OVERS rebuilt Yamaha CFIIIs (9'0") grand piano

This circa 2000 Yamaha CFIIIs is privately owned by a piano enthusiast and, following an extensive A$52,000 rebuild, is being offered for sale by Overs Pianos on behalf of the owner. This piano presents a rare opportunity to purchase an Overs rebuilt 9 foot concert grand which is not only built to standards which are the equivalent of a brand new piano, but incorporates design innovations developed by Ron Overs.

These include;

The soundboard has rib extensions of Sitka Spruce fitted to the existing soundboard ribs, which increases the soundboard impedance. This procedure was first developed by Ron Overs about seven years ago, and is a suitable modification when a piano has a still-servicable soundboard, but could do with an increase in soundboard-assembly stiffness (it may have been built with inadequate stiffness, may have deteriorated since new, or a combination of the two). When soundboard issues are fully addressed, rebuilt pianos can be sonically the equivalent of a brand new piano.

The soundboard has been mass-loaded to achieve a desired balance between tonal power and sustain.

Abel hammers, manufactured using Abel Premium cold pressed felt, were bored to custom-fit the piano. The hammer set was balanced after fitting to the shanks, to refine the note to note dynamic response. Balancing hammer sets is not done in any production factory at this time.

The original front duplex bars were removed and a custom counterbearing bar set, which was hardened and Electroless Nickel (EN) plated, was fitted to the iron plate. This allows for a noticeable improvement in the upper treble tonal clarity. The front duplex systems on many grand pianos are too long with an inappropriate profile, which allows for the counterbearing length (also known as the front duplex) to interfere with the tonal clarity of the treble.

The bass string scale was revised and fitted with a bass scale which was developed by Ron Overs in the early 1990s for the Steinway model D. The Yamaha CFIIIs and Steinway model D share identical bass string scale speaking lengths, along with a very similar treble string scale design. Once the bass scale was measured and found to be the same as the model D, a decision was made to include the Overs model D bass scale in this rebuild.

Cosmetically, this piano was completely stripped down. Many parts were refinished or polyester repaired and the entire case cut flat, buffed and polished.

The castors were refinished.