1823 - 1880 John Broadwood Piano: Historically Significant, Similar to Beethoven's!

This is a historically significant piano that I was invited to play at Sugarsound Studios in Amery, Wisconsin. It is beautiful to look at and has a unique sound compared to a modern piano. I give you an in depth tour of the instrument, because there are few of them around, and many people will never get to see the inside of a piano like this, or learn some interesting things about it. Hope you like it!

[@NeighborhoodCarReviews]

If I am honest, the out-of-tune nature of this piano really adds nuance to the "Moonlight Sonata". Gives it an eerie feeling. I like it.

[@baggermaster]

37:29 That base ist sooo good. Gives me goosebumps every time ...

[@comms9803]

This is fantastic! I've always found these older pianos to be more interesting than modern pianos and its quite sad that no one seems to talk about them. Keep up the great work!

[@Pianissimo1970]

My piano is from 1940...

[@TheSIGHTREADINGProject]

I love it when you visit the old pianos. They fascinate me. What pieces have rung out of them down the years, who played them, what were they wearing, what was the house like? It’s like they are magnificent survivors of eras gone by. Thank you for such a detailed look inside too! I don’t mind it’s turning, I delight in the fact that these pianos still have a voice ☺️

[@angharadhafod]

I have a John Broadwood upright, with what I assume is a factory or sale ticket inside, with 17/1/01 written on it (17th January 1901), along with a number, which, after investigation, it turned out is the frame number. This is the piano I learnt on, when I was young. In all those years playing Beethoven, I never realised he wrote on a Broadwood. Being an upright, it has metal candle holders rather than those sliding plates, which can swing around to be directly in front of the music. It's a nice feature, and I've actually used them. Interestingly, it has one-piece ivories, not two-piece ones like this one.

[@johnturner4218]

I owned this very model. It is later, built around the 1860s or 1870s. More of Chopin-era sound. The distinctive sound of a straight-strung piano, although subtle, is very pleasing. I wish he played some Bach, because this piano will bring out the individual voices more clearly than a modern over-strung design. Great video!

[@MM-we2wi]

I agree with all the others stating that this is much younger than the 1820s. I own a Mozart grand piano (the model was called so) from 1855 which is quite similar but with a much lighter action and WITHOUT a metal frame which wasn't used up to that time. So I suggest that your piano is from the second half of the nineteenth century. The action in the earlier days (like on my piano) were much lighter than today so it was actually much easier to play those fast and complicated pieces whereas it is much harder to handle the dynamics because you need to be very gentle to get a soft sound. Great video by the way. If you should ever come to Germany, give me a notice, I'll be happy to show the differences to you.

[@ThePianoforever]

It seems that this piano is later than the owner believed when I filmed it on location. He was under the belief that it dated from 1823, but now there is growing evidence that it dates from a much later time. If you would like to comment on the possible year of this piano, please feel free to do so.

[@OE1FEU]

I'd like to invite you to Vienna where you have the opportunity of playing about 20 concert grands from the 19th century as part of an incredible collection, including a Conrad Graf that actually is from Beethoven's death year. As others said, this is not a Broadwood from 1823 and it has probably not been restored well in regard to the action. The Vienna collection will show you the development of a modern piano action, including Erard's original double escapement action, which Steinway simply copied back then. I can guarantee that all instruments of that collection have been restored to perfection by the Vienna piano master builder who also is in charge of all pianos at the Musikverein, the Brahms museum and has recently restored the original Janacek piano.

[@MrDenzildelaere]

This is most defenitly a post 1850 broadwood. People get the dates wrong all the time they look up there serial number and think this is a grand piano so I will look in the list of serials of broadwood grands but this piano was listed by broadwood as a boudoir or cottage grand and these serial number are different and start much later than the serial numbers of grand pianos by broadwood. If you want to see a broadwood from around 1823 watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpvWhqCMmqxoZ9U the differences are vast in construction and mechanic.

[@MrJJSimonds]

FYI...may help marthabeth.com/piano_brands.html

[@MrJJSimonds]

the low range piece... The bass tones almost feel like.. like a bass horn .. the bass vibrato is unique..

[@dulcefranco8613]

1870’s

[@seunggunchoi1690]

Wow! I listened sound repeatly. Beautiful! Thank you so much.

[@danirem1]

Thank you for all these piano presentations. It seems to me that there is a brand of piano that should be presented, it is IBACH (German manufacture). They are fabulous pianos. Unfortunately they haven't been produced since 2007. I think you have certainly tried some. It would be a great pleasure for many pianists to have your opinion on these IBACH pianos. Thank you again for telling us about all these pianos in great detail. Kind regards.

[@benstiller7853]

Wow! Great review of a unique and rare instrument I just wanted to make a correction. I think the instrument was actually built in the later half of the 19th century (maybe 1870s-80s). First, the range of this piano is larger than what you would expect from pianos from the 1820s (they only went from C on the bass to F on the upper treble for most English pianos). Second, the body and action seems too beefy and large for pianos of the 1820s too; it seems quite modern (relatively). A Beethoven-era piano would also certainly not have a cast-iron frame as well; those were introduced much later. Lastly, the tone sounds more akin to a late 19th century piano rather than an early 19th century piano (videos of Beethoven's personal piano being played are online if you want to take a listen). Again, thank you for taking the time to review this instrument!

[@mikenol1]

Yes, I think you're right about the later date, Ben. I actually began learning on one of these same old Broadwood grands when I was seven years old. My father was a mess sergeant in the RAF, stationed at Biggin Hill airfield in Kent, England in the late 1960s. When he left the service and we moved to Gargunnock, Scotland, he was offered the piano as the officers' mess wanted to replace it with something more modern. He then sold it to a local lady as it took up the whole of one bedroom in our bungalow; indeed, I recall sleeping on a mattress underneath it for a while! I lost track of it, but it may still be in the central Scotland area and I hope to perhaps encounter it again by accident one day. It was replaced by a fine old rosewood Bechstein Model 8, which I had to bid farewell to as a student in Edinburgh in the mid-80s; it was straight strung and wouldn't survive a major house move, so my regular tuner told me. Nowadays, I have a Broadwood again; this time an upright from c. 1907 which I bid for at a sale of unwanted school pianos in Fife, when the council's education department decided it couldn't afford to maintain the piano technicians team any more. I try to play it every day to keep it in good fettle!

[@timauger]

Watching this I was instantly transported to my childhood: my parents inherited from my grandparents a Broadwood grand that, apart from a different wood, looked pretty much identical to the one you reviewed - same pedals, exactly the same features - same music stand, same sliding pieces for the candelabra, same ornamentation, same legs. And - most interestingly - the sound was exactly the same. So far as I remember, our piano was said to date from the mid-19th century. I don't think the castors were ceramic, though. My parents had to give it away in the mid-1970s when they moved to a smaller house. I often wonder what has happened to it. As a kid I spend hours bashing out pop tunes by ear on that instrument - its very 'period' sound wasn't ideal for that. But anyway - thanks for the nostalgia trip.

[@timwasson1115]

The Broadwood action is incredibly basic - I laughed the first time I pulled mine apart because it was *shockingly* simplistic. It's about as simple an escapement mechanism you could invent. You push down. The other end of the key moves up. A stick pushes up from the key to a leathered notch on the hammer. As the stick moves up, an adjustable felt pad hits a sloped portion of the stick, and it pushes the stick forward, eventually slipping it out of the notch on the hammer. The hammer continues upward from inertia, strikes the string, falls back, and is caught by the backcheck. You must allow the key to completely return to it's unplayed position before a tiny wire spring will push the stick back to reset under the notch. The hammers are single-layered felt, noticeably under-sized in the bass (as volume was weaker than current instruments), and softer than what would be put on a piano in modern times, so they excite fewer high harmonics in the string when they hit. This results in a few effects: 1. It is a somewhat 'notchy' feeling action. There are no rollers or fancy felt-bushed pins 2. You need more upward finger movement to achieve repetition 3. You can feel when the pad hits the sloped portion of the stick, as there is an increase in friction at that point because the pad is contacting the slope and the stick is sliding across the leather in the notch of the hammer. I think this produces the 'notchy' feel 4. Because the action is simple and hammers are quite light, the piano seems to have a lighter than average touch. You don't work at playing these pianos 5. The key-dip seems noticeably smaller than on modern pianos, which makes sense as a piano with a larger volume potential would need a longer stroke to build momentum into the hammer 6. The key feel from the bass to the treble is fairly consistent as the bass hammers are lighter. None of the keys are weighted. Now at the time, these pianos were MONSTERS! This generation of pianos were the first that could really hold their own with an orchestra. They had huge volume because they had finally gone to using iron to reinforce the frame, thus the tension on the strings could be higher without folding the instrument in half, allowing thicker (and more!) strings. But there was no single cast iron 'plate' as such - there are individual cast iron bars screwed down that hook in between a cast iron plate around the tuning pins and a cast iron plate that held the pins that the strings terminated on. The increased tension would increase downforce on the soundboard, which would more tightly coupled the strings energy into the soundboard. Truly a 'missing link' instrument.

[@holmespianotuning]

This sounds similar to the simplex style action or D type loop and spring which was fitted to cheaper small grand pianos up until the 1960’s

[@jamieredden554]

What an interesting piano. Kinda makes me wonder what someone of that era would think of our modern pianos if they could travel thru time....but would be interesting too if we could travel thru time back to when this was the new piano technology

[@3713msg]

Wonderful antique piano, and great "tour" and explanation. Thank you!

[@peebrain69]

Love the bass in the older pianos. Best word I could use to describe it is 'authoritative'.

[@Rollinglenn]

FYI: the first movement (Moonlight) is marked to be played with both the sustain and soft or moderator pedal engaged from beginning to end.

[@ThePianoforever]

On a modern piano, it would sound terrible if you held the sustain down for the whole piece. Historic pianos had less sustain than they do today, so this was feasible in Beethoven's day.

[@Rollinglenn]

ThePianoforever Very true!

[@woodbassguitars]

When Beethoven was almost totally deaf i was told he took the leggs off his Broadwood and laid on the floor playing it picking up the vibration. Broadwood still exists in Lythe , North Yorkshire in the uk. As a cabinet maker I have done work for them . Dr. Allister Lawance owns the company, his family worked for Broadwood for several generations. In my opinion he is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met regarding the piano.

[@rodneyhamilton1869]

James: I am in Awe at your talent. I would love to read your biography extended version. Thank you for your videos and comments. Foolish me decided not to continue piano lessons as a child. Thank you for your review of the John Broadwood Piano. When I lived in England I was fortunate enough to tour their facility in Yorkshire--absolutely amazing. Almost a cottage industry. I have seen a Vintage John Broadwood which has the most amazing carved woodwork and features a quote related to the power of music written in 3 to 3.5 inch letters inlaid in four or five types of wood. The quote wraps itself completely around the outside perimeter of the case, from the right side all the way round to the left bass side. It has been restored and is often played in concerts at the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Currently it is on loan to an exhibition in Paris and hopefully will be returned to display when returned. (They also have a fully restored and working Kimball {I think} theatre pipe organ from the 1920's. Of interest regarding Broadwood--their firm hold the unique distinction of being the continuous recipient of Royal Warrants from the early 1800's. Royal Warrants are issued from time to time to companies who provide goods and consumables to the Royal Family in Great Britain. I wish I could play, but then, I would have to give something else to watch your videos, from which I learn so much, thank you for sharing your divine talent. Rod Hamilton, western Canada

[@free_and_happy]

Thanks, very interesting.

[@vadergrd]

old instruments sound majestic!

[@stefanrogers9091]

My high school had an 1860s broadwood piano. It was a very nice piano however it needed work and one of the teachers had written the note names on the original ivories in sharpie.

[@SunnyAustria]

Love that Bass so much !!

[@benjaminsmith2287]

Yes, Joplin works well on this Broadwood. Thanks for this presentation. Very interesting.

[@collectorofcats294]

I would love to be in the presence of this beautiful piano…

[@christinabrownspieler6443]

Thank you so much for this interesting information.

[@ThePianoforever]

You're welcome!

[@martinvegas1327]

Looks nice!

[@bujin5455]

It's got to be something really special to get to play an instrument that is 200 years old.

[@amascia8327]

Nice... well played. To some extent, the instrument defines the composition. This is a beauty.

[@ColinMill1]

There is a very similar looking Broadwood piano for sale on ebay in the UK at the moment - current bid - £78! Edit: It sold for £155.

[@EveshkaGhost]

Broadwoods are extremely popular here in england. in fact, possibly one of the most common old pianos of all. people bin them regularly. we rescued a gorgeous 4'6 cottage grand from being abandoned for the skip. my friend has many, they're 2 a penny. gorgeous sound when voiced well, whether the older ones, or the newer ones like mine (1933). not the first i had either haha

[@carolbommarito9606]

The bass on this piano is wonderful on my Bose speakers. It does have a unique character being straight strung! Nice demo!

[@andrewpuckett5295]

I think it just sounds more mellow. Which in my mind seems fitting for a 200 year old instrument. It would ve wonderful to hear this again tuning.

[@andrewpuckett5295]

Not as clean but more simple(?) Stylistic?? Maybe it is the antique lover in me, but I think Inwould love it. Lol

[@collectorofcats294]

Watching a video about a beautiful grand piano and a “SimplyPiano” ad pops up!!! 🤦‍♀️

[@therealanyaku]

In reference to the Chickering review, it would be worth going back and looking at that. The Chickering you reviewed, which is from the 1850-60 decade, is much more modern than this piano, which I think throws into question the idea that this piano could be from the later part of the 19th century. In particular, it was noted in the discussion of the Chickering review that in it's time piano makers were already changing to cross-stringing, (edit, correction: Steinway & Sons patented overstringing in 1859. Also note the cast iron Harp/plate was developed in the early 1820's, by Broadwood.) though the Chickering is straight strung.

[@radiorexandy]

You should have played Beethoven's Turkish March from the Ruins of Athens or Für Elise (groan) as a more appropriate period piece...

[@Modeltnick]

Very interesting to see such an early piano! Broad wood also pioneered the upright piano which was really tall! Some of them actually exist today. Thanks again for another interesting tour!

[@JitinMisra]

this sounds gorgeous!

[@andrewkirk8278]

I’d love to hear this same piano after a couple of tunings. I learned on an 1840 Bluthner grand and it sounded and still sounds amazing. It does however have a noisy action compared to a new piano. The hammers are well worn but I like them that way!

[@lostinbeauty7129]

First of all, this was fantastic. Thanks for giving this amazing instrument the time it deserves. Loved the detailed description. I thought that the sound was lovely and warm, as did many of your commenters. The treble left a little to be desired, but maybe that would change with tuning. According to Online Piano Atlas, this piano was made between 1820 and 1825, but if the serial numbers are wacky, as one commenter has suggested, maybe that's not true. I was interested to read that Broadwood and Sons was founded in 1728, making harpsichords primarily until abandoning them to focus on pianos in 1793. According to Wikipedia, the range was expanded to 6 octaves in 1794, and they were very popular. The 6-octave piano was given to Beethoven in 1818, so by then they had been producing them for 24 years. I wondered if, in the following 5 years or so they decided to expand the range even further, which would explain this piano, but the Wikipedia article has a picture of a grand piano from 1827, and it still has only 6 octaves (I counted the keys). Finally, I did some digging, and I found that Broadwood introduced metal bars to the grand piano between 1820-1830, and he developed the bolted cast in frame in 1845. Does this mean that the piano in the video, with an iron harp, could not have been made before 1845? I'm ignorant in these matters, and I'm not sure if cast iron frame = metal harp. Does any of this help?

[@cambridgeport90]

Beautiful. I would love an old one like this ... my modern one, she's beautiful, but her sound doesn't compare at all to this lady here. And mine has very few decorations, unlike these on this one. Oldest piano I have played on was from ca. 1870, owned by a lady who didn't have room for it, and she donated it to a school. My friend took me there (not sure how he got a key to the room), and we spent the entire day there; listening to stuff like Haydn, Liszt, and Bach ... nothing beats it.

[@mosheknoll1603]

Thank you for posting these valuable videos! Keep up the good work!

[@johnb5519]

Just checked my Pierce piano atlas and the numbers are right on. I have an old Wissner baby grand from the late 1800's, that was unfortunately turned into a player piano when that was the rage. I refinished it, but because of neglect through the years, it still needs work as far as sound goes. The sound board is unusually thick for such a small piano. It's around 1/2 an inch in the treble section.

[@rikspector]

James, My congratulations for not wincing, just a little smile(grimace). Fun instrument. Cheers, Rik Spector

[@The_Smith]

Beautiful case. I have mentioned that I really enjoy these 'under the hood' reviews haven't I? . . .

[@ronaldcomber6676]

I had an 1862 9 foot Broadwood straight grand and the action was quite different if peculiar. It was a very good piano to play Mozart and Beethoven on, producing a more or less authentic sound while being quite robust!

[@georgejohnson1498]

On the speed of response of the action for fast and complex passages, this tells us less about the piano itself than the actual intended tempo the composer had in mind. Perhaps the modern ultra-responsive actions used from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards have allowed for an excessively high tempo compared to what the composer had in mind, and allowed for the performance to become faster and sound more virtuosic, rather than bringing out the inner voice of the music, so easily made clear at the composer's intended tempo, which itself is governed by the possibility that the intended correct period instrument allows. If one listens to a pianist like Edwin Fischer, who grew up in an era of more primitive pianos, and lived into the modern era of piano technology, we hear the inner music brought out without virtuoso over-speeding in performance. Maybe it is time to reconsider not so much what the modern piano is, but whether it is the correct instrument for the great piano music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The same way that the harpsichord has had a resurgence in the [harpsichord] music of Bach, perhaps we ought to aim to play Beethoven and Brahms on pianos of their time and in a tempo and style that suits the piano, and by extension the intension of the composers as they conceived the music within the the possibilities of the instruments they knew. If they had had access to the most modern pianos of today, they would have written different music to match the modern instrument. Thus the music is more naturally and stylishly rendered on a correct period piano ... There is a similar debate to be had on setting up the Violin family and Double bass with gut strings to get the natural and stylish sound and performance practice of nearly all music composed up till 1939. Best wishes from George. PS: The straight-strung Broadwood is my favourite of all pianos from any era. The early perfection of the pianoforte. And the different voices of the bass, dry and well pitched, the wonderfully warm and sonorous tenor and the rather shorter sustain [compared to the tenor and bass as well as compared to a modern piano] of the treble is a delight in clarifying the texture and making the melodous aspect so much more lucid.

[@danielwhite9595]

There are some lectures by Malcolm Bilson who is a world class pianist and scholar on early instruments and period performance. Several of these are here on You Tube. He is a professor at Cornell where they have an Institute and collection of early pianos

[@Music2Die4]

The notes in the lowest octave seem to have more of a sense of "pitch" than with most modern pianos.........

[@Thiago-px9ev]

Thats because of their mechanical system, I believe. In modern pianos we trade some inconsistence between the middle and bass transition for great volume and dynamic range. Correct me if im wrong!

[@timwasson1115]

You are hearing it correctly! I have an 1853 Broadwood Boudoir Grand, and you are right, the bass notes are so much more melodic, somewhat less powerful but very tuneful. I think it's due to the straight stringing. An overstrung piano puts both treble and bass bridges into the middle of the soundboard, while a straight strung piano has no overlap of the bridges. The other thing about this era of pianos is the dampers - they are *tiny*, only about 50-60% as long as modern dampers, so they get more resonance on unplayed strings, so they tend to ring out a bit more

[@timwasson1115]

The other outcome of moving the bridge from the left edge on the straight strung piano to the center of the soundboard on the overstrung piano is that the soundboard responds more easily to the vibration of the bass strings, so gets more volume, but you're asking that part of the soundboard to handle a wider range of frequencies in a smaller area. In audiophile circles, there is a large concern around intermodulation distortion, where playing two widely spaced frequencies through the same speaker tends to create extra tones as the two frequencies interference patterns come into phase and go out of phase, and will modulate the amplitude of the original frequencies also to some extent due to non-linearity in the motion of the speaker. So if pushing bass and treble frequencies through a speaker (made of cellulose!) creates this change in timbre, it's probably true that pushing bass and treble string frequencies into the same place on the soundboard (also made of cellulose...) is probably going to affect the timbre of the instrument as well. And this gets us down to another difference between straight-strung and over-strung pianos - a straight strung piano bass bridge is not significantly more massive than the treble bridge. On an overstrung piano, the bass bridge is an enormous, thick affair, probably 2-3 times as massive, because it has to span a larger distance because the bass strings are 3/4 inch higher than the treble strings. The heavier the bridge, the more energy it's absorbing and more effect it has on dampening. Ask the electric guitar guys about how a big block of wood affects tone. Some people think the 'golden-era' Stienway (1910's - 1950's - forgive me if I'm off a bit) pianos represent a 'perfection' of sorts, but any design represents compromises, and those compromises reflect the designer's priorities they had in their head at that time, and priorities change through time. That's why I love these 'missing link' pianos - they aren't harpsichords, they aren't pianos as we know them today, and it isn't a pianoforte as Mozart knew them but you can see how the DNA is progressing. They represent the musical priorities of the time, and represent real innovation in the development of this instrument's design, construction techniques, and materials as well. When you look at a Broadwood piano from the 1820's vs. one from the 1850's, they are very different, much more difference than you would see between a piano from 1990 vs 2020. The Broadwood will lose to the classic Stienway every day of the week in terms of speed, volume, power, and single-note articulation. But put a good unequal/well temperament on the Broadwood, play an 18th or 19th century piece, and you will hear the piano sing to you in ways you have never heard before. Search youtube for 'unequal temperament broadwood' and you'll find a bunch of videos that can open your eyes to what these period instruments are capable of.

[@tomgoodson345]

Agreed. Good call.

[@BW-hj1iy]

it looks much later, more like in the 1860's. it looks like it has 85 keys, it goes up to A. Beethoven's was 6 octives, C1 to C7. check the tuning pins, are they square pegs or modern round pins. unfortunately Broadwood serial numbers are all over the place, not in logical sequence so it is hard to tell the year

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

Phoah! One of my favourite pianos! I wonder what the review outcome will be!

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

The action of the pianos of that era, coming from Britain, are indeed very clunky and simple compared to today's. I believe they are called "English" action mechanisms and are much more similar to an upright piano's action mechanism turned 90 degrees that a modern grand piano's action mechanisms. In fact, they bear no resemblance to the latter, being essentially only 25 percent of that mechanism. Someone playing this piano should not expect the repetition of a modern grand by any means.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

26:59 I don't know either but I'd guess the reason behind it is that they used the same wire for all the strings up to the bass notes. That would necessitate the shortening of the stings at a somewhat exponential fashion (as for each higher octave, the corresponding string would have to be half the length of the previous one). Now, the hammer must hit the string at a certain proportion of its length, e.g. suppose the sting is a full wavelength long, the hammer would have to hit the string somewhere close to a quarter of its length. Because of this, in order for all the keys to have the same length, the higher notes' strings would have to start further away from the front of the piano the higher the notes were. I think this possibly explains the way the strings are arranged in these pianos (as mentioned, they were really just fancy harpsichords) and why this is not the case in modern grands where the strings are made of progressively thicker wire as we move towards the lower notes. By the way, this probably also explains the term "harp" used for the frame as the strings are arranged exactly the same way as in an harp.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

31:39 I'm surprised that the modern piano sound is considered cleaner in the bass. I'd expect the opposite as the bass strings bridge is positioned to the left and does not allow them to interact with the middle notes' strings. This, however, means that the bass strings can energise a much smaller area of the soundboard, the lower the notes are, as eventually the soundboard is constrained by its left edge, in pianos of that era. Thus the bass notes probably sound a lot less loud than those of a modern piano and that can be perceived as a muffled sound when other notes are played at the same time, which might be somewhat louder.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

The harsh sound of older pianos is due to the combined effect of the hammers getting hardened (compacted) by the many years of use and possibly also the soundboard crown getting flattened, which results in loss of dynamics (and thus less pronounced overtones). That this piano sounds warm is probably either because it's been restored and it's hammers been replaced, or because it has not been played as much or perhaps because frames of that era did not allow the amount of force of later cast frames to be used on the strings and thus, maybe because of that, the soundboard crown has been better preserved. These are all just guesses - I'm not an expert on pianos by any means.

[@kathykapsner3897]

So cool! I just saw a huge John Broadway in an antique store not far from me. I didn’t mess with it much, but it was really long….more than7 feet! It was more out of tune than this one, but now I would like to go back with some music and play it. Maybe I’ll get permission and do just that😊😊😊.

[@collectorofcats294]

I know that my piano is NO WHERE close to this beautiful piano, but what are your thoughts on Everett grand pianos made in 1910?

[@johnellis3244]

Broadwood are amazing pianos grands and uprights

[@aeroncerezo8165]

Can you review a Erard piano

[@moldenburg909]

What a beautiful old beauty. Yes out of tune but the longer you played it the better it sounds. It’s funny that the action is so clunky because it almost looks like you have to hammer it. But for an piano that old it sounds not bad at all. I like to see how much you like it and your right in that. Thank you for sharing.

[@sundancer7381]

What a treat!

[@josephj6521]

Top video! Wow, I wonder it’ll be worth a lot of $? 👍

[@valentinerichardbarker8765]

Pianos of the 19th century (including ones of the 1870s/1880s like this) actually had a lighter touch than has become normal in the meantime. Many of them have had their hammers replaced with modern ones which are heavier than the originals and unbalance the action designed for smaller ones, so the action now feels much heavier and less reactive than it originally was. When you find an old instrument with the original hammers, often they have hardened over the years, which gives a harder tone to the sound. The ideal is to replace the old hammers with exact copies of the originals, but unfortunately that is not always done.

[@Ferrovelhotv]

Your are becoming a great pleyel.

[@shopbruce]

As always, great review! Thanks. My word I would use is "Tubby" and "Full". Not a very musical escription ut seems to fit for the age of this piano. Thanks!

[@moldenburg909]

Forgot to mention that the newer test piece you wrote sounds quite good on this piano.

[@bujin5455]

37:06. You write the most amazing "test" pieces!

[@petertyrrell3391]

Perhaps at that time piano music was not intended to go as fast as now?

[@Ferrovelhotv]

In some cases I prefer the tone of these. I think they are clear in sound. If this onde fora through action rebuild it souls na great.

[@michaelnancyamsden7410]

Like your boots. I like your composition. Was it for sale?

[@ambulance_boy3834]

Wow that's 200 years old!!

[@MrTaiese]

I wonder if they have the broadwood piano that Wagner gave to Beethoven then Beethoven decided to cut the legs off cause he was pretty much deaf so composed his late sonatas by the vibrations from the sound board to the floor boards lol

[@aldito7586]

The tone sounds nice. Can it be fixed to play like a modern piano ?

[@rogercarroll2551]

The piano is most likely in the mid Victorian age bracket; but it is not 1823.

[@GibsonG1011]

Totally off topic but I know you have the Continental and Rhodes bass. Have you heard a Gibson G101 before?

[@ThePianoforever]

Yes I am aware of the Gibson G101. Ray Manzarek of the Doors used one in the late 60's for awhile. I thought of picking one up if I run across a very clean original version .

[@GibsonG1011]

@@ThePianoforever They have such a classic sound like no other. Chicago Electric Piano Co. has a Kalamazoo K101 which is a Gibson but branded as Kalamazoo. I have seen pictures it is very nice. Any branding doesn't really matter to me they were all made by Lowrey in Chicago I believe.

[@djysmallman2183]

Oh James. That company has badly misled you. It was made more than 60 years later: nothing like Beethovens if you see his in Hungary, and an 85 noter in 1823?No way Jose!

[@peaceofkake1085]

Definitely sounds out of tune, hahaha! A ragtime piece would sound very good on this piano.

[@Daveinet]

Um, the other way to fix a hammer shank is to use a soda straw. The more colorful the better.

[@brucehain]

I wonder does the straight stringing make for a less pronounced break?

[@kyrvhy]

This piano is indeed later than 1823. It is an 85 key instrument with a composite metal frame. The name is not painted on it is inlaid wood marquetry. Mine was identical except for the back of lid. Mine had a concave shaped rim at the tail of the case and a square lid-end and it was a Boudoir Grand at 6ft. 10in. in length and was dated to 1873. The one you are playing is of the same vintage or perhaps slightly earlier due to the wood pedals. Though they remained made of wood, the later models pedals were smaller and capped with Brass. Beethoven's piano was nothing like this one. The action you are speaking of is the English Single Escapement action used by Broadwood into the 20th century. Indeed the key must return to the original position before it will strike again. The English players learned to play around that. They were slow to change technologically and their business suffered for it and indeed was surpassed by most of the Europeans and the Americans. Still they hold a mystique from their illustrious past and many people love their "Barless" grand pianos from the turn of the 20th century . So great to see this. It's like visiting an old love. If you are ever near Minneapolis check out The Schubert Club in St. Paul. Their Museum is one of the best for historic keyboard instruments and you can play them too. schubert.org/museum/keyboard-evolution/

[@bananabattlebean4858]

Mom can we get damper nuggets for lunch?

[@georgel2201]

May i prove wrong but to me this is not a 1823 piano. Firstly the design is seems much more newer maybe from 1845 or later. The tone is also closer to the mid 19 century pianos rather to those fortepianos of Beethoven's era. The keyboard span is also larger than the typical fortepianos of early 19 century.

[@tonycross5801]

Broadwood pianos are still building and renovating pianos in England. We are the oldest piano manufacturer in the world. If someone gives us the serial number we can find out the exact date of this instrument.

[@ThePianoforever]

Tony, thanks so much for visiting the channel! The serial number seems to be 10185, I found that stamped in a number of places on the piano like the cheekblocks, along with a name of F.G. Dove. Any information on who F.G. Dove was would be highly appreciated, too! Thanks once again! JPS

[@tonycross5801]

I'll find out what I can.

[@tonycross5801]

F.G.Dove was a casemaker who worked with Broadwoods from the 1880's. The serial number, case and compass of the instrument would also support a later date. If the owner wants a full search of Broadwoods archives a form can be found on our website. Thanks for your interesting programmes. If you come to England we can find many interesting pianos for you to investigate.