Sustain measurement on acoustic grand

tszulc90

Hello, I am about to buy a grand piano that is 34 years old. It seems to be very nice when I saw it at technician's place few weeks ago, sounds very nice and looks like well maintained. And the technician (and restorer in one person) is a reputable one in the area. Now I am waiting for it to be fully regulated, cleaned up and stuff for final review and confirmation that I want to buy it.

I was recently watching some YouTube video and there was mention to check the soundboard crown, however that is not possible without taking out the strings. But one of the measurements that can be taken is measurement of the sustain duration.

Could you tell me what is a okay sustain time for a note to be played without using sustain pedal? Is this the time between pressing and holding the note (low, mid, high on the keyboard) until I cannot hear it anymore? What sustain duration should I expect from typical 183 cm (6 ft) grand of this age?

Cheers!

pianoloverus

tszulc90 First and foremost, you should have the piano checked by highly knowledgeable tech working only for you(willing to tell you if there are problems with the piano). Not doing that for any used piano is a serious mistake.
Does the piano come with any warranty?

It's not at all necessary to remove the strings to measure the crown on the soundboard. You can have the tech you hire do that or ask the rebuilder to do it while you're there.
I can't give you a number of seconds to test for sustain but your approach is not correct in my opinion although your thinking about it is very common. What you should really try to listen for is what I would call the "useful sustain", how long it takes before the sound drops below a useful level. This is because it's quite possible for the volume of a note to decrease very quickly and significantly but still be audible for quite a long time. But if that happens the sustain Is not useful so the piano has poor sustain.

Nightowl

tszulc90 Wow, that's quite an upgrade! 😃 Will you keep your other piano or trade it in? Is it a full size GP or a baby grand? Don't underestimate the volume of GP - this can cause concern if your neighbours are adjoined/very near to your home.
Please post some pics when your new piano is installed.

tszulc90

pianoloverus First and foremost, you should have the piano checked by highly knowledgeable tech working only for you

I got your point. However, I am about to buy the piano from a technician/restorer that also sold piano for my teacher few years ago and she highly recommends this person (she knows few restorers including bad ones). The restorer also provides pianos to other bigger piano shops in the country where I visited. One of pianos sold by him I had opportunity to see by accident in private house (when I looked to buy from someone else) and then I learned from them this piano comes from the restorer. I asked a technician that was regularly tuning this private piano (different person) and he said the piano is very good condition and very well prepared (older 1973 piano). I even asked this technician to give me quote on checking the piano I am interested in to buy, but he responded there is no need for that as he knows the piano will be very well prepared as this restorer/technician is reputable one and there is no work for him. So I passed on checking it as several people is recommending him and feedback he gets on Google is basically 5/5 based on many reviews. I mean, there is still some risk, but I'd say very low.

pianoloverus Does the piano come with any warranty?

The piano comes with a warranty, transport, first tuning and intonation. Also if I would not like it for some reason for first month or two I can return it by just cost of a transport and pick different one.

pianoloverus It's not at all necessary to remove the strings to measure the crown on the soundboard. You can have the tech you hire do that or ask the rebuilder to do it while you're there.

Oh, okay, thank you, didn't know it is possible. I'll ask the restorer then to show it to me. Hmm okay, that is more complicated than I thought.

iternabe

I would agree with @pianoloverus that you should hire your own technician to check the piano out. Even with the reputation of the seller/restorer, and third party recommendation from your teacher and other people, it's still best to "trust but verify". If the seller/restorer is truly as good as suggested, then they should have no problem for, or even encourage, you to hire a technician to go over the piano.

The advice you can get from the online forums are well intended, and can be good. But they are free advices after all, and not always from professionals. If you pay a technician who works for you, you can expect and demand to get solid and detailed answers and explanations of all your questions.

Best of luck to your purchase!

tszulc90

Nightowl Hey! I am going to keep my digital to be able to play at night. In the beginning I don't think I'll be able to use acoustic piano more than an hour a day due to other factors so digital is a must have as I usually practice 2 hours a day and want to play at night as well. The one I am looking at currently is a stencil brand Schiedmayer C-183 (6 ft) manufactured by Kawai in 1991 (I confirmed that directly with Kawai Japan). I am awaiting the restorer to fully prepare it before I come and confirm I want it. We'll see.

I live in a detached house so I don't really need to worry about neighbors. The room piano would be placed in is 7x8 m (23 x 26 ft) with ceiling height spanning from 2,8-4,5 m (9 - 15 ft), so I guess this is not that small place for such a piano. I am still worried it may be loud but we'll see.