Thompson Pianos is delighted to showcase another extremely rare Steinway & Sons professional upright piano, in a rosewood finish with brass fittings. This beautiful instrument has been meticulously crafted by Steinway using only the finest materials and has been handcrafted by the world’s best technicians.

It has a striking elegant look after benefitting from full casework restoration. French Polish, also known as the finish of kings, is widely considered the best finish achievable in the world. Offering unrivalled depth and colour and sharing the same light refraction properties as valuable gemstones. This 300-year-old finish can only be achieved by hand, it takes years to learn and a lifetime to master. Shellac, the raw ingredient of French polish, is one of the most sustainable resins available. A natural biodegradable side product left behind by the lac beetle as part of its natural life cycle. This resin is then farmed by local communities in certain areas of Asia where these insects flourish. No equipment or energy is required, only a reused piece of cotton, the elbow grease of the polisher, and many thousand hours of practice.

This Steinway has been sympathetically restored to its former glory. Any felt, leather or springs showing signs of wear have been replaced. The well-preserved original hammers have been cleaned, restored, and refaced, revealing new untouched Steinway felt underneath. Where hammerheads often need to be replaced overtime, these hammers have seen little wear throughout their life so could be saved. A full restring has been undertaken, using the same scaling and stringing profiles as what was on their originally, using slightly bigger tuning pins than original to achieve the correct torque for tuning stability. The original pinblock has been meticulously checked and I can confirm there are no signs of any cracking or buckling, and after many tunings and checks the pins remain stable and solid. Cracks in soundboards are often only superficial, but to ensure stability, the soundboard has been dried for several days to reveal any small fractures in its driest possible state. These are then shimmed using the same material (Sitka spruce), and the soundboard stripped and re-finished. The cast iron frame has been sandblasted and re-gilded with a colour matched finish to the original, and all lettering, artwork, and serial number has been re-applied by hand “Alex Kemp – Kemp Piano Restoration”

The piano was manufactured in 1889 and is a real piece of genuine piano history and the current equivalent model K retails for around £55,000.00

If you are looking for something a bit different with its own individual character manufactured by the worlds finest piano makers, then look no further!

Thompson Pianos price of £14,995.00 includes a 5-year warranty.

Non-adjustable matching stools start at £90.00 and adjustable stools start at £150.00.

For more information or advice please contact a member of the Thompson Pianos team on 01905 388039 or email us at info@thompsonpianos.co.uk

We are here to help, no matter how small the question!

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