Piano restoration

Our experience in the world of the piano began in the late 1950s directly in the piano factory in Bolzano, Schulze Pollmann, where Mr Saccuman learnt the art and got to know every component of the instrument very closely. He occupied various roles during his long career, from the construction of the cabinet to the keys and the actual mechanics, the heart of the piano.

After more than 15 years in the factory, which in the meantime had been moved to Pineta di Laives, a few kilometres south of Bolzano, he decided to open his own business and involved Mr Favretto. Back then, it was certainly not easy, there were no computers, transfers were still slow and the search for antique pianos was complicated. Their vocation was not in fact to build a piano from scratch, but to revive an antique instrument that could still make many pianists dream. Their search took them to Germany, France and England. The pianos they chose were transported all the way to Bolzano, to their headquarters in Via Alessandria. From that moment, the real work on the piano began, the complete restoration.

Over time, the demand for antique pianos declined in favour of new pianos with a more modern cabinet style. A new form of piano ownership also began, namely hire, and Saccuman Snc managed to keep up with these changes by supplying new pianos of various makes, also for hire.

Today, Saccuman Snc still restores pianos, with the help of its children, who learn the art that is handed down from generation to generation.

Piano restoration is a long and demanding job, consisting of various work phases that can vary from instrument to instrument. Much depends on how it has been kept, the climate in which it has lived and the work done. The piano is then disassembled in its entirety, each piece is then checked and its replacement or overhaul is assessed. There are parts that can be reused after a careful overhaul, while others are replaced with original parts, if still available, adapted or built from scratch in a completely handcrafted manner.

Once all the components have been removed, the cabinet is checked first, looking for loose parts, and the structural part that together with the harp (or cast iron) keeps the instrument stable is then checked.

The soundboard, which through the bridges amplifies the sound due to the vibration of the strings, must have a continuous surface, free of cracks that interrupt the dispersion of vibrations. Each crack is then closed with spruce, and its curvature is restored if necessary, which increases the effectiveness of sound amplification. It also happens that the bridges can become damaged over time and due to the high tension of the strings, they are then checked and if necessary rebuilt as the originals. Finally