Phone line down!

Newsflash! 24/6/20

Landline down.

For enquiries, call Sarah on 07521 363081.

For tunings, call Tom on 07714 993171.

We have lots more news to share with you, but for now please be aware that the landline is down.

Feel free to send us an email at wypianos@gmail.com or call the above numbers.

Spring and summer news

Somehow we're into a new season already - we're enjoying the sunshine here in Devon! No time to hit the beach just yet, though...

Our team is growing!
We're busier than ever and now have over a year's worth of large repairs on the books, which is astonishing for such a small business. We can still squeeze smaller jobs in between but a year's wait for full restorations is long enough, so to make sure we can keep up with all the work we're adding to our team.

We want to say a big thankyou to all of our clients for their patience while we try to clear the backlog of orders; some repairs and sale pianos which needed restoration after having been reserved have taken longer to complete than we'd have liked. Without exception our clients have been kind and patient and thankfully delighted with their pianos once they've made it home! We're very grateful to everyone for bearing with us while we try to increase our capacity to keep up with demand.

Our most recent Instagram post - follow us @w_y_pianos

We have a new prep and casework person helping out one day a week - he's already helping to speed up the progress of repairs through the workshop. We're hoping that in due course he'll be able to join us for more days.

Next month, we'll have help from an almost-qualified piano technician too! A mature student nearing the end of his course will be with Bill two days a week throughout the summer and hopefully beyond. His presence in the workshop should make a significant difference to waiting times for both minor repairs and larger restoration jobs and will be a great help to Bill.

Bill's trying to do as many deliveries as he can in the evenings to free up workshop time - easier with the traffic too! - and he's delighted to have a strong pair of hands to help him out now. His helper is a delivery driver by day, but enjoys the variety of piano moves one or two evenings a week. Much more helpful in keeping Bill's back injury free as he used to do the majority of moves alone!

Summer parties, weddings and festivals
Wedding season is well under way of course, and we have lots of hires booked in for summer parties and festivals too - from our Yamaha digital stage piano to the beautiful restored rosewood Bluthner grand. Bill's also in demand for playing work - in the last couple of weeks alone he's played for two events in glorious cottage gardens: a wedding in an ancient house not far from Bickleigh Castle in Tiverton, and a 50th birthday celebration and BBQ in a village closer to home. He loves being able to contribute to making these events really special and the piano is always a great talking point.

A piano with a view! Perfect for any summer occasion

Tunings - waiting time
Tunings continue to pour in from as far afield as Plymouth, Braunton in North Devon, and Beaminster in Dorset - it's taking us a month or two to fit most of them in, so please help us by looking ahead if possible! If you know your piano needs attention, get in touch sooner rather than later, especially if there's a concert or special occasion coming up.

All in all, a exceptionally busy year is showing no signs of slowing down. Hopefully the new additions to the team will enable us to keep pace with demand.

Looking for a piano?
We're struggling to keep the website fully up to date as things change so frequently - often pianos available for sale don't make it onto the website before being snapped up. If you're in the market for a piano, please do get in touch to discuss your requirements. We may well have exactly what you're looking for, and if not we can almost certainly find it for you!

The gift of music

We have quite a few people awaiting our new delivery of Yamahas - watch this space! Bill is today choosing his next arrivals from a vast warehouse in the Midlands. He's extremely discerning and will only bring back the very best examples of these popular pianos for his customers. There's limited space on the van, so make an early appointment to view to avoid disappointment.

If you've been thinking about a piano as a Christmas gift for a loved one or just a timely addition to your home this winter, keep a close eye on this website! As well as the Yamahas, we have a couple of fabulous little upright pianos for sale which will be uploaded this week. As always, first come first served...if you'd like to find out more or book an appointment to view or play our pianos, please get in touch. 

Tunings | now booking for February

Tuning clients, please note: we have had to close the tuning diary now until the third week in January. There are just so many requests coming through at the moment and Bill has to leave time to do several repairs that have been promised by Christmas and are waiting in the workshop. 

We are currently booking tunings for the end of Jan through to March, so please do look ahead and if you know your piano could do with some attention, please book early! The office number is 01823 681605 or you can email us at wypianos@gmail.com

Devon Life | fame at last!

We were very excited to see a profile of Bill featured in Devon Life's November issue! It's lovely to have a wider audience and we're grateful to the editor for choosing to turn the spotlight on the piano industry this month. The fact that we have tunings booked in 8 weeks in advance and large repairs booked in 6 or more months in advance is testament to the fact that there is still an enormous demand for careful, traditional and top class repair and restoration work to pianos. People are often surprised at how busy we are, but it's a small industry and we're busier than ever! We'd love to see more young people coming into the trade as we keep hearing of tuners who have retired or passed away. If you're a young piano restorer or tuner, please get in touch and we'll do our best to champion your work! 

Piano hire | Will Dutta

You may have heard of Will Dutta, a groundbreaking musician who is currently touring the UK. He has booked our Bluthner grand for his performance in Plymouth on Wednesday 29th November and it looks set to be a fabulous evening. Find out more at www.willdutta.com

www.wypianos.co.uk

The workshop at dusk. Bill is currently working 7 days a week to try to get as many tunings and repairs as possible
done by Christmas; order books are now full, but call 01823 681605 for a New Year appointment.

Another year older...

Another busy year has gone, and I'm still bad at updating this blog! I do, however, now have pages on Facebook for both my business and for my piano duo, the Pianoraks. Click through to my Tuning and Restoration page here. I'm also still part of the Sharp Tones 1950s rock n roll/rhythm and blues band; we pick and choose the gigs these days as we're all so busy, but they're always great fun.

The main news this year is that my pianos have an amazing new home. I rebuilt an outbuilding to upgrade the insulation (pianos are fussy - my wife regularly points out that the pianos are warmer than people round here) and it's brilliant to have somewhere I can put most of my many grands on their feet! It also meant that we could reclaim our music room from the 9 (!) grand pianos that were stored on their sides in there for ages, so redecorating that room was a priority later in 2016.

Boiler suit, model's own

I reused old wooden cladding for the internal walls as I have an aversion to plasterboard in spaces like this. The industrial style lights were sourced on eBay and I also reused the original rusty tins on the outside - it's just warmer in there now! There's no water in the building though, so I still make regular trips back to the house for tea breaks or the family would never see me! I kept some space at the rear of the shed for the sheep, so they've still got somewhere to retreat from the worst of the winter weather.

The Pianoraks have an inspiring space to practise! Check out our FB page for more details. 

The antique Pianofortes sign is my new pride and joy - it was a present from my wife, who spotted it on eBay late one night. The hand carved wooden sign came from a piano shop in Putney High Street and dates from the 1880s. This was an incredible find and graced our stand at the Honiton Show last August to great admiration!






Our friend Sacha of Gonzofotography & Styling in Taunton visited when the shed was first upgraded and worked her magic on some incredible images including this one of my long-desired Steinway Model O grand piano. It's one of several pianos for sale on my website; customers love being able to commission the level of restoration on their chosen piano. There's always got a selection on my Sale page to choose from, most of which are works in progress. Check out more of Gonzo's stunning imagery on Facebook.

Copyright: Gonzofotography & Styling, Taunton

In other news from 2016, I've enjoyed working on numerous jobs for clients, from a fabulous old ship's piano bequeathed by a retired Admiral to his local church, to enormous antique dining tables which had seen one too many parties.

This Bluthner rosewood grand was at BBC Maida Vale Studios for years

Video of ex-BBC Bluthner grand

Another amazing addition to my current stock list is a Bluthner grand piano which came from the BBC Maida Vale Studios before being purchased by a client of mine. This piano was apparently chosen by many famous performers over two Steinways for recording, and I can see why - it's an incredible instrument to play, made all the more special by the knowledge of how many famous people have played it over the last hundred or so years. It's now ready for the next century of service and it's not only an excellent instrument but a stunning piece of furniture - the rosewood case is glorious and I only wish I could afford to keep it at home!

We took the girls to London last summer for our first family visit. We had a fabulous time - walked miles, saw Matilda the musical which was the highlight for them, but one of my favourite days was our visit to the V&A museum. The antique pianos on display are truly spectacular examples of craftsmanship and I'd love to go back again soon.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

There are lots of photos on this website and my Facebook page of recent projects, but here are a few of my favourites:

Ship's piano before

Ship's piano after restoration

Ship's piano - the keyboard folds up to save space on board

Ship's piano - what a contrast!

This original door on an Elizabethan manor house needed careful repair

New feet and full repolish - this elm console is unrecognisable from when it first came in

Family heirloom: antique chest of drawers

Repaired and repolished

Now back in pride of place in the owners' home

 

Beautiful but battered!

Unplayable and tired

 

The silk fabric behind the fretwork panel was matched to the original

Now a working antique which shows off the original craftsmanship

Dining tables are regular visitors to the workshop - many restorers are unable to achieve a good finish on
such a large surface, but grand pianos provided the best experience for me! 

No doubt my next blog will be a while, but do keep in touch on Facebook or in person. Fingers crossed that Spring is just around the corner.

Bill

Honiton Show success plus bargain Bechstein grand for sale

The summer holidays seem to have flown by as always, but the main event for us was the Honiton Show on 7 August. We've always enjoyed visiting and have often considered taking a pitch in the Blackdown Hills Business Association's tent so this year we took the plunge!

The logistics of getting everything into the marquee - two grand pianos, one upright, several stools and tool cases, posters etc and a plywood floor so that the pianos didn't get stuck in the field - were a challenge, but we were delighted with the stand! We were especially thrilled to receive a rosette for first place as the best stand in the Blackdown Hill marquee - particularly as we'd had no idea there was even a competition!

It was great to meet so many clients, past, present and future at the Show. Bill had a long but enjoyable day talking pianos to numerous visitors and filled his order book with requests for tunings, repairs and restoration work, from pianos to dining tables. Daisy and Willow were among the many admirers of the stand (see below)!

The upright piano and almost all of the stools we took with us were sold at the Show - we even managed to deliver the piano to the customers in Luppitt on the way back from the showground! Numerous people expressed an interest in the period grand pianos on the stand, with one lady in particular enquiring as to the chances of getting the beautiful rosewood Schiedmayer grand to her house in France!

The W Young Pianos stand with first prize rosette proudly displayed

Overall we were thrilled with how successful the show was and will certainly be exhibiting next year.

In other news, Bill has been trying to get ahead with the many piano repairs on his books through the summer while still spending the odd day with the girls while they're off school. We also took part in a show for the BBC which entailed four long days filming both here and in Kent. Can't disclose too much at this stage but when we have a date for Bill's TV debut playing the beautiful Bechstein grand currently in our music room, (see below) we'll let you know!

LATEST BARGAIN FOR SALE

Bechstein grand - superb quality and a rich tone for only £1950

This stunning Edwardian (c 1900) Bechstein 6' grand is currently in our music room. Having been restrung roughly 10 years ago, before it came to Bill, it's not really a candidate for his usual comprehensive restoration, so is able to be sold extremely cheaply. Bill has given it a thorough check over, clean, tune and polish. There are a few knocks on the case which he's disguised to some degree but are visible on the right of the photo; he's also undertaken some regulation work to improve what used to be a rather rattly action. This piano now plays beautifully, with its deep rich bass tone proving a great draw for every musician who has visited us in recent weeks. This fabulous instrument is just £1950 delivered (locally - further afield by arrangement at additional cost) and tuned. If you or a church, school, friend or neighbour you know is looking for an excellent piano by one of the foremost German manufacturers, call Bill now on 01823 681605 to arrange to view and play this stunning instrument.

More pianos for sale will follow but as always please feel free to call with any queries. Thanks.

A superb instrument and striking piece of furniture, this Bechstein boudoir grand is just £1950

Summer update - travelling piano tunings, advice and more

Can't quite believe it's summer and has been so long since my last update! Apologies - the running of the businesses here tend to take precedent over communications sometimes!

We're enjoying the light evenings and Bill has lots of tuning appointments - lately he's found there's a high demand from areas as far afield as Wiltshire, Hampshire and Surrey, so he's beginning to arrange visits to these areas in blocks of 1 or 2 days at a time. If you're not local but would like to be added to his 'long distance' tuning list, then please feel free to get in touch: wypianos@gmail.com

As well as several piano repairs for private and trade clients, Bill has been undertaking quite a bit of French polishing and restoration on other pieces. Most recently, a large mahogany dining table and a beautiful antique sideboard.

We've also noticed that a considerable number of enquiries are coming in relating to the purchase of second hand pianos privately - often from an online auction or networking site. While there are bargains to be had, this can be a minefield for the unwary; plenty of these pianos are barely in working order and may require extensive and costly work to render them suitable for continued use.

This kind of small modern upright piano is frequently found for sale and can be perfect for many modern homes

Most of us wouldn't dream of buying a secondhand car privately without having an expert, whether a local mechanic or a motoring body, to check it over for us first. Pianos are no different! If you're thinking of buying an instrument from any private source, however reputable, why not ask Bill to take a look and report back to you first? Private sellers are rarely aware of any internal issues with pianos as long as all the notes play, so very often problems can arise from lack of specialist knowledge once the piano has been purchased and transported to its new home. Even a basic student piano can be a big investment, so it's well worth having someone with Bill's encyclopaedic knowledge of pianos and their parts on your side.

Prices start at £50 for local visits - further afield, he may well be able to tie in with other appointments in the area to keep additional costs to a minimum.

Another service Bill offers is the sourcing of appropriate pianos for private clients. There is a regular specialist piano auction in London and he is always happy to attend on behalf of, or alongside, clients to provide an expert eye in what can be a challenging environment. Equally, with contacts throughout the UK in the piano industry, if you can't find what you're looking for, get in touch - Bill may well be aware of your perfect piano for sale through one of his contacts.

Finally, anyone considering a holiday in the West Country, please do have a look at our website for Luggs Barn - www.luggsbarn.co.uk We have some great offers on last minute breaks in June and still some availability later in the summer.

Luggs Barn sleeps 8 (+cots) in comfort, with glorious views, stylish accommodation and a huge private garden.
The ideal base for a get together with friends or family and from which to explore the numerous coastal
and countryside attractions Devon has to offer