Ritmuller 1909 - reconditioned rosewood upright?

[Louisa11]

Hello,

I am looking to buy an reconditioned piano for our home. I like the older pre 1920 look. I have seen a rosewood Ritmuller 1909 upright. It has a lovely rich tone and looks fab. It is £3600.
I have only played as a child up to grade 4 so am not an expert.

I have trawled the internet but not been able to find much info on this manufacturer. Can anyone offer any thoughts? Similar Bechsteins / Bluthners are either too expensive (£5K) or not the look I'm after (black) or not as rich in tone.

I am close to buying this piano but because I can't find any similar for sale or info saying they are good I am a little reluctant.

Thanks for any help!!!

[mdw]

You will be buying a piano stuck together with animal glue and made for old damper houses. They may not look as nice but there are much better lasting pianos available for the same money both new and 2nd hand. A lot of shops no longer sell old pianos due to the agro with old instruments and modern heating.

[Colin Nicholson]

For that much money, you should be able to find a nice piano.
I would also consider getting it checked over by a piano technician first.

If its a 1909 piano for that much money, I would expect the mechanism to be fully refurbished and possibly a re-string & other refurbs done.

If its of any interest, I bought an upright German piano "A. Lenz of Berlin" a few weeks ago as a project - to refurbish then sell on. The piano has been completely stripped down, mechanism being done now - refaced hammers/ new tapes & leathers (both sets of leathers) fitted.... almost ready to fit new hammer butt springs/ flange loops & repin. Also all the dampers/ springs will be fully refurbished & undercarriages - so basically a new action. The casework is in poor condition at the moment (rosewood), someone decided to play darts up against it! - so the top of the fallboard (when closed) is peppered with dart holes.... but it will all be filled in properly, restained & polished - colour depends on if anyone interested to buy it.

Also the pedals, keyboard (ivory keys), action rails, brasswork etc will be refurbished.
Not sure of a price yet for selling, and may leave an option if a potential buyer wants its re-strung or other options done. The piano is not playable at the moment, but before its stripdown, it had a good & warm tone due to the good quality hammer felt.

Photos available (before restoration) if you email me - and can also show the level of my work from a previous Bechstein re-polish/ restring/ and full refurb. A customer also recently bought an old Bechstein (1904) for about £600 on an auction, and I partly restored it for a bit more than the price you are thinking of paying . Certainly an investment. The piano is very solid, no cracks in the soundboard etc... and will be in perfect condition when finished. Its not quite for sale yet - but willing to accept any reasonable offers at the moment. Expected to be complete for Xmas!

Its just a fraction below concert pitch, all the old strings are still in good condition, and the tuning pins are still tight - no problems either with the wrest plank.... which is my main priority before I consider buying a piano. Piano very solid, all the parts are good quality - despite the name of the piano not well known. Welcome any emails/ photos so far!

Hope that helps....

Colin

[Louisa11]

Thanks v much Colin for all the info. Spent an hour this morning in the showroom playing (attempting to!) the Ritmuller, a Bluthner and a Bechstein and have to say I love the warm tone of the Ritmuller. More thinking required! I didn't realise buying a piano would be so tricky! :o) Thanks again for the reply and good luck with the restoration.

[Colin Nicholson]

Might be a coincidence, a new customer contacted me last week.... Ritmuller upright, rosewood, dated about 1909! (I even had the Pierce Atlas with me). I mentioned on the tech forum about a certain "fruit" spillage on the tuning pins & strings - notes F# and G above middle c.

I started to tune/pitch raise the piano to concert pitch, but the G47 tri-chord wouldn't tune.... just gave out a 'thunk', and died. Action was fine, though some of the spillage got onto the top of a couple of damper felts. Pitch raised ok.

Went back last Tuesday to remove the tri chords F# and G (YAK! very sticky strings & pins!!), but had to loosen off some of the bass strings to get to the hitch pins & bridge pins. Also put 6 new tuning pins in.... were 7mm, and increased them to 7.3mm.... perfect. I've also replaced the damper felt X 2, and retensioned the springs (the note G#48 had a newish spring on, but the wrong gauge). Went back Thurs to retune the new strings & bring bass back up.... all went well, and no broken bass strings = phew!.... AND it's held its pitch.

Going back later today for the final tuning, though the new strings and some of the bass may need tweaking after a couple of weeks. Also, needs the keys re-easing, very stiff in places and sluggish to play.... the customer said they would have that done later.

I was very impressed with the piano.... some wonderful raised iron lettering right across the frame, but for some reason, I think someone tried to repolish the cast frame at the top! .... looked like black BOOT POLISH. Front panel very attractive with Mother of Pearl/ wood inlay.... but sconces were missing.

The action: .... quite tidy & original (nothing tampered with), although filthy black inside (and I mean filthy black!). Everything played fine & reasonably well regulated - back checks/ bridle wires/ hammers were even.... though most of the hammers were deeply grooved, it still gave off a nice tone. Bottom of piano (inside) had some mould.... under keys was a 10mm carpet of dust!.... ivories slightly scuffed/ soiled & scratched in places, but all there and none were chipped. Some nice "foot rest" brass work on top of the pedals.... couple of scratches here and there.... but generally a very good quality instrument. The front top lid veneer may need to be stripped & re-polished due to an impression made by the offending piece of fruit.

The bass dampers (first 15 or so) had fly dampers.... but with a difference, the fly dampers were underneath the damper heads.... not seen that before.

I finished off with some extracts of Rachmaninov/ Beethoven/ Chopin.... still at the pre-tune stages, but overall, I was very impressed.... it just needs a jolly good clean out & polish.....

Charged a very reasonable price, so hopefully another happy customer!

However.... going back to your Ritmuller? I would have certainly had it checked over by a piano technician. This was I am busy with.... well, it would 'pass' the exterior test - nice looking, but not restored or refurbished in any way. Inside.... although very high quality re parts used (and I liked the whopping big action bolt) .... no agraffes/ but pressure bars for treble & top bridge pins for the bass - an exceptional piano.... but in its condition, I would estimate around £500 value. For anything that old wanting over £3K .... then expect to eat your dinner from it!

[Louisa11]

Thanks Colin - really appreciate your long reply and all that great info. Much appreciated.