Another year, many more pianos...

Spring 2019 news

Somehow we're well into 2019 and this is the first blog of the year! We're delighted to say that we've never been busier and our team continues to grow.

The team expands
Our Man Friday, Mark, who helps with casework is still incredibly helpful, coming in once a week to speed up repairs and is enjoying developing his refinishing skills, as well as burnishing brassware, reassembling cases and fitting backcloths. We still undertake veneering and polishing work on other pieces of furniture - skills honed on large grand piano lids are always in demand for dining tables and so on!

Our tuner Tom Read is in great demand with private clients and venues alike; he's currently with us 1-2 days a week but is planning to increase his availability for us this summer, which is very exciting. He will shortly be taking on the dubious honour of booking in tunings, so we hope to have slightly more organised systems in place very soon! Tom is also a skilled technician so is able to undertake minor repairs on the road and advise on larger jobs. When he's not out tuning, he loves coming into the workshop for a day or two, helping Bill restore the numerous pianos always awaiting repair.

Pixie loves to help Tom sort out his tuning schedule...

Finally, (and continuing the part time, self-employed theme!), we were delighted to welcome Henry Perry to the team late last year. Henry has two degrees, including a Masters in piano performance, and is keen to learn the other side of the keyboard as a complement to his recital and teaching work. He's already enormously helpful on the technical side, and is restoring an upright piano for his own use in his spare time - finished in Farrow and Ball dark grey, which looks fabulous. The only downside is that we're all reluctant to play in front of clients now when Henry is with us! We're all far too rusty these days, so we're only too happy to let him demonstrate when clients aren't experienced pianists.

Henry and Tom are also going to help us develop a proper client database so that we're far less reliant on memory and scraps of paper - which, although a huge challenge for them, will hopefully be a great bonus to both us and our long-suffering customers!

Sales company
Although piano sales are a comparatively small part of our business, the administrative side can be tricky to manage so we've been advised to create a new company specifically for sales. This has just been done and we're awaiting new business cards and invoices for that side of things. The new company is called W Young Piano Sales Ltd and will run seamlessly alongside the current Tuning and Restoration business.

We were delighted to agree the sale of our gorgeous Bluthner grand the other week.

This restored Bluthner boudoir grand in rosewood came from the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, where it had been used for many years for recordings. It will go to a new home in the French Alps in the next few weeks.

A Canadian couple living in London have earmarked this ex-BBC beauty for their home in the French Alps, which is currently under construction. We will all be sad to see it go but it couldn't wish for a more glamorous new home!

I keep meaning to get some 'team' photos on the website and blog and hopefully this will happen soon. However, in the meantime the office is as busy and chaotic as ever. I'm hoping that Tom taking over tuning bookings will free me up for more of my own work as well as making it easier to stay on top of repair estimates and scheduling.

It's wonderful to see the sun this week and Spring finally feels as though it's here. Working from home in the glorious Devon countryside is always a huge blessing, but never more so than at this time of year!

Does your piano need help?
We'll be back soon with more news, but in the meantime if your piano needs any TLC, from a sticky note and fine tune to a full rebuild, do get in touch. Our additional pairs of hands mean that we've brought the waiting list for large repairs down from over a year to about 8 months now, and we're hoping to refine that even more. In the meantime, we can usually squeeze smaller jobs in within a month or so.

Many thanks to all our valued clients for continuing to trust us with your heirlooms - whether it's a priceless ancestral instrument or an auction bargain brought here on a cattle truck (that happens more often than you might think!), we're always delighted to help.

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