of the digital pianos with plastic keys.

Acoustics do come with their servicing/tuning costs; and I have read a little bit about key action on the digitals, but I'm still very green in that respect.

The other bonus with the digital pianos is I could have a practice session with headphones, so if I feel like 1 hour on Friday night before bed, I can just pop the headphones on and practice away.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Narj]

I still remember a fair bit of the Moonlight Sonata Adagio Sostenuto movement despite not playing piano for a long time. Talk about elephant memory! Plus a little of the Presto Agitato movement.

I'm not sure what it is about that 2nd movement but I never seem to forget it either. It's probably the most securely memorised piece in my repertoire!

When I get a piano sorted though, I'll probably purchase some Chopin music books, just listened to a few on youtube - they're very nice, and look like they'll be great fun to play.

P.S. Good luck with the grand piano

People will probably tell you to get the Paderewski editions for Chopin but if you want something that's much easier to read and stays flat on the music stand, I'd get the Henle editions (I correct them from my teacher's Paderewski ones). Have a look in Chappell's downstairs while you're there for music.

Cheers!