JEANNE - Thanks for the info on the "casters" We like the looks compared to casters. May go to our wood guy for further ideas. Will let you know if we find out something worthwhile to share. Sarasota

Tom:

"You should write stories in your spare time." You shouldn't encourage me - I'm guilty of having written some of the longest PW posts. :rolleyes:

The photo captions you chuckled at were most likely the ones Lloyd contributed.

As far as writing talent or lack thereof, writing was one of my first loves and ambitions. (If a 9 year old is capable of having ambitions.)

(Digressing) I was surprised and pleased some years ago when my boss - out of the blue - asked if I would do a newsletter for the company I work at. Oh, yes, I would! I believe there are things that are just meant to be, or that one may attract somehow, and this was one of those things. *I also believe this is why I have the piano I do and not certain other pianos that, for one reason or another, weren't meant for me.*

(Further Digressing) I am and have been for the past 15 years or so, the entire newsletter team for the great little company I work at. It's just a newsletter for employees only - company news along with a fair bit of "Employee News". We do have fun with it, but it can also be a lot of work. (I bet this sounds familiar to Frank, our PW Webmaster Extraordinaire.) This writing "assignment" is quite enough for me to handle and, as you suggested, I'll be very busy playing my piano!

Jeanne W

Aaron:

In another thread, you talked about how loud and piercing Steinways sound in people's homes.

I was afraid it was going to be too LOUD for our livingroom. It turns out, I actually wish it had a bit more power. In spite of the fact I'm wondering if I'm going to wind up with hearing fatique, I find I have a fond wish of wanting - at appropriate times - to make the floors rumble and the walls shake. (Derick - Your 9 foot Bosendorfer does that, right?)

Lloyd says the piano is plenty loud enough.

Aaron (you out there?)we are miles apart in opinion!

Maybe I should have gotten a B - or even - the Damn Big 9 footer! We'd just need to get rid of some of the furniture in our livingroom. (and a bigger bank account).

It's hard for me to stay away from the piano. I play in the morning before going to work and as soon as I come home from work. Lloyd had to "shut me down" the first night IT arrived. It was after midnight and I was on my way upstairs to turn in for the night but passed the piano on the way and, well, you know, I touched a couple of keys, listening to the beautiful tonal quality… Next thing I knew I was sitting at the piano adding a few more notes to a piece of music. Shortly thereafter I heard a LOUD thumping noise coming through the ceiling from above. Oh. That was Lloyd, signalling me to STOP! (I did.)

Bye now - Gotta go (guess where).

Jeanne W

P.S. BeeLady: It's the long A a/k/a A3 - 6 foot 4 inches. Does not have 3 bridges.

Jeanne,

Damn, girl! You started this thread last night at 10 and you're up to 3 pages already?? Is that a record?

I haven't read all the posts yet, but saw the pictures. FABULOUS!! Hey, that house of yours looks just like the one in Mass. that we moved my Mason & Hamlin out of. Makes ya think!

Beautiful piano. I'll write back whem I have time to read the whole thread. Sincere congrats!

Congratulations Jeanne on your piano! What beautiful woodgrain. And your home is beautiful too! Your husband is wonderful to have been so supportive and involved in your quest.

I always play barefoot so pedal comfort is important. My Fandrich & Sons grand has such easy and smooth pedalling. They redo the whole pedal/lyre part so you don't really have to "work" at it or think about it too much. It's easier than my Yamaha upright. Even the Una Corda pedal is easier, compared to that of my teacher's.

My grand is getting it's first tuning on the 6th, exactly one month after delivery.

I'm so happy for you!

Beautiful piano, Jeanne. Congratulations and happy playing!

JP

congratulations on a gorgeous piano. Best wishes!

Jeanne, let me add to the long list of compliments!!

You also have a beautiful and most befitting home:
"real wood" people have always been my own kind of people and you would perhaps feel quite at home if you'd ever visit me here in Canada!

Enjoy....and keep Lloyd tapping his feet from upstairs......

norbert

Jeanne - I really laughed reading about your feet and the pedals. I had some interesting conversations about that with (I think) FrankR awhile back. I really noticed a difference from my old spinet's pedals to my old teacher's Steinways. She had THREE! And of course the Estonia has a different pedal feel than the Steinway too. Having big feet doesn't help, I'm here to tell you. I do play with a slipper. Just feels better to me. I have had my piano for going on 3 months now and I still can't walk by it without playing it. I get it up first thing in the morning. Put it down for a nap before I leave for work. Wake it up again as soon as I get home from work, and put it to bed as late as possible. My hubbie said, "You just have a hard time closing it down for the night, don't you?" Yup! I cover it whenever I'm not playing it for a few hours! Mostly because we live on a gravel road and I don't want dust getting in and on it.

I'm off to play too. TGIF! Big snow storm on the way. I may be snowed in with my piano all weekend.

Beautiful!! How happy you must be!! Lovely setting for it as well. Now you can give MUSICALES in your home and thrill the guests! Enjoy!

Ralph

Jeanne --

Following the progress of your A3 through weeks of PW postings, its delivery to your living room and the reactions of your PW friends to the big event has evoked lots of nice memories for me. I also followed a long path to the Steinway B I own now (though I'm about 8 states short of your 11-state mystery tour). When I found it, I knew within 5 minutes that it was The One. It sounded a little brighter in my music room than I remembered from the showroom, but some new drapes took care of that. Even now, nearly 3 years after it arrived, I can't walk by without indulging the same one-note "plink" that you describe (usually a nice fat bass note). It gets better with age, just like we will.

We have one other thing in common. My dad's name was Loyd (his frugal Norwegian parents left off the extra L), and he would have been as happy about our instrument as your husband seems to be about yours. I gather Lloyd isn't as musically inclined as you are -- it's very unusual to have someone like that join you in endless weekend treks up and down the coast in search of the perfect instrument. I think you won twice on this lottery.

Thanks again for sharing the pictures of your beautiful instrument. Have lots of fun breaking it in.

Thanks, again, everyone for the nice posts! Couple of notes...

Derick: That's your idea for caster "plates" instead of cups? That was a way cool brainstorm you had!

Curry:

A "lowly Bosendorfer 214? Surely you jest? I hope you won't refer to your piano that way again - Bosendorfers are WONDERFUL pianos, I know you don't mean it and you'll break your piano's heart suggesting such things!

You also asked about the kind of bass strings on my piano. I'll check to see what kind of strings they are. I wrote it down somewhere. I'm pretty sure Lee said they're Mapes. And my little piano has Steinway hammers. Right or wrong, Lloyd is convinced I can somehow tell the difference between Steinways with S&S and Renner hammers. He kept reminding me it was always the pianos with S&S hammers - voiced a bit mellow - that I fall in love with. Kinda hard to believe anyone could tell the difference, but maybe he's right... This is the way it seemed to work out and FWIW I did finally buy a S&S with S&S hammers. (Oh, no! Hope this doesn't start yet *another* S&S vs Renner hammer threads.)

Joe: You say our house "looks just like one in Mass" you moved your Mason & Hamlin out of. Our house has a wonderfully romantic story attached to it. We were told the couple who built this house (circa 1915) stayed in a house during their honeymoon in France that they fell in love with. When they returned home, they had plans for the house drawn up and had it built. So there's supposed to be a double of this house in France somewhere. If there's another one out there somewhere, I'd love to know about it.

Jeanne W

This makes a big and obvious difference that I am sure you would notice.

Jeanne... I'm so pleased that I found such a delightful thread to read before signing off for the evening (and I'm also pleased that it's a Friday night!!)

Sincere congratulations to both you and Lloyd on such a magnificent accomplishment! Your new S&S is a beauty and compliments the elegant room where it resides.

I wish you many years to delight in your musical talents and may Lloyd enjoy every note!!

Jeanne, I'm sure glad you finally took delivery. I know you looked a long time and took "test drives" all over the country, and had to worry throughout the rebuilding process, but the one you finally picked looks really great. Congratulations!

But enough about Lloyd. :rolleyes:

That Steinway sure looks good.

Very happy for you, really. It is beautiful, as is your house. Hope you stay in love with it.

Bob

Thanks, Bob, for the congrats.

To clarify a few things...

The "test drives" all occured on the east coast. And they were all *drives* - no air trips. Many MANY miles on the car. I encourage anyone who can do this TO DO SO - to play as many kinds of pianos before deciding which is for you! There are SO many wonderful pianos out there, and each has its own distinct personality.

I didn't have to "worry" throughout the rebuilding process. The piano was fully rebuilt when I bought it. I was immediately struck as feeling a "part" of the piano, like we were operating as one. (I found a soul mate! ) The waiting part was due to having it refinished to a dark mahogany. Originally it was light mahogany.

In fact, there's *no way* I'd ever go the route of commiting to the purchase of a piano *prior* to its rebuilding. That is, a piano that a rebuilder had no intention of rebuilding, until a person, i.e. *me* , was waiting in the wings for. But that's just me.

I appreciate there are some great piano rebuilders out there who will allow you to have "first choice" or "first refusal" - whatever you want to call it on a piano to be rebuilt. That puts you first in line for a particular piano being rebuilt but you are not obligated to buy it. But that's not the route I took for this piano. I just wouldn't feel comfortable saying no to a piano - if it came to that - after knowing it had been rebuilt specifically with me in mind, first in line or whatever. I'd feel awful!

But everyone's comfort level is different and this will be a great route for some. For anyone new to this forum, two of the great rebuilders that come to mind who offer such a program (without obligation to buy) are Faust Harrison NYC and Cunninghams Philly.

I'm rambling again.

Thanks, again, everyone, for all of the wishes and comments.

Jeanne W

I'm a little late to the party but wanted to say: That is one beautiful piano and you look like one happy little camper! Congratulations!

Congratulations ... well worth the wait, eh? Enjoy your new piano. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Congrats Jeanne, certainly a classic American piano from one of Steinway's best periods, I love A's, and in a great space. You look very happy with it too. Many years of music!

Jeanne,

Just wanted to add my congratulations on the new member of your family. A special thanks for the blow-by-blow description and pictures. I enjoyed them all immensely.

Many years of happiness to you and your gorgeous Steinie.

ravenswood

Pique & Christopher James Quinn, if you're out there, this post is for you. (As if anyone's still reading this long overblown thread. :rolleyes: )

Pique: In another thread you advised me that "most people who are sensitive and discriminating and hear well" (gee, you meant me?) have "issues with their piano when it arrives…" You're right - I do have issues - but not with my piano! :p

Hello, Christopher James Quinn: About a week ago, in another thread, you posted:

=============================
"…it does happen that people get a piano in their house and hate it. Often the fussier people are during the shopping phase, the more likely they are to have issues with a piano when it lands in their hourse. I've noticed this here, and can now predict it pretty well based upon their posts during the shopping experience. (There's a poster here now waiting for a piano to be delivered soon and my bet is that she will have many issues with it once it lands.)"
========================

Well, for some reason I think you might have been referring to me. I don't have any issues with my piano. The only criticisms I can come up I think mostly have to do with needing to modify how I play the piano and the piano "playing in":

The bass is *very robust and resonant*. I need to ease up on the bass and pedal less - and the highest octaves could be a tad stronger - it's not quite as strong as on some other comparably sized pianos I've played, but it's plenty enough for me and may play in stronger.

You know, I took a l-o-n-g time playing all of the other pianos. I learned to appreciate so many wonderful pianos - all of which sound different. So many pianos - which to choose?! If I had my druthers, I'd have more than one piano.

But I waited until I was *certain* what I wanted. Those other pianos don't *sound* like a Steinway and it's the Steinway sound that gets to me, to the heart of things, that most gets me where I'm trying to go with my music. So I'm sticking with my Steinway. And I'm *deliriously happy* with it.

Time to go slinking off to my piano now.

Jeanne W

P.S. WHAT AM I THINKING OF? There is one HUGE ISSUE with my piano: Where do we put the Christmas tree now?!

Well, I'm glad to be wrong on this one. Good luck.

Christopher:

"Good luck" ? That sounds kind of ominous. But thanks.

Jeanne W

Jeanne - I have the opposite issue. Now that we remodeled and I have the piano room, I finally have a great place for my Christmas Tree! I have serious issues with my piano -like how to find enough time to play it as much as I would like!

What a gorgeous, gorgeous piano! And the two of you look very happy together--Congratulations!

Mary Anna

http://www.maryannaevans.com

What a beautiful piano - and beautiful home for it to live in.

Dear Jeanne:

Sorry for this very late congratulations! What a happy lady and happy home. You are so well loved in PW.

We all play piano with bare feet in our home, so I know the "foot pain" you are talking about.

My solution that I bought a wooden plaque (about 8"x10") and black craft foams from Wal-mart, glued foams to the board top and bottom, painted it black and place it under the pedals, it really helps a great deal. My daughter wears her soft slippers since she practices a long time...

Jeanne,

I had to resurect this thread to add my congrats. I completely missed it, despite occassionally searching by your user name. We knew it was coming. A long time coming, at that.

Wow! What a great outcome. It looks fantastic. Really works in that spot,too. Charming. I'm glad the particulars ended up so on track for you. Since I'm a good year ahead of you with "breakin", I'll say more clarity is on the way. Just keep playing and give us an update, from time to time.

Like now!

Chris W1

(Oh, no! Hope this doesn't start yet *another* S&S vs Renner hammer threads.)[/b]
My lips are sealed

Hi, Chris!

Thanks! Update: My piano is great! I've been playing at least 4 hours a day. Lloyd is very tolerant. I don't know if I could listen to me playing - I might drive myself crazy (crazier?), but he seems OK with it. :-)

I'm still learning how to "control" it. I need to work on my playing and technique (badly). Have met with 4 prospective piano teachers so far, but still looking for the right one - meet with another one tomorrow. I need to find a good teacher who knows what to do with someone who is self taught. This is proving to be a challenge.

We downloaded the free Audacity software Christopher James Quinn mentioned (or was it Axtremus?) and are experimenting with recording using an old el-cheapo mic from my old cassette tape recorder. Sound quality is better than one would think, but this is a temp setup until we figure out what best to buy.

Cripey, there is so much to learn before buying recording equipment. I hope to post soundclips on PW one of these days if I can manage to record something I'm happy with. (That could take years - only kidding. Well, at least, I hope it won't take that long. I'm a rank amateur pianist, remember. Listening to what you play I'm learning is very valuable in helping improve your playing.)

I can hear my piano go in and out of tune with humidity changes. Believe it or not, I haven't had it tuned yet - it arrived in November, so it's been "seasoning" about 3 months. This may surprise some who have the impression I'm particular about pianos. Well, that's true, I guess I am particular, but I'm also realistic and tolerant - to an extent, anyway. Once you get your piano in your own home it's not going to sound perfect every day!

I'm surprised how quickly felt in the hammers reacts to humidity changes. My piano became very much brighter within 24 hours of lower humidity! I love the tonal quality. I do love the Steinway sound!

What else? I think that's about it. I'm enjoying the hell out of my piano.

Thanks for posting Chris!

Jeanne W

Awesome! That's great to read, Jeanne! Now, get your piano tuned, it is probably quite flat right about now ( January in the mid-atlantic will do that! )