This is an example of the installation of a modern piano in a historic body. The customer wanted to install a contemporary piano in this beautiful Broadwood & Sons piano body. In addition to visual preferences, the main concern here was to preserve the very delicate dimensions of the piano - because at just 1.25 m wide, this piano fitted exactly into the only space provided for it.

The basis was the original John Broadwood & Sons piano from 1874, which had been preserved but was not necessary from a collector's point of view. After a long search and various attempts, we found a modern Bentley small piano that had exactly the necessary dimensions for the installation - and at the same time met our expectations in terms of sound and technology among the available small pianos. The conversion work was complex and was carried out by a workshop specializing in piano conversions. The main challenge lay in the very different detailed dimensions of the action and keyboard - due to the ~120-year age difference between these two pianos. The key length alone differed by 14 cm and the console height by almost 10 cm. The result, however, showed that the time-consuming work was worth it. The piano, with its rare original chandeliers and the typical appearance of the period around 1874, fitted perfectly into the niche provided for it - and now sounds beautiful again with contemporary 440Hz concert pitch. This special instrument now stands in a house by a beautiful lake deep in the Swiss mountains. A piano bench was selected to match the piano and also restored - including the upholstery and covering using the old upholstery technique.