Repairs and restoration

Our passion for the perfect gesture, the careful selection of materials used, uncompromising manufacturing processes, the luxury of the finishes, using the most precious species of wood and the deepest varnishes, mean that the acoustic identity of Pleyel pianos and the excellence of their workmanship lives on.
Over time and depending on how well your piano is maintained, your instrument may need some repair work or a comprehensive restoration in terms of both the instrumental mechanism and the case. Each part of your Pleyel piano has been selected and assembled in the Pleyel workshops in accordance with strict rules and with the utmost care, following Pleyel’s high quality production standards. Many procedures are done by hand.
The Pleyel restoration workshop boasts the finest skills in high-end instrument making; all our technicians are well-versed in the art of traditional design and manufacturing, the careful choice of each material and the precision of each gesture.
While the quality of your piano will allow you to pass it down from generation to generation, it also deserves to benefit from the age-old expertise and know-how of the Pleyel craftspeople when it comes to repairs or restorations.

   

The Pleyel workshop is at your disposal to restore your instrument in the great tradition established over two centuries of instrument making, from the harmonic structure to the cabinetwork:

  • The harmonic structure: repairing cracks and varnishing or replacing the soundboard, regilding or changing the frame, changing the pinblock, replacing the bridge mounting board, regluing loose ribs, revising the load, optimizing stringing, adding new strings, etc.
  • The playing mechanism: refelting or changing hammer heads to restore the original tone of your piano, rebushing keys, replacing and/or treating the ivory keys, rebalancing the keyboard to restore a fluid and pleasing touch, tuning to restore the precision of your piano. Voicing is the final stage of your piano’s restoration or repair process: this step will restore its sonority and its timbre and let you rediscover the enjoyment of playing.
  • The cabinet:  The Pleyel Company works with the best cabinetmakers and wood carvers who are able to deal with all the decorative features on your piano (brass banding, bronzes, carved mouldings, friezes, etc.), marquetry craftsmen (fan or diamond-shaped marquetry or many other kinds), lacquer experts (any shade of lacquer can be produced as we work exclusively with polyurethane lacquer) and varnishers (high shine or satin varnish, stamp varnishing) to restore your instrument to its former glory.

Restoration work serves to unlock your instrument’s harmonic beauty and optimal musical qualities.
This work also gives back the reliability and resistance your piano needs while respecting Pleyel specifications depending on when the piano the piano was manufactured (pianino, model P, model F, model 3, model 3 bis or any other more recent model). The workshop can also restore pianos from other manufacturers.
Our technicians/piano makers and our lacqueur and cabinet-making experts are at your disposal to carry out the work required or to undertake a general overhaul of your piano. The Pleyel restoration workshop regularly takes care of instruments from all over the world which are in need of renovating after several decades of use.
All repairs and restorations of old or more recent Pleyel pianos are carried out in either the Pleyel restoration workshop in Paris or in an authorised specialist Pleyel workshop.