[Aly]

I'm going to see a piano on Thursday that is Oblique strung. I've never heard of it before. The man in the shop did try to explain it to me but I didn't really understand. Does anyone know anything about it?

[PianoGuy]

Unless it's got a good heritage, you may as well regard it as a straight strung piano. Oblique stringing means that all strings run parallel to each other and slope from top left of cabinet towards bottom right as seen from the front.

Ask yourself:

Is it a Bechstein or Blüthner?
Is it very cheap?

If not, report back here with your findings and likely as not we'll warn you against it!

[Aly]

It's a Bechstein. We did talk to the man who runs the shop. It had yet to be looked over by the tuner so it wasn't available to be looked at at the time. This is what it says about it on the website

"We have in stock a Pre Owned Bechstein piano In Black Satin. The piano, made in Germany, is Iron frame, under dampered and Oblique strung. It was recently re-strung and re-pinned (not by us). The piano is as it came in and we have not done any work to the piano. We are offering the piano sold as seen and would encourage a viewing."

He said he was thinking about redoing the whole piano, but thought it wouldn't be worth it as at the price he'd ask people would be put off by the oblique strung.
He's offered it to us for £1000. Not going to make any real decisions until we see it on thursday.
What is the difference in sound then from a normal piano, overstrung and an oblique strung piano?

[PianoGuy]

A Bechstein for that price seems very fair as long as it's in sound condition. It'll likely be a model V, which is rather tall and slender, or a Model 10 which is a chunky old thing.

Difference in sound? Very hard to define. You'd need to have an overstrung design sitting next to it to decide for yourself. Personally I rather like the Model V Oblique strung and would prefer one over a Model IV Overstrung simply because they tend to be a bit more solid with fewer structural issues.

If you can, take a tuner along with you. In all cases, a Bechy for a grand will be very old.

[sussexpianos]

Def. take a tuner with you. Ask the tuner to test the wrest pins and see what pitch its at. The bridges tend to go on these so look there. If the case has been sprayed satin then walk away. If its just a dull Frenchpolish, get a good polisher to revive it. Just remember not all Bechsteins are great, some were badly made, a lot were badly looked after. Central heating kills so get a humidifier for it.