Piano for Sale—1924 Ebony Steinway model B Grand piano…. 6 ft. 10 & ½ inches

Brokered by Dale Erwin, Registered Piano Technician

Celebrating 40 years in Business

We are proud to offer for sale a mint condition 1924 Steinway B 7 ft. in Ebony that has just come available. It is a fantastic piano. I rebuilt it in the 90s. It has one of the most well preserved original soundboards I have ever heard or seen. Original Steinway Soundboards that still maintain original crown and string down bearing specifications are rare. I have only witnessed a few and they’ve all survived as a result of the temperate pacific coast climates. I am big believer in replacing aged sound boards and have replaced over one hundred in vintage Steinway instrument in my career. This one, however, is a rare find. The temperate California climate has preserved this original sound board. This soundboard has no cracks and no shims, and it was refinished in lacquer at that time. It has retained its full crown and down bearing vital to tonal production. I can say with confidence, it will outlive most of us, singing sweetly on for decades to come.
This Steinway B was the property of the John Carter family. John is the choral conductor & the music director at Columbia Jr. College, in Columbia, CA. It was originally his mothers and was in his family for as many years as he can remember, and John is in his late 50s. As far as he knows His folks always owned it. I still recall the first time I laid hands on this piano in Sonora Ca. in 1993. The sound was incredibly lush, round and singing.
I rebuilt and re-sold it in the mid-1990s to a family with serious students. Their girls are out of the house, so it’s on the market. One of the finest examples of the quintessential vintage 1920s Steinway sounds.
At the time of restoration in 1993/94 it received a new action with a fantastic set of Ari Isaac hammers made with Steinways felt of choice from American Felt Co. The tone is clean, clear, and amazing. I have only had one voicing session with these hammers in all that time and it took about an hour, which is testament to their springy resilient nature. Very little lacquer was applied at its original voicing unlike Factory Steinway hammers. Renner action parts were installed at that time. The piano was originally black and was re-done in ebony in 93 and is in excellent condition. Piano was restrung, plate refinished with all serial numbers and string number reapplied as decals and sprayed over with clear coats.
The bridge caps were pristine, yet we removed the old pins, re-notched the terminus points by hand and installed new bridge pins with a drop of epoxy in each pinhole to insure the integrity of the pin fit in the maple cap, which is critical to clean string termination and energy transfer to the soundboard. The original pin block was in excellent condition, and is pinned with no.3 tuning pins and tunes very well. New damper felts were installed, Keyboards felts, damper lifter felts etc. Recently the action received a complete re-configuring of its geometry using Stanwood custom balanced action protocols. The original geometry was deficient from the time of its original manufacture. The capstans and knuckles were moved to a more optimal position which achieves better leverage. This change also allowed removal of excessive counter balance lead in the key thereby removing inertial resistance, which is a detriment to fast passage work. The leading is now typical to the best Steinways which generally have 3 leads bass, 2 tenor, and one in the trebles. The action was carefully weighed off to within a few grams of each neighboring key. This produces a very fluid, even, and reliable touch for any pianist playing at any level. The action has been re-regulated/adjusted to fine tolerances
The Ivory is in perfect condition. A testament to the previous owners care. The regulation/adjustment is now normal for Vintage Steinway spec. at 52 grams down weight in the bass tapering to 48 in the trebles. Up weight is approx. 25 grams. Down weight & up weight now fall in the normal range of balance for optimum playability. The Hammer strike distance is 45 mm and the key dip .390 at the key pin. The touch is light and responsive, and plays like the wind, and trilling is easy.

It has the original bench along with a beautiful artist bench. Delivery included with in 100 mile radius

$48,000