MAIN STYLES OF UPRIGHT PIANO
There are four main styles of upright piano: overstrung underdamper,straight strung underdamper, overstrung overdamper and straight strung overdamper. Here is a brief description of each:
Underdamper. All modern pianos are underdampers, which means that the dampers, which cut off the sound after the note has been played, are underneath the hammers. when looking down inside the piano from above, you can see the hammers with the dampers beneath them.
Overdamper. When you look down inside the piano, there is a plank of wood over the hammers, meaning that you can't see them easily.The dampers are above the hammers and are connected to the action with long cage-like rods. the damping is less efficient than underdampers,especially in the mid treble where the damper os too close to the top of the string to work efficiently. Most overdamper pianos, unless madeby a top make such as Bluthner or Ibach (both of whom produced many good ones), are not worth restoring if you want a good all round instrument.
Overstrung. Practically all new pianos are overstrung, which means that the copper bass strings cross over the steel treble ones.This means that the bass strings can be longer and therefore produce a deeper tone.
Straight strung There are many older, mainly British uprights that are straight strung.This means that the base is weaker as the strings are shorter. However, some manufacturers made excellent straight strung pianos, notably Bechstein and Lipp, who deliberately designed the piano as a straight strung in order to produce a sweet tone and also to give an alternative cabinet style. The Bechstein model 10, for instance, has strings as long as the overstrung model 9 but a different style cabinet.
MAIN STLYES OF GRAND PIANO
There are two main styles of grand piano: overstrung and straightstrung. Please see upright piano styles for an explanation. Only some pianos made before 1900 are straight strung.
GRAND PIANO ACTIONS
There are three common styles of Grand piano action: the normal roller action, the simplex action and the Bluthner patent action. these account for 99% of grand piano actions in pianos made from 1880; piano made before 1880 may however have a variety of different actions. Older Bosendorfer grand pianos (before 1890) often have Vienesse actions, which are not recommended.
