Before & After - A Piano Restoration Story in Pictures

Every piano has a biography. This grand piano was manufactured at the Steinway factory in Astoria, New York and finished on April 19, 1918. For more than eighty years, this piano went from being played to being abandoned, and we picked it up at a woodworking shop in rural Virginia.
The Before photographs show how decrepit this piano had become, its finish oxidized and “alligatored” so you couldn’t even see the beautiful flame mahogany beneath. Most of the original ivory key tops were missing. Moths had eaten away at the felts, and rodents had nested in the case. Fine saw dust from the woodshop had coated every part, and the brass hardware was corroded. The piano was virtually unplayable.
After photographs show how beautiful a vintage Steinway grand piano can be if fully restored. It now plays as lovely as it looks.