The piano I practice on is my Blüthner patent action grand which I got in 2002. I found it at the time in a newspaper advert in either "The Times" or "The Telegraph" which weren't papers that I read but they'd been left on a train that I was taking to London at the time. The piano was in St. Andrews and was being sold by a lady who owned a guest house. She'd bought it 30 years previously from a piano teacher in Broughty Ferry which is just outside Dundee, who had bought it new in 1913. It had largely been unplayed for several reasons: first it was the "good" piano of the piano teacher who also had an upright in her home, and it was virtually unused by students. I think actually she used it for when the board examiner came to her home. The lady in St. Andrews was an amateur cellist and just wanted a nice piano for her music room. She never played the piano although her children had lessons. The hammers were actually in excellent condition and the piano was a real time-traveller. Of course I completely wore out the hammers in about 3 years. The old felt had deteriorated without being played. I had a set of new hammers put on it in either 2006 or 2007 but it wasn't a great job, and honestly I was never happy with it.

Eventually by a twist of fate I was able to have it rebuilt by Piano Restorations Ltd in 2017. It's lucky they did because the piano actually had a small crack in the frame (plate) which I hadn't seen and required attention. They were able to restore the tone of the piano to what it was before I wore the hammers out, but with a far greater dynamic range with greater sensitivity and projection.

The other piano, also a Blüthner, is the 1895 Jubilee rebuilt by Piano Restorations Ltd in 2013. In 2020 for various reasons it was upgraded from a butterfly spring repetition lever to a Tokiwa single spring (still double escapement) with Abel Natural Felt hammers and quite honestly it feels incredible under the hand. Almost too good.... if a fly landed on my hand while playing it, it could interrupt the phrase haha!

The patent action forces me to really focus on finger articulation and sensitivity. I find that it's a great diagnostic piano, and it helps me with accuracy and clarity. I'm not saying that you can't have that on a Steinway or standard action, but this patent action doesn't allow me to get away with anything. It's lighter than the other piano but that isn't making it easier to play. The "point of sound" is higher up, so playing fast repeated notes (which IS possible on this action, in spite of what the internet tells you) involves much more finger articulation than on the other piano but then it makes it so much easier when I play on other instruments. The 1895 piano is all about the tone. It's a very full-bodied, clear, but also mellow tone and the great challenge in playing this piano is listening to the pedal. It's very easy to over-pedal on it and I find myself playing without pedal a lot more on it because the tone is so rich.

It took me a couple of days. I've always wanted a grand, but there was no way I could ever afford one. I'd really been longing for one. Then I saw a 1911 Bechstein Model B on eBay in England. Within days I had the piano. It initially cost less than my digital, but I've spent several thousand restoring it. It needed work, so there was no point in going over to see it. I knew the soundboard was intact and the action seemed to be all there. The frame didn't appear to be cracked -that was the biggest gamble.

It would probably be difficult importing a piano cheaply from the UK post-Brexit -I live in Ireland. The piano cost £1200 sterling and it only cost around €350 to have it sent over. I've spent around €5,000 since.

I've replaced most of the action, though I want to restore the original action parts and put them back. The old Schwander action was wonderful, but I couldn't keep it regulated for more than a few days at a time. I got Renner parts dirt cheap from a supply house in Germany that was closing.

With the old Schwander action it felt like I only had to vaguely think about trills and repeated notes at whatever speed I wanted and they came out perfectly every time. It was like the piano was playing itself.

I really wanted a Blüthner Model 6 that was available locally, but it was too expensive. With an old Blüthner, Bechstein, Steinway, or Bösendorfer I would be happy. There are lots of others as well of course. Old Ibach and Schiedmayer grands can be phenomenal.

I think I found my lifelong piano.

APianistHasNoName thanks APianistHasNoName - that was a rough year.
it felt like Dicken's "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
brdwyguy

    I have owned two pianos. I bought a 1970 Yamaha G2 off of eBay (!) around 2008. It was the only piano in the area that I could check out easily in person. It was being sold by someone who had lost his shirt in real estate speculation during the financial downturn at the time. I was the only bidder and got it for $3,700, the asking price. I didn't know anything about buying a piano so I played just the notes that sounded more or less in tune, and made sure that all the notes worked. But of course even by that point the keyboard was pretty worn out I would imagine. I taught myself how to tune the piano though, and didn't have to worry about damaging it. I think it was mostly the key bushings that were worn, especially in the center range.
    Last year I finally decided to replace it. I started looking in June, and finally decided on one in November. Another Yamaha, this time a 2007 C2 (I didn't want something larger than 6 ft. in our living room). This particular instrument has a keyboard that is in very good condition, as if little Bobby or Suzy didn't practice much, and the piano seems to have been kept in uniform temperature and humidity. Most importantly, the keys feel as though they have a little more resistance than most, and this allows me to play with more gradations, especially in the quiet range. The piano has a mellow, bell-like tone under my ears, more bass and overall sustain than the G2.
    I'm not a professional-level pianist, so I consider myself lucky to have this nice instrument.

    8 months later

    AaronSF
    Was the AF 16 yo when you bought it?

      Yes. It was 16 years old...which made it (barely) affordable. It needed a complete regulation, and then it played like a dream.

        Late to the party, but...

        shawarma_bees How long did it take you to find your instrument?

        A few months. I had a nice digital but was interested in getting an acoustic instrument because I knew it was such a different experience. I tried probably 10-15 preowned pianos at three different stores, along with 5-6 new ones. I went to one store that specializes in Yamaha and tried all of the B series models, and I went to another store that specializes in Kawai.

        I played for 30 seconds on the K-200 and knew I'd found my piano. The tone was wonderful in all of the registers, it was the right size for my small house, the action was great, it was in the budget (more or less) even as a new instrument, the bench was adjustable height and comfortable, etc.

        I've had it for about 10 months, and I still love to sit down and play, and it makes me happy to look at it. A couple of my kids' friends play and will partake when they visit the house. 10/10.

          AaronSF
          This is a beautiful piano, rare in the US. It is single strung. Does it hold its tune longer because it is single strung?

              Vuong
              Yes my AF holds its tune quite well, and I'm sure the single stringing helps. It has a number of unique design characteristics. E.g., wippen-assist springs up to the upper treble (where the dampers stop). AF uses them instead of putting a lot of lead weights in the keys, which supposedly reduces key inertia. The sound board is "floating," i.e., the part of the sound board at the tail is not fitted into the frame, supposedly increasing resonance. The bridge pins are slightly on the shoulder of the bridge. Not sure what this does (downbearing?)

              The sound board itself is bigger across than most grands, giving it more board to resonate.

              The rim is not laminated wood bent into an S-shape by forms; rather it is a "soft" rim produced by stacking pieces of wood vertically next to each other. (Bösendorfer does something similar, I believe.)

              The bass bridge is set well back from the edge of the piano, which supposedly also helps increase resonance.

              Anyhow, it is a great and extraordinarily responsive instrument. Some complain that AFs are too bright. They can be, but I've found that with some judicious voicing, my AF can deliver anything from ppp to fff, and the "brightness" seems to have much more to do with my technique (or lack thereof). I'd say it is capable of much clarity, and it makes voicing a line of music easier than on many instruments. Finally, the scaling is superb...there is no discernable break between the bass and lower treble, and the tone is smooth to the last octave.

              Sorry for going on...but I love my piano!

                  AaronSF I didn’t know all those details about the design of the AF, it’s fascinating!

                    AaronSF
                    Thank you for your very informative reply about your AF 215. At the present time all new AF215 have Abel hammers according to the company's web site. Abel hammers are known to be softer than others and offer a nice sound. It could be that yours has also Abel hammers. After 16 years of use they surely benefited from a voicing which you had it done and now you love your piano.