Hi folks... I had the pleasure of checking out an old, real old Bosendorfer this eveing. Serial number 8224 puts it at around 1877. Straight strung, with two struts, and no iron plate for the hitch pins. Struts were bolted into a wooden hitch pin plank, and were embeded into the front plank just forward of the pinblock. 4 bolts through the soundboard into the beam structure for the long strut, 1 for the short. Johannes Brahms had an identical instrument in his time, and it is still in one of the houses where he lived. This one is fully playable, actually just had new leather put on the hammers. Pretty darn well regulated, heavy as can be... no counterbalancing at all. Made for some great pianismo control tho... you could play reeeeeaaaaaallllly soft with no problem... except you needed good finger strength. The owner just purchased it from the continent for 500 Eurodollars... about 550 USD I guess. He wants to know what the recommended pitch for this instrument is. Anybody have a clue ? I told him to tune it to 432 - 434 until he had firm information. Modern string material and tuning pins have been installed at some point... not too long ago either from the looks of it. Neat old piano... charming sound, not thinned out at all tho sustain in the upper treble is not all that tremendous. Cheers RicB
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