Hi!!
I intend to change pianos, always buying an upright (I have a Pearl River about 15 years old of Chinese manufacture, so it's not exactly the best, even if for what it is, poor thing, it does its job). The gentleman who tunes my piano gave me the number of someone who sells a Schulze Pollmann (a brand I had already heard of because of the good craftsmanship and the Renner action, but which I never had the chance to try), obviously used. Calling this person, it turned out that the model is called "peacock tail", which refers to the peacock tail finish. I asked him if he could tell me the serial number, but he didn't even know where to look.
About a week later, I went to try the piano.
I must say I was surprised by the excellent condition it is in. The cabinet is perfect and without a scratch, wood colored (I don't know which one) with indeed the peacock tail finish which would also be very beautiful, but if the piano is black, brown, yellow or pink, it doesn't matter much to me. I measured it with a tape measure and with the top lid closed it measures 125 cm (removing the thickness of the lid it's 122 cm, so I don't know if it's a 126 or a 122.... what do you think???). It was bought new about twenty years ago for around EIGHT million (mine was three) and has practically remained in that state. The son, who is now 29, started playing it when he was little, but it only lasted a few years, maybe even months, I don't remember well. And since then it has practically not been played anymore. I touched the tips of the hammers and noticed they were almost smooth!! Plus, I thought I would find a piano so out of tune that I wouldn't even be able to realize what its timbre was like. The gentleman said that after the purchase it was tuned only once by the guy from the shop (who isn't even good), after a few years the piano underwent a move including a hoist from the balcony and has practically not been touched since, given that the son no longer played. But even though much time has passed, the tuning is more or less still the same. It's just a bit "meowing" [unstable], which for me is wonderful since mine practically never holds it and I would have had to have it tuned every three months.
The action is a Renner, the hammers are exactly like new and in general everything is working and clean (except for the penultimate key which remains depressed, but that will surely be something trivial). The keyboard is quite hard but it gave me the sensation that it was "mushy", or "under-oiled". But I assume it also depends on the fact that it has never been played and needs to loosen up a bit, or that it needs regulation, more likely.... I don't know. As for the sound, however, I have some doubts. Not that it sounded bad, but it was a bit strange: in general the timbre is muffled, usually a bad thing, but only in the central part: playing a chromatic scale from the bottom, the timbre becomes muffled after a couple of octaves or a little more and quite suddenly (a few keys difference), to become clearer again in the last two octaves or so. The sensation is like someone suddenly putting their cupped hands over your ears while you listen to music. It's as if it shouldn't be its original sound... I don't know... as if the mute were always down (which obviously wasn't the case). I don't know if this is also due to the fact that the piano has been used little and if it is resolvable. I will probably play it again to get a better idea. In truth, the matter of the timbre might just be my sensation, since being used to playing mine which in sound is quite dry (it is 108 cm high), I might have mistaken a certain fullness of the bass for a muffled sensation.
I will certainly play it again and see if my tuner (who knows how to do his job) can come with me, and I will make a video.
In essence, the day served to confuse my ideas. I am attracted to the SP because of the type of piano it is... German action, Italian production less consumerist, let's say more "old school" etc (but above all because of the price, 1500 euros), but on one hand I am afraid of ending up regretting it because of these "problems" I mentioned before, if they can even be called that.
Give me your views, opinions, advice and anything else.
I wanted to put some photos but I don't know how to get the image URLs and then how to insert them into the forum... can you help me??
Thank youuuu!!!! Giulio
ps.
Just yesterday I saw the video tutorial where advice is given on what to do when going to try a piano. Mr. Ferrarelli, if I remember correctly, at one point talks about the soundboard, saying that if it is "cupped" or deformed it can have various effects on the timbre. But he was talking about old instruments anyway, is it possible that a piano only twenty years old has such a problem??
Me
I hope it's not like that, because otherwise the value of the instrument would be halved, if not worse. Not to mention that an intervention on the soundboard, depending on the case, will certainly be costly. Anyway, next time I go back to see it, I will definitely check.
