piano veneer: which year ?

[karen]

i am sure my piano it not mahogony veneer. It is an antique. When did this staining to look like mahogony start...is this not a modern technique?...

[Colin Nicholson]

"Staining" is sometimes the wrong word to use, depending on what the French polisher did all those years back. Wood veneers are often 'coloured' with various dye pigments and mixed with shellac to achieve the desired results - and often several different kinds of veneer are used. Also some veneers have a "background" colour (eg oak) - and then further brush strokes with a darker colour. No one could guess when staining mahogany started, but many pianos around the 1920s and 1930s were popular. However, certain parts of a piano are not veneered such as beading, ornamentation.

French polish itself is also available in different colours.... eg Garnet polish & button polish. Depending on how many layers are used, the more layers will make the wood look darker. There is no set stain for any piano of any period, and again, the word "stain" is often used in the wrong context.

[karen]

thank you for explaining the term - staining - it definetly is veneer- How does one know if the lid of the grand piano is solid and not veneered?

[Colin Nicholson]

You will need to download to us TWO photos of your lid to verify if it is veneer or solid wood - we cannot say unless it is seen - and your answer will depend on the quality of the photo .....

Photo 1: Top of lid showing polish & grain/ colours & patterns
Photo 2: Side of lid showing any signs of different colour/ separations/ end grain etc

[Barrie Heaton]

thank you for explaining the term - staining - it definetly is veneer- How does one know if the lid of the grand piano is solid and not veneered?

veneer has be used for over 4000 years not on pianos just 300 years very seldom do you find solid wood pianos oak ones are the most common. grand lids would cost to much to make them solid mahogany

Barrie

[rocklandpiano]

Veneer is found mostly on older pianos from about 25 years and back. Most piano companies don't do veneer work now because it is an art form, and the market won't pay for art anymore. The best pianos today just don't have it.
Old uprights are where some of the most beautiful veneer work was done, and the fame of the various brands of piano did not always affect the quality of veneer work.

[vernon]

to discover if the lid of your piano is veneered or solid,remove the long brass hinge and scrape the socket.Yo will then clearly see what it is made of.. Only older quality pianos were solid. We are just french polishing a 1909 bechstein B grand that has a beautiful solid mahogany top.