Hopkinson Piano Action

[fellowvictor]

How likely is it that a 1929 baby grand piano made by Hopkinson of London has a roller action?

[Colin Nicholson]

Quite likely, but not guaranteed. If you are thinking of buying this piano on-line(possibly an auction?) - then if you can access the piano and view it, take your piano tuner with you to check. Do you know where the rollers are located? -

One of the ways to tell is to remove the fallboard (lid that covers the keys), and take a picture of the front of the mechanism, then show it to us.... better still, remove the mechanism & keys,lift the hammers up and look inside.

Here is a way to check. This does not show the 'rollers' - but by viewing the front of the mechanism, will determine its design. The 'roller action' will have 85 or 88 wooden cylindrical dowels - hanging from a metal wire & threaded. Each wooden part will have 4 small holes in it, drilled at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, and a circular felt pad on the bottom of each - these are cream coloured, but colour may vary (see below). These are for the set-off adjustments for the jack to trip... this is a roller action.
You may need your 'seller' to send you a picture like this below....

If it looks like the top picture - then possibly stay away. However, you cant determine the mechanism design just by looking at the piano - and I doubt if the seller will know, so this is the way to check it ......