For all the nice optics on this piano, it just occured to me that the plate and stringing felt color is red. That is a real shame, as the blue Blüthner used, and still uses today, is a signature color of their brand. Sure, it is only a visual detail, but when I see visual details not being paid due attention, I immediately wonder if enough attention has been paid to the details that really matter in restoration of the instrument.

Roy, and other rebuilders: when restoring vintage pianos, please pay attention to felt colors. It does[/b] matter. Blüthner - blue, Bechstein - green etc. Feel free to contact me aout sourcing this material.

Thanks Jurgen. I agree about this, and was recently looking at your sight. It's nice that we now have a source. I already have what other blue felt, and some stringing braid, that I could find.

Well, I did it.

After mulling it over for a couple of days I decided to have someone look at the instrument. I figured if it's in great shape I'll see what happens. So, I hired Brad Phillips, an RPT whom the Bennet's recommended to perform the inspection. He went on Saturday and spent a little more than an over going over it.

His report was very favorable:
To summarize: Everything was either in excellent or good condition. He liked the tone and the action. He felt the instrument would give my family years of enjoyment--which was my goal.

I spoke the seller--who, it turns out, is well know professional pianist. We agreed upon a price and set things in motion.

So, tomorrow, I fly into Atlanta for a final inspection. Fragile Freight is scheduled to pick it up tomorrow afternoon and hopefully if all goes well, I'll have a beautiful Bluthner in my living room two weeks. We're very excited.

Although the piano does not need any major work, I am still trying to locate a good tech to be ready when and if it does.

Congratulations SHPiano!!! I hope your final inspection does not disappoint, and wish you much happiness with the piano.

The felt on my own Bluthner of 1881 is red, and I have seen red felt on quite a number of other Bluthners of that sort of date. It would be interesting to know when they standardised on the blue.

It would have been nice if the tech who did the work had put in the blue felt. Fortunately, based on the inspection, it appears the work itself was good.

Am I going to try from here on out to make sure that any work that is done is apropos to the Bluthner.

It's great to know we got a resource like Jurgen out there to help.

Congratulations! Be sure to take (and post) lots of pictures of your new piano. We've been with you this far, don't leave us hanging at the end.

Congratulations,

You will have many years of pleasure ahead of you.

Welcome to the vintage Blüthner owners!

Congratulations!

Blunther log.
I'm in Atlanta, heading out to see it. I'm on my BB so my posts will be short. I brought a camera. I'll post pics as soon as I'm able.

Update. I saw it, listened to it (it's wonderful to have a professional play for just you) and bought it. It really is a nice instrument. It's already on the truck and should be in Texas in about two weeks.
I'm heading back home. What a day!

I am so pleased for you! Congratulations again ... and (please!) let us see pictures when it arrives.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

It was quite a day yesterday. I suppose I should back up: The day after the seller, Piotr Folkert, and I reached our tentative agreement on the Bluthner, he learned that Fragile Freight movers would be in Atlanta the next day (yesterday). I did some research on FF and concluded that they are a very well regarded point-to-point piano mover. (The owner of Maus Piano in North Carolina described them as "the best in the world". Ferdinand Pointer of The Piano Company called them "great" and said "you won't have any problems. They really know what they're doing").

After that, I went online and was able to use some Delta frequent flyer miles to book a flight to Atlanta for yesterday.

I arrived in Atlanta (or, as my daughter calls it, Atlantis) at about noon and took the MARTA train out to Peter's neighborhood. He picked me up and drove me to his home. He's a very nice man with a lovely family. His home is dedicated to pianos and piano music. In addition to the Bluthner, he has his current practice piano (a 9' Bechstein) and an amazing 9' Bosendorfer that has an ornately carved oak art case (I've never seen anything like it) and a piano for his students.

I spent some time looking over the Bluthner and using some of the tests Larry Fine describes in his book (e.g. checking sustain, checking the action feel, confirming the serial number, etc). I shot some pics.
Here's the front:

Here's one from the side (that's the Bechstein next to it):

I crawled underneath to look at the soundboard and the repair of the crack my tech had described:
.

Continued on next post.

Continued:
I don't really play piano (certainly nowhere near well enough to put a piano through its paces). So I asked Piotr to play for me.

I just sat off to the side, closed my eyes and listened. It was wonderful. He played some Bach, Liszt, and Chopin. The piano has a lovely tone. I'm a novice and certainly don't have a trained ear. (During my search I've probably only heard 6 or 7 brands and maybe 20 different instruments so I don't know how valid my interpretation is). In any case, I would describe this Bluthner's tone as full but lyrical. Although it defintely has some power (I guess that's not too surprising for a 7 foot piano) it was not bright. On the other hand, I don't think I'd call the tone "dark" or "moody". "Warm" is probably about right.

After the mini-concert, we waited for the movers who arrived within minutes of when they said they'd be there. I've never seen a grand piano being moved. I couldn't believe how quickly they could do it.
Here's a picture of the piano on the moving board. You can get a pretty good look at the whole soundboard.

Here's a picture of it on the truck (that's the owner of the moving company in the shorts).

After the mover's left, Piotr drove me back to the train station. I caught my flight and was back home in Texas by 9:30.

The Bluthner should arrive in 2 weeks (maybe less). In the mean-time, I'm going to be getting the room set up so it will be happy in its new home.

I promise to post some pictures when it arrives.

Thanks again everyone for your advice and encouragement.

Cool pics, thanks.

Beautiful piano!!!