My 1939 Steinway S came home from Tom Lepinski's workshop at about 5 pm yesterday. I have been playing it for hours: it sounds beautiful and the action is now silky smooth and predictable. It's now the piano I remember--possibly even better!

It would be nice if my playing could get the same kind of renovation :-). I'm having my first lesson in 25 years in a couple of weeks. I'll see what a 67 year old man can do!

Congratulations!

Nothing like having a great piano to enjoy!

Rick

You bet, as we say in west Texas!

Congratulations.
Pictures?

I'm banging the pieces out of mine, and I'm 72. You're going to have the time of your life. Congratulations!

Enjoy!... "S" ss are a lot of fun.

I'm having a little trouble posting photos to the forum, so I'll give a link to my facebook photo album of the entire project: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.455005661211964.98420.100001076012576&type=3. The last three photos, taken this evening, show the 1939 Steinway S back home in our living room.

BTW, you may notice some imperfections in the keys and on the Sheraton arms of the piano. I kept the original (yellow) ivories, partly because my late mother had told me that if I ever replaced the ivories, she would haunt me :-). And I decided not to have any cosmetic work done on the case, because I wanted my entire budget to go to renew the sound of the piano and to regulate the action. So the last shot, taken from the rear of the instrument, highlights the new strings, about the only visible part of the job. In addition to a complete restringing, the piano has new hammers, shafts, and flanges; new damper felts; a refelted keybed; a re-glued lyre and a repaired base bridge; a Piano Lifesaver system; and a complete regulation. (All parts from Steinway NYC.) The sounding board is still beautiful and is doing its job marvelously.

Anne, I notice you're also in Texas. There must be something in the water out here that keeps us old folks playing the piano!

Anne'sson,
Congrats on the piano, you have to invite me over for a bowl of chips and salsa and I will try it out. LOL
My first piano teacher had a S&S "S". As a kid, I was always in awe of it and it was special to play my "piece" on it. She would raise the lid and then drape a piano "shawl" over it covering the lid slightly. I guess she thought it looked "fancy". LOL.
I am glad the weather cooperated with the movers.

Here are pictures of my 1939 Steinway S in our living room.

RickG1, my mother was a piano teacher--although she had the good sense not to try to teach me! I always thought her ("our") piano was the best in the world: until I got to play a Steinway D in college, and later to play a Steinway B at my music teacher's here in El Paso. I will say that the renovated S sounds great in our relatively small living room.

Beautiful!!

Anne'sSon,

How nice for you to have such a lovely family heirloom in your home. I'm sure the memories of your childhood will inspire you always to make music. Just beautiful!

Thanks, Ragdoll--yes, every time I play I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have had a mother who loved music. In case anyone hasn't figured it out from my name on the forum, her name was Anne.

That piano looks great in that room.

Thanks, Gary!

My goodness that thing looks heavy. I think I developed hemmoroids from moving ours last time. Why do they make pianos so heavy???

To carry the profound weight of the great composers.

It weighs 540 pounds. I think just about all grand pianos are that weight, or much heavier depending on the length of the piano.

So most composers are grossly overweight?? Well that makes sense with all the constant snacking on Chee-tos and laying around all day instead working a real job like normal productive citezens.....

At least we have the wonderful gift of music that comes from their laziness. Except for Jazz....that sh!t sucks

That is beautiful. I just bought a piano but nothing like that. Maybe someday. Enjoy!

Hi anne'sson

Your piano looks wonderful in your livingroom. Congrats...

Thanks, Rocket Man and Allthumbs-- it sounds even better than it looks!

Anne'sson,

Congratulations on bringing home your wonderful piano! I too am thankful that my Mom played piano, made sure I had the opportunity to take lessons, and made sure I put in adequate practice time every day (when I wanted to be outside playing). It's never too late because I re-started lessons and university music classes at the not-so-tender age of 54, and I'm still having a blast. Happily, my playing has improved and I'm conquering my fear of playing in front of other folks.

Enjoy many hours of playing your beautiful piano!

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm really enjoying the beginning of what I hope will be a wonderful adventure.

Your piano looks beautiful! On the comment about piano weight, they are not all the same. My Mason-Hamlin BB (7 foot length) is listed at something like 1080 pounds. I am a 64 year old man and did not try to move it in myself. It took four men. I love my new-to-me piano, but previously played a STeinway and liked it very much, too. Congratulations! Enjoy!

Chopin lover, for clarity I should have written "at least that weight or more." I knew that Mason and Hamlins are heavy, but I'm surprised that your 7' M and H actually weighs 100 lbs more than A 9' Steinway D. I've heard some M and Hs on videos and the sound appears to me to be very similar to Steinway.