My wife Katie and I got married in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. I am a professional musician and Katie is an accountant. She got her CPA after I met her and moved jobs from William & Mary to Christopher Newport University.
When I was a young boy, my father asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and having just watched a TV magic show special, I enthusiastically answered "I want to be a magician!" My dad's response was "Oh so you want to be a musician?!" "No, magician!" But after getting a piano, being taken to many different live music performances, and two years later I was hooked on music, just as he wanted. Now, over twenty-five years later, I am a music director and pianist at a local Methodist Church and I play gigs all around town making my living entirely as a musician. Sometimes it feels like I AM a magician, after all. Thanks, Dad! This is a 1915 Mason & Hamlin upright with an incredibly fantastic action and magnificent sound. Its bright tone is great for my solo Old-Time piano style.
My buddy Steve and I have rescued a handful of local pianos over the last 10 years and this one is the shining star. Steve had hoped I would take this one when my wife Katie and I moved into our first home together. However the look of this piano doesn't quite fit into my wife's aesthetic---dirty old brown things do not fit into our decor. She prefers cool tones (greys, whites, pearl---no brown, yellow or warm tones). So for now, my piano is still at my buddy Steve's place and I can be seen playing old hymns and other songs on it on YouTube (@CarlOlsonOldTimePiano).
I have heard Mason & Hamlin's of this vintage were over-engineered and based on my experience with this one, I would have to agree. It is my personal dream to have a piano of this caliber be fully restored so that it can last me a lifetime, as my wife Katie would like to see me have one good piano.
YEAR 1910-1920
MAKE Mason & Hamlin
SERIAL NUMBER D26721
FINISH Original Finish is Mahogany. Hoping the entire cabinet can be changed to white or grey. Is it possible to have no warm tones inside or out in a rebuild/restoration? Specifically, can the Iron plate be painted with silver automotive paint instead of the standard gold? Can the Sound board be stained white or grey? Can the felt hammers have blue or grey highlights in the center instead of red? Can all visible felts be grey/white/blue (not red). Same for any other visible leather or felt. My dream is to have the board which is the music desk to be replaced with clear plexiglass so that the action and all its parts would be visible all the time.
