Piano Restoration Timelapse - Mason & Hamlin - With Commentary

A timelapse of the refinishing and internal restoration of this Mason and Hamlin Model A from 1976
Fine Piano Tuning and Restoration
FinePianoTuning.net

[@JacobEmch91]

A (better recorded) performance demo of the piano after restoration can be seen here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omaXhX54rLOVkM0si=lw6B998taS3E6mz5

[@CarlitoManchego]

You should have Took inspiration from Orange amps and painted it that shade of Orange Le Grande Orange 🍊

[@engrane_music]

There are very few people in the world with this incredible craftsmanship, patience AND the ability to play as well as you do. Meditative to listen and watch you work on these pianos. Excellent video start to finish!!

[@EmilyTienne]

A double treat! He restores, he performs…he does it all. Thank you!

[@wpotc]

It must be an insane competitive advantage as a technician to also be an advanced conservatory level player. I live in city of 3m people but haven’t found such a technician. There should be a special tier or accredition for technicians who have also done a formal undergrad in piano performance.

[@Michael-fp5vm]

I totally agree.

[@Geoplanetjane]

Ya. Hear hear

[@myboibill]

I have commented on a few of your videos but when you were working on the soft pedal voicing then went into the Chopin polonaise I paused the video and thought what an incredibly skilled and talented guy you are. Saving a piece at a time of a once great piano industry and. He understands these pianos because he plays really really well. Not to mention you make these super great videos that are so zen to watch. Thanks Jacob.

[@bjf7347]

You play beautifully and great work restoring it as well.

[@TheAusty]

Thanks for this video. I learn something in each one, and in this one I'm definitely going to take measuring replacement tuning pins to put the larger ones in the bass. I seem to remember hearing about this elsewhere, but it was forgotten. A side note when aligning hammers to strings: if you have the shanks traveled and perpendicular to the action rail, but find that they all or most tend to hand to the right or left in alignment, you can shim or remove shims from the bass cleat in the keybed. You just want to make sure that you are still lined up with the back action (damper flanges), and that there aren't any issues with the shift pedal. Another neat trick that I learned at the Steinway factory is to use a 40 thousandths of an inch shim against the bass cleat to move the action to the right when aligning hammers to strings. That makes it easy to sight hammer alignment because you just have to align the left edge of the hammer to the left string of each trichord. Block the hammer by hand to get the best visual.

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks bud! I think I learned the ruler in between the action and the cleat in a Kawai regulation book actually, alas, I should start doing that again for better accuracy. I did think about shimming the action over, but in this case I simply installed the new hammers too far to the right. And I didn’t notice until I pulled it back out that the shanks weren’t directly over the whippens, but also to the right. The top two sections were much closer. I usually keep every other hammer on to make the alignment quicker, but I wanted to check and see if the sandpaper needed replaced. Cheers.

[@ChucklesKeys]

I like watching your professionalism with the piano, playing and also the technology. I have a M&H A from the same time period. I need to rebuild it also. I am a tech, but not at the level that you are. Thanks for your quality videos

[@user-jy1fi1rr4o]

In all my life, I've never heard a Mason & Hamlin sound that good. Outstanding work!

[@zackeryhardy9504]

That is a 70s vintage mason as well. That was literally the worst decade of piano manufacturing that came out of the company. In the 1920s they were considered to be above steinway as a boutique ultra premium brand that also cost more at the time. Mason still makes some of the finest pianos in the world.

[@BedhamptonpianoshopCoUk]

Great job Jacob,Iam guessing 250 hours work you put in. It seems never ending when you do all the work,but very satisfying when you hand the piano back to the customer and they say wow.

[@myboibill]

Watching and listening to this and a smaller iPhone it’s surprising what a really nice sound that piano has considering it’s going through your microphones and coming through it tiny microphone here. I think this piano has a lovely sound and I know I’m not hearing all of its accents and dynamics. It’s a very enjoyable instrument to listen to even on a small iPhone at 9:30 at night. You created a really nice instrument.

[@CarlitoManchego]

Mason & Hamlim is said to be a Premium Top shelf Product

[@Jason1Romero]

Thank you for inspiring me. Amazing what you do;;🎉

[@SuperMerlot]

That was some impressive amount of work

[@wmalden]

This is the first video I have seen of someone doing a complete rebuild and restoration of a piano. Now, I can see why it costs thousands of dollars to do so. You, sir, are a master craftsman and a very talented pianist as well. I love Mason & Hamlin grands. I was at a local church a few weeks ago that had a 1926 model AA. It would benefit from the “full treatment “ that you just gave this one! They were actually going to give it away but then decided to keep it.

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks! That piano would probably need a new pinblock, soundboard repaired or replaced, bridges capped, etc. Much more involved (and expensive) than what you see in this video 😞

[@musicaldiscovery1434]

What Jacob did to this piano, as entailed as it was, is nowhere near a complete rebuild and restoration. That would require installation of a new soundboard, pinblock and bridge caps. With the soundboard replacement, a technician then has the option of purchasing a pre-made soundboard from Bolduc, or one of the other manufacturers, or to piece one together himself from selected planks of spruce. With the bridge replacement, he would have to re-notch the bridgetop by hand with a chisel, drill the holes for the bridge pins and then individually insert the pins. The pinblock would also have to be drilled by hand and then all the new tuning pins would have to be inserted with an impact drill. It's a TON more work and expense. That being said, Jacobs level of expertise and attention to detail is phenomenal. Not to mention his playing!!

[@Aljae1951]

Great to see you doing this type complete restoration. I've this level restoration on a 100 year old upright piano in 2016. Wish you were around on you tube then. It is a lot of work.

[@daraparsi9546]

Amazing, work and playing... thank you for sharing

[@jersonwatching]

Just finished the video. Beautiful work, love the commentary and great playing as always. Thanks Jacob!

[@jersonwatching]

Yay another video!

[@irenemeno3585]

Absolutely eye wateringly beautiful Jacob both your work & your playing ❤

[@Reuben-]

Thank you for the video! It was great to watch and very informative. There are so many interesting parts to your video. It's been great to watch you work.

[@petermintunmusic]

Excellent!

[@myboibill]

You are an amazing guy !

[@Nakestra]

Your piano skills are fire 1000%

[@MrWhiteKeys1]

I was going to watch a movie tonight, but I watched this video instead. Most enjoyable! I had a new Steinway B some time ago, but now if I ever buy a house big enough to put a full sized piano, I want a Mason & Hamlin VX BB with the upgraded hammers. Wow this was a lot of work! How long did it take you overall to make the restoration?

[@JacobEmch91]

Hi there, thanks for watching! I've heard great reviews of the new M&H's. This piano in particular took in total I think about 6 months, working on it 1-2 days a week on average, but with some stretches of time not touching it at all or working on it exclusively.

[@myboibill]

Always fascinating and a calm experience. Great work.

[@JacobEmch91]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@saveriosalerno9232]

A great job!😉😉😉

[@MarcRiedel]

Thanks for making these videos, Jacob. They're super informative and fun to watch. I wonder if you might be able to lend some of your expertise regarding a piano I'm restoring. It is a 1980 Yamaha C7 that I am stripping and then finishing with lacquer. There is a brass "YAMAHA" inlay on the fallboard, and I wonder how to best go about preserving that. I feel like, ideally, I would remove each of the letters, refinish the fallboard, and then re-glue the lettering back in, but I'm not sure that anything like that is even possible.

[@JacobEmch91]

Hey thanks for the kind words. The piano likely won't be able to be stripped with any chemical strippers. But I suppose you could sand it all off. (That's a LOT of sanding!) Or you could sand it thoroughly with 220, 320, then spray shellac for proper adhesion, and put whatever top coat you want on top of that. (Lacquer directly on top of poly has a tendency to flake off.) You can get a new decal off ebay and put a clear coat over top of it. I don't have any experience doing a brass inlay decal (besides cleaning/polishing). You could just repair the fallboard and make it match the rest of the piano (satin or high gloss). Best of luck! Jake

[@CoenvanDongen]

Love the comments. Nice job!

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks, Coen!

[@josephbourque1032]

Exemplary Perfectionist.

[@Nakestra]

I sung the orchestra part to the Rachmaninoff :)

[@myboibill]

Sorry I meant ballade

[@didiuism]

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

[@luciendumont6708]

Hi! Amazing video, very instructive! I'm a belgian piano technician myself and I was wondering if you have a book about the stringing scale to recommend? Thank you!

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks! A Guide to Restringing is the name of the book with the stringing scales. Cheers.

[@frjfsiuojrsdug]

Great video! So, you didn't touch the soundboard at all? Would you normally refinish one?

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks for watching! This one didn't need any repairs, and the finish was in good condition, so I didn't think it was necessary to refinish it. Cheers

[@robertvasi]

Great vid! I hope you will sort out piano mics. It sounded kind of muted a little. Maybe to get someone local from recording studio could be a good start. I’m recording my piano as well and it’s always a struggle.

[@myuncle2]

Great repair and vlog, but I thought this piano doesn't sound good, but now I see it might be just the mics fault.

[@CarlitoManchego]

I have some questions what sort of paints do you use? Is Piano paint special in any way to take a deep polish? And what exactly was the infra-red finish remover?

[@JacobEmch91]

Thanks for watching! Regular black lacquer. Just search for "infrared stripper"

[@themike97_58]

Sheeesh customer escalated quickly from "get it back up and running" to replace the entire action with wng composite action and refinish.

[@AngeloDeAngelis748]

Bravissimo Ammirevole

[@maximesouday1465]

How you recreate the logo ?

[@JacobEmch91]

you can buy them online

[@davidjohnson6553]

First he shows us how to build a piano then he gives a masterclass on Rachmaninoff. Who IS this guy???

[@CarlitoManchego]

I suppose there are customers whom love Piano's & are at the same time deathly afraid of Toxic Chemicals & wood finishes

[@CarlitoManchego]

You have got a lot of hours in this restoration dare i even ask how much this would cost if you were to hand the customer a by the hour Labor Cost Ticket? Gheezus Louizhuss

[@engrane_music]

There are very few people in the world with this incredible craftsmanship, patience AND the ability to play as well as you do. Meditative to listen and watch you work on these pianos. Excellent video start to finish!!