Billy and the Jets

One thing about moving house is that it gives you little option but to throw stuff out, or redistribute it around the family. A combination of e-bay dealing, car boot sales and the odd give away has left me fairly well placed to cope with moving or storing the remaining kit though.

Upstairs, for example, I have a bed, a futon which is our sons, a sofa bed, chest of drawers, desk, filing cabinet and two bookcases. Downstairs, apart from the white goods which will get trashed, there are two sofas, a bureau, dining table and the usual assortment of electrical entertainment equipment. So all in all a part load should suffice once I decide where its all going.

Those of you who know the house may notice that one item is missing, namely the 'Joanna', and you would be right. This morning it got carted off to the piano hospital for some remedial work. It is an upright Bechstein, in dark cherry, which has been reconstructed for a hot climate.

This entailed re-enforcing the sides and tops with strips of matching wood and screwing a number of the joints which would normally be glued, to ensure they did not split. The piano dates from about 1907 and as a piece of furniture it is very elegant.

That's very handy as my playing skills are limited, and my objective aimed at allowing me to play it before I was 50 did rather ease into the background when I was faced with some other priorities. As my memory retards with age, I also wonder if I will ever be able to play anything without recourse to the music sheets!

Anyway, the piano will be away for a few weeks as its sound board is cracked and needs repairing. They use pine strips which are inserted into the cracks and then planed flush. The pins and hammers may also need realignment, although the keys and playing tolerances do seem OK still. The only features it lacks are the two candelabra which traditionally adorned the front of the piece. The restoration when they were removed is pretty good so I am not sure if I will get those replaced.

Once it is back in working order it will get shipped up North, where I am sure it will get more use than it does presently. Each piano is numbered , so I will start to do some provenience investigation to see whether it was shipped to an Arabian knight or similar dignitary, all those years ago. The Bechstein factory employs a historian in its plant in Germany which seems like a good place to start. Watch this space for any news.