Bateson Piano

[davidA]

Does anyone know the history of Bateson pianos, made in London? I have rescued one off Barnsley freecycle. Its a lovely looking instrument , walnut veneer, flower and leaf inlays and candlesticks. It looks long past its best (like me) but will be great when tuned.

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Hi there
Before you throw any money at the piano, you'll need to know if it can every be put back into a playable condition. I find that most pianos on freecycle/ebay with a walnut veneer and candlesticks also have the following:

85 notes (instead of the modern standard 88)
Overdamped
Straight-strung
Very dusty inside

I hope this doesn't apply to your piano but it's something that you should check before investing any money in the hope that you will end up with a decent piano once it has been tuned.

Can you upload some photos showing the inside of the piano please? Get nice and close and use the flash

Ideally, you should hire a local piano technician to see what is needed to get the piano back up to standard. He may tell you that it isn't worth a penny, he may say it is rescuable.

Please describe what sound the piano makes as you press a few keys. Specifically if you play some notes in the centre of the piano, does it ring on when you let go or does it instantly deaden the sound when you let go of the keys?

Hopefully Bill will be along with some clues about the name of your piano
Thanks
Mark

[Colin Nicholson]

David

As Mark suggests, please get it checked out first by a tuner - might cost you about £40 - £50, but well worth it, all will save you vasts sums of money for removal and possible further major repairs - unless you have your own van & removal team?

Its on Freecycle for a reason - but you may be lucky & nice thought to rescue it. In my experience so far in visiting "Freecycle owned pianos", I have turned away from 5 pianos so far out of a total 8.... one of the successful ones was a Bechstein believe it or not, and that is shortly to have major work done on it.
Here are some of the symptoms I've come across so far:-
1. Excessive damp inside mechanism - all parts seized up (piano in a garage)
2. Very rusty & corroded strings/ tuning pins...... un-tuneable as yet.
3. Various loose tuning pins (many notes won't tune)
4. Cracks appeared in the bass bridge/ bridge pins collapsed (buzzing noises)
5. Cracks on surface of wrest plank (thats the killer I'm afraid)

Hope that helps..

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

PianoLove there may come a time when you realise that your current piano isn't worth spending any money on. By all means keep it but you could certainly get another piano for free that doesn't require anything other than putting back in tune. You have mentioned that you don't have loads of spare cash to throw at the piano so I fear that you may end up wasting valuable cash trying to get it working.

[davidA]

Hello everyone, thank you all for the good advice. More info on the beast, and pictures, will be produced for everyone.
Its not in perfect condition, some keys stick, but it was acquired previously for child who learnt on it. Talented Child now has electric piano and guitar to match. Last location was a conservatory and mother would have kept it except for space problem which was evident at visit.
Tuner and technician will be requested when time and money allow. I have been on the links. Our other piano is a Roland Electric with all the works like pipe organ, harpsicord, strings etc. We thought it was now time for a proper one, even though it does at the moment sound like the one played by Marlene Dietrich in the Last Chance Saloon.

davidA

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

That's cool

[Johnkie]

Bless the bairn - against like brickwall banging a head your (re-arrange into a well knowm phrase or saying) -- What term could indicate an overly loving passion towards the pianoforte I wonder ..... Pianofortephillia ?

[Bill Kibby]

If people aren't interested in piano history, what are they doing on this forum? As for Bateson, I have no record so far of a real maker by this name, and it is probably one of the many fictitious aliases used by retailers, with "London" tagged on the end to make it more interesting. Any clues will be inside...

[Bill Kibby]

Thomas Bateson lived in the 15th century, long before the piano was invented, and it would be hasty to connect the two, simply on the basis of a surname.