Well, I finally acquired my first acoustic piano ever. I grew up on an acoustic piano, but my sister owns that these days.
After going out on my own, I’ve never actually had an acoustic piano in my gear list, mostly because of portability and apartment considerations.
I recently got the bug to have my own piano again and started the hunt.
I have a small house, so a full upright grand was possible, yet, not desirable. I also had this urge to find a classic Canadian built piano. Sure, the lure of an old upright Steinway or Yamaha U1/U3 piano was definitely on my mind, but Canada had some really amazing piano makers back in the day. At the top of this list? Heintzman Pianos (Toronto).
I did some reading and went on the hunt on Kijiji.
I wound up at an ad for a 1942 Heintzman ‘Louis XVI’ styled piano. $600? Wow! I went to look and bought it.
Physically the piano is a beauty for it’s age. The issue? It sat for three generations of a family as a nice piece of livingroom furniture.
Like any old car, sitting for a long time causes issues too. The piano tuner described it as ‘a sleeper’. A piano that has sat untuned, maintained or played for a long time.
He brought the tuning up to A400, but that’s as high as it’ll go on the bass strings for now, as the existing pegs and strings for the bass section need replacing.
After the tuning though, the piano sounds beautiful!
What else needs done?
- The key action design on this piano series didn’t allow for speedy key action. The solution will be to weight the keys to allow for virtuoso speed demon playing.
- Keys were a little stiff – key easement freed them up nicely
- Again, the bass strings and pins will be replaced. The bass notes sound less bright than they should, and the pins won’t hold anything above A400 at the moment.
- Damper bar warped between mounting points. Needs replaced.
- Hammer voicing needs to be done (minor, but still needs done)
- bridal straps could use replacing, as mounting points are starting to crack
- multiple tune ups to get it back to A440
So it’s not a huge list, but it costs. Based on the work that was assessed, the price of $600 wound up being a fair purchase price.
In the meantime, at A400, it’s sounding beautiful. I look forward to the day when it gets really tuned up.
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