Buying Used Pianos Page

Buying Used Pianos Resources

Sensitive pedaling is one of the techniques a pianist must master, since piano music from Chopin onwards tends to benefit from extensive use of the sustaining pedal, both as a means of achieving a singing tone and as an aid to legato. In contrast, the sustaining pedal was used only sparingly by the composers of the 18th century, including Haydn, Mozart and in early works by Beethoven; in that era, pedalling was considered primarily as a special coloristic effect.

Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, Scipione Maffei, wrote an enthusiastic article about it (1711), including a diagram of the mechanism. This article was widely distributed, and most of the next generation of piano builders started their work because of reading it. One of these builders was Gottfried Silbermann, better known as an organ builder. Silbermann's pianos were virtually direct copies of Cristofori's, with one important addition: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern damper pedal, which lifts all the dampers from the strings at once.

The plate, or metal frame, of a piano is usually made of cast iron. It is advantageous for the plate to be quite massive. Since the strings are attached to the plate at one end, any vibrations transmitted to the plate will result in loss of energy to the desired (efficient) channel of sound transmission, namely the bridge and the soundboard. Some manufacturers now use cast steel in their plates, for greater strength. The casting of the plate is a delicate art, since the dimensions are crucial and the iron shrinks by about one percent during cooling. The inclusion in a piano of an extremely large piece of metal is potentially an aesthetic handicap. Piano makers overcome this handicap by polishing, painting, and decorating the plate; often plates include the manufacturer's ornamental medallion and can be strikingly attractive. In an effort to make pianos lighter, Alcoa worked with Winter and Company piano manufactuers to make pianos using an aluminum plate during the 1940s. The use of aluminum for piano plates, however, did not become widely accepted and was discontinued.

Up to Date Buying Used Pianos News

Chicago Piano Dealer - American Music World

Buying a used piano can be a bad experience. Many used pianos are very old and more times than not they have had little or no regular maintenance and tuning during their lifetime.

Read more...

Chicago Piano Store / Pianos in Chicago - Used Steinways Baby Grands ...

Please view our "How much are Pianos?" page for more extensive information on buying a used piano! Email us at info@chicagopianos.com

Read more...

Chicago Piano Store / Pianos in Chicago - Used and New Baby Grand and ...

Buying a used piano? Get to know the bad guys first. click on the "Wanted" sign above. Handcrafted Estonia Grand Pianos. Designer European pianos rated higher than Kawai, Yamaha, Boston ...

Read more...

How to Buy or Sell a New or Used Piano - Piano Pricing, Buying ...

Tips On Buying a Used Piano: Price Guide for Used Pianos & Keyboards

Read more...