My Steinway D has arrived at last! (with lots of photos)

Last April I started a few threads about my search for a new piano, which ended with a thread I called Steinway D - I've made up my mind!

The piano I chose was a Concert & Artist Series D ("CD-888") that our local Steinway dealer was retiring, and which he agreed to restore to like-new condition. There's a long version of this part of the story in the previous thread, so I won't repeat it here.

The restoration has taken six months, and CD-888 now has a relacquered soundboard, rebronzed plate, new strings, agraffes, pins, pinblock, and refinished case. And undoubtedly many other things that I'm forgetting now! Most of the job was done by a wonderful restorer whose work is of the highest quality.

Anyway, my D was delivered last Tuesday. I’ll spare everyone the superlatives and just say that I love it!

The delivery was unbearably scary because the piano had to go down a flight of narrow stairs. My husband took the pictures while I hid in the opposite end of the house hoping not to hear a crash! (I didn't.) When I emerged, the piano had made it down safely. Whew!

Wow, congrats! I love the space. So when do we get recordings?

Great piano, great place, great bookshelves, great books. Looks like you're ready for some "library recitals"!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe you got a 9' piano into your basement! What incredible pictures. And that is a breathtaking piano room. If I lived in your house I don't know if I would ever leave that room. And the piano is pretty nice too.

Dan

How does it feel to have a concert grand in your basement!?!??!?!?! Amazing!!! Congratulations!

What a gorgeous basement! Couldn't have been put in a better spot!

Bar, piano, books ... looks perfect to me!

I don't know which is more beautiful - the basement or the Steinway !! (Just kidding)

And let's hear it for those piano movers !! Talk about "unsung heroes!!"

Looks like you are all settled in for the winter !! Have fun !!

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. How fortunate to have the magic of Steinway in your own basement, which that also is beautiful might I add!

Congratulations, Carol! That piano is gorgeous. Your basement library is equally, if not more, gorgeous, too. I'm guessing all those books do great things for your room acoustics.

What a gorgeous piano and a great spot for it!! I am so happy for you. It is a fabulous looking instrument and I'm sure it sounds just as wonderful!!

WOW! Can I move in!?!?!?!? Thats awesome! The piano could not fit any better anywhere else. Thats one very nice basement you have there. Such a striking look with the nice rubbed satin, and warm wood and lights of the room.

OMG doesn't even begin to cover it!

Congrats

those pictures really make your piano look long!

(wow how wonderful is that piano?)

The pictures of the stairs really do look frightening--- but what a nice place, once you get there.

I have low bookshelves in my music room (not built-in), because of the danger of heavy furniture falling over in an earthquake, and pergo floors (because there are five dogs). But I can see we're thinking along the same lines about what makes a place nice to live in.

My piano teacher has disavowed liking dogs... but my bitch is just crazy about him--- just mention his name and she starts wagging. She's just about won him over, too. And I turned around to speak to him during the lesson, and saw one of the guys snuggling up to him on the couch.

So. Dogs that like Beethoven are one thing that makes a music room a happy place.

Congratulations on your wonderful piano. I'm sure it will have a really nice new life with you.

Congratulations, Looks Great!

Piano Party, Piano Party!

You must be in piano heaven! Enjoy!!

Great piano, and an even better space for it. There's something about a piano in the library....

A fabulous piano, a fabulous home and fabulous pictures!!

Congratulations!

Rick

Congratulations!!! What a gorgeous piano!

I'll echo Frank Baxter's sentiment: Piano Party, Piano Party! I'll bring the wine.

Truly stunningly beautiful piano and environment for it and for you. Congrats, and Enjoy!!!!

I'll add my congratulations to everyone else. I have to say when I was looking at the photo sequence I thought they were moving the piano up the stairs and thought "Oh dear, those poor movers having to haul a D up a flight of steps". Of course now you'll never be able to move

Beautiful piano and a lovely setting for it.

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Oh wow, it's beautiful! What a lovely, substantial instrument, and the space is perfect for it! I am crazy for your built-ins, but admit to being a sucker for library spaces, in general

Jeepers, my piano dream. Congratulations!

Congrats! Great piano and very nice space. Do makea recording some time.

wow, I would be in heaven with a D in my house. I'm sure you're enjoying it.

Congratulations!!! Has it been 6 months already? I remember reading with great interest your story about the D.

So happy for you! Enjoy!!!

Holy moly, those movers deserve an A+++ !!

Narrow hallway, didn't look like they had to make any turns thank God. The steps to the basement don't look like a piece of cake either. Hope you don't plan on moving anytime soon.

Congrats, I remember your thread and giving my 2 cents, I'm happy it worked out for you. It looks like a beauty.

My move was easy compared to that. Up a fairly steep driveway , over a patio into my studio with one small step, two guys managed to do it.

There was another fellow here on PW that was up in SF a few years back that posted a video on youtube of his Fazioli 228 being scrunched into an elevator--these movers are pretty resourceful guys.

Enjoy.

+1

Superb installation. Congratulations. Adrian

Way to go Carol! This D could not have found a finer home and caretaker.

You are now in a unique position to report on the differences among your Steinway, Bluthner, and Estonia. How do you decide which one to play? Do they get jealous if you don't allocate your playing time fairly? Do they have preferences for particular composers? Details, please!

THAT'S SO COOL! CONGRATS!

Thank you for letting us follow your interesting journey. It has come to a fabulous end. The piano with a "history" has found a perfect home. Congratulations!

Congrats Carol... glad everything finally worked out... looks great at home

Les

Beautiful piano. We would love to hear some sound files. The D is an amazing instrument. I have an 1891 D that was rebuilt 2 years ago and I know how you feel. Congratulations.

What a beauty! Wishing you lots of happiness as you play your beautiful music with your new pride and joy! What a gorgeous piano! Congrats!

Thanks everyone for all the compliments on the piano! It’s very gratifying - away from the Piano Forum, most people aren't all that interested in hearing about my new piano! ("A piano? I thought you already had a piano. You could have put a pool table down there!")

I can’t imagine making a decision to buy a piano like this if I hadn’t had the Piano Forum to learn from and to pose questions to. Thanks to all of you who offered thoughts and feedback while I was making up my mind about this piano. And most especially, thanks to Les Koltvedt for putting me in touch with Patrick DeBeliso, the restorer who did such a beautiful job on the piano.

The piano really does sound and feel wonderful. And the acoustics seem to be very good down there; there are enough sound-absorbing surfaces for a piano of that size not to be overwhelming, even with the lid up.

Thanks also for the compliments on the basement. In my previous threads I’d avoided mentioning where we were making space for the new piano, because I was afraid there would be objections to putting a D in a basement! Especially since our basement looked like this just a few months ago:



(In case anyone noticed the stairs in the earlier photos – we’ve held off finishing them until the piano was moved down.)

Our builder put moisture barriers and plenty of insulation in the floors and walls, and he made sure no heating vents would be aimed at the piano. (He also hacked off part of the ceiling above the stairs; otherwise the piano would likely have gotten stuck going down!) I'm hoping the humidity and temperature will be relatively stable. And I’m going to install a Dampp-Chaser soon.

You’re right, the movers did a great job. They said they’d moved CD-888 many times before, in fact. (And I said this would be the last time, because we’re never leaving this house!)

As for comparing our various pianos, right now the only one I want to play is the D! Maybe the novelty will wear off and I’ll go back to playing them all; if not, we may decide we don’t need quite so many pianos. After all, I don’t have to compete for time on the D from my husband - his favorite instrument of all is our Roland digital harpsichord!

Carol

I love the way you incorporated the steel support columns into the cabinetry and then surrounded them with the fluted woodwork. It kept the space open. Very nice planning!

BTW, typically the basement humidity will run a bit higher and most likely more stable.