Pleyel 3 Bis
This piano was in serious need of restoration! However, the beautiful tone quality and signature Pleyel sound is still recognizable, despite its state of disrepair.
The old soundboard and pinblock. Strings and plate have been removed.
Recapping the bridge. The top of the old bridge was planed off, leveled, and here the holes are being plugged to prepare the wood for new bridge pins.
Fitting the new pinblock to the cast iron plate. The surfaces of the pinblock must be mated exactly to the contours of the plate to ensure tuning stability.
Gluing the two layers of pinblock together. This Pleyel 3 Bis has a stepped front edge on its pinblock, necessitating a two part fitting process to mate the front edge to the plate.
The fitted pinblock. Ready for marking positions of plate screws.
Gluing ribs onto the new soundboard panel.
Original Pinblock Duplicated Pinblock
The finished pinblock!
The soundboard panel fitted into the rim.
The soundboard with ribs glued on.
The refinished cast iron plate.
The soundboard being glued into the piano.
Soundboard and pinblock are installed. The plate is refinished and screwed in. We are ready to string!
Almost finished with the steel strings!
Cleaning the keys.
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The keyboard before gluing on new keytops.
Modifying the keyframe to accept a completely new action stack: new action frame, new hammers, shanks, and whippens.
Gluing the hammers using hot hide glue. The finished gluing job.
Ready to play with newly installed and regulated action!
Testing it out. I am very pleased with the sound of the new board, strings, and hammers. It retains the intimate, melodic, and sustained Pleyel sound that I noticed even before this restoration process.