Pianotech

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!

I'm not a refinisher, but my guess is that this finish is finished, lol.  It would have to be completely chipped/scraped off down to the substrate (particle board).  Repairing it would not be possible, as the entire finish is suspect.  Maybe some kind of wrap, like they do on cars?  Or some kind of laminate/Formica?

I have a customer with one of these pianos, and the finish is similarly cracked, though not nearly as severe.  She had some of it refinished, but there are still cracks visible.  The best you could do is to reglue as much of it as possible, like the large areas on the lid that are pulling up.  But the other cracks are not repairable at all.  The entire finish needs to be removed, and whatever method used to refinish what's underneath.  Even then, who knows how stable the underneath substrate is.  What a mess! 

Actually, these Viennese pianos aren't bad, as far as their overall design.  Kimball had some affiliation with Bosendorfer at the end, and these were produced at that time. 

My advice to this client is to just let it go and get another piano.  It's partially their fault for putting the piano with sunlight burning it up.  Duh!  Would you leave your guitar or violin baking in the sun?  I have to admit, this is the worst finish damage I have ever seen, hands down.  Just.. wow..

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!

I've seen it twice in Arizona. Big flakes separating. Not economically justifiable to repair.

I'm not a refinisher, but my guess is that this finish is finished, lol.  It would have to be completely chipped/scraped off down to the substrate (particle board).  Repairing it would not be possible, as the entire finish is suspect.  Maybe some kind of wrap, like they do on cars?  Or some kind of laminate/Formica?

I have a customer with one of these pianos, and the finish is similarly cracked, though not nearly as severe.  She had some of it refinished, but there are still cracks visible.  The best you could do is to reglue as much of it as possible, like the large areas on the lid that are pulling up.  But the other cracks are not repairable at all.  The entire finish needs to be removed, and whatever method used to refinish what's underneath.  Even then, who knows how stable the underneath substrate is.  What a mess! 

Actually, these Viennese pianos aren't bad, as far as their overall design.  Kimball had some affiliation with Bosendorfer at the end, and these were produced at that time. 

My advice to this client is to just let it go and get another piano.  It's partially their fault for putting the piano with sunlight burning it up.  Duh!  Would you leave your guitar or violin baking in the sun?  I have to admit, this is the worst finish damage I have ever seen, hands down.  Just.. wow..

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!

At the time, Kimball owned Bosendorfer. They copied the Bosey designs, actions, and finish. I have seen a bunch of them here. It was apparent they didn't know how to make a piano of that caliber, but what they made were better than their own designs. This kind of finish was popular in Europe, and I have seen other companies similar finish fail as well. 

There is no simple fix, unfortunately. Refinish or replace, and neither is cheap. 

Hello all,

I had a new customer yesterday. Her Kimball grand has severe damage to the finish from sun exposure, etc. The finish was literally falling off of the music desk when I removed it to begin the tuning. Here are some photos. Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I've only seen this on Kimball grands. She would like to have it fixed if possible. She had one refinisher come out and he told her there was nothing that can be done.

Thanks!