Thanks, Bill! I really wish there was a way to share more than sound. The overall improvement to control and playability was the most significant difference I was able to make to this piano.

Good for you, fixing up your Sohmer! I’m glad you’re enjoying my channel!

Thanks for appreciating the difference. The malleability of tone in pianos is what makes the work so fascinating and rewarding.

Thanks, Bryan!

Sorry your Chickering didn't get the love it deserved. Thanks so much for the kind words. (And working on my own pianos is how I eventually got into this business.)

Hey, thanks so much for the kind words! I’m glad you’re into the channel. Good luck with your tech efforts!

Glad to hear it! Feel free to report back.

I have a six six 1925 Chic, magnificient but you will need to do lots of work to make the piano sound that way as with all old pianos, are you a piano tech?

Thank you, good sir!

Thanks!! And yes, the action response really was the main improvement here.

Thanks for that thought! If you’re thinking about service, sadly I guess you’re right. Though if you’re looking to buy an instrument of mine, they can and have been shipped across the country.

Best of luck!! You may want to hire a local tuner/technician to come assess the pianos before acquiring them. Of the brands you mentioned, the Chickering would likely have the most potential.

And as always, thanks for watching!

Thanks, Regi. I don’t find any indication on the plate of the scale as you often do in old Chickerings. And the piano measures a pretty solid 5’7”. However, the scale could be a transfer of the 145 into a then-novel plate inserted in a slightly smaller case. I have had the thought that if you could travel back in time and work for Chickering, they would have given the Big Three companies a real run for their money.

In an ideal world, yes. Definitely a protocol I use for my restrings. When limited for time, with established pianos I sometimes accept what’s there.

I'm in central NC. Is that within range?

I now have a show room and will soon have adjacent pianos of different mix. I had thought about comparing the “signature“ of different piano sounds. Not that that is exactly what you’re talking about but it’s somewhere along the same lines. I’ve also kept the hammers on a Baldwin I’m restoring. I plan on comparing the sound from those original hammers to the new ones. I know what you mean in terms of being curious about the different aspects of sound production in a piano.

@@insidepianos right. So harp, case, sound board, what difference do they make? E.g. if it is next to nothing (assuming high quality) then we can really focus on the rest, which we have control over. If on the other hand, case, harp and sound board make a huge difference, then it's great to know when to stop and get another piano.....

@thomasschwarz1973 The technician *should* focus on everything they can do to maximize the tone (and touch) on a piano, assuming a relatively healthy soundboard. HUGE gains can be made by attending to regulation, hammer choice and voicing, strike point, etc. However, all the above gains are capped by the condition and quality of the belly. A board that has lost its crown and/or integrity will yield limited results. A piano will need to go to a rebuilder in that case. But it’s also important to remember that pianos of different makes are scaled very differently. String tension, length, division of notes. These all influence the character of sound, as does design choices such as board thickness, bridge placement, ribbing. These are the things that make someone prefer a mint-condition Yamaha to a mint-condition Steinway. I feel I’m probably just spouting off things you already know. Perhaps the bottom line is that there’s no substitute for years and years of experience when judging where the technician-realm improvements max out on a particular instrument. We just try to keep on learning and refining our ability to assess the next best move.

It’s definitely easiest to hear live. But I’ve found it’s also something you have to train yourself to hear in some respects. People who get good at voicing are very systematic and analytic when they listen, as opposed to merely asking themselves, “does this sound nice?” When watching videos on voicing you want to make sure you’re listening on something good. Also, I will add that the voicing gains on this particular piano were appreciable but modest. The main improvement I made was to the action feel.

@@insidepianos You did well though, it sounds great! It will definitely be a special instrument for another decade hopefully!