I noticed this rebuilt Steinway with extensive painting on it:
http://www.lindebladpiano.com/pianos/1908-steinway-140852

It reminded me of another rebuilt Steinway with paintings(a beautiful upright at Faust Harrison I saw many years ago)that was also finished in this "orangey" color.

Is there any name for this shade of mahogany/walnut or wood finish? Is it often used when the piano has paintings in a blue/green/black colors because it goes well with the colors in those paintings? Most other wood toned pianos seem to be "browner" or "redder" on color.

This type of veneer cut is called ribbon mahogany. You can see the long lines in the fallboard shot. Mahogany comes in different shades and grades.

This veneer came in on the light side. It is possible that the veneer was bleached to make it this light.

It is not really orange; the camera cheats a little on the reds and greens....

Here is a Canadian piano I did that to. This one used to be the colour of port wine. Not sure why the lady wanted this colour but give ‘em what they are willing to pay for right?
This one has both examples of the most popular mahogany cuts; ribbon and waterfall veneer.

Mason & Risch Grand 1901

I enjoyed the pictures, Dan! You did a great job on that piano! And, I'll bet it sounds as good as it looks!

And, you are right about the influence of light mingling with reds and greens.

Rick

Thanks Rickster,

Glad you enjoyed the photos. I neglected to mention in my original posting that what I did to the Mason & Risch was the bleach process. This is the process of stripping the wood of finish then painting on a coat of bleach hydrochloride and setting the boards in sunlight to strip the entire colour out of the veneer.

The boards dry almost white. Then go any colour you like….after the bleach is neutralized of course…

One of the problems with this is the naturally aged patina of the wood is removed. At times if not done properly the replacement colour gives the appearance of being “forced” (read painted on)

Yes certain brands of cameras can be problematic with colour cheating, or colour concentration.

I hope all is well down there in Georgia.

However, that piano is approximately the color of natural mahogany.

I've always wondered why mahogany is usually stained so dark and red. I find its natural hue particularly attractive, and it seems to me that much of this natural beauty is toned down by the dark red stains that are typically applied.

Here's an example of what I mean, from Rod Vernhjak's page:



I know, de gustibus non est disputandum. But I do wonder how it came about that a dark, reddish hue came is the "norm" for mahogany. Is it perhaps to homogenize different hues of the wood?

The reason for fill and stain on any fine piece of wood is to enhance the natural grain and beauty of the wood.

Now how do you do that? What color is the grain filled with? What color stain should be used? These are all questions answered differently by different societies at different times.

For instance 50 years ago here in the Northeast USA mahogany pianos sometimes came with a much lighter finish like this Story & Clark console:



Pianos that were refinished around that time sometimes use lighter stains because they were popular. We see a fair amount of beautiful Victorian pieces that were refinished at that time to reflect the popular finish of the day.

Here is one that came in quite blonde that we refinished to closer to its original shade. The customer requested high polish polyester:



Also, Northern Europe still enjoys lighter stains in general. The first bubinga pianos coming from Estonia were this shade:



Today the company tries to appeal to the broader taste of Europe and America with a darker stain:



Sorry I could not find better examples, but it is still early here in the Philly area.
My 2 cents,

This is just GORGEOUS!!!