A warning about Lindner (Shannon-Ireland model) pianos

I was called out for a piano tuning in Ecclessall, Sheffield a few days ago. While the piano had a beautiful oak finish as well as a very nice touch and tone, I would not recommend purchasing these pianos second hand. The actions are made from plastic parts, including bits of string instead of bridle tapes, clip-on plastic flanges rather than wooden screw on – all unique to this particular model. If something breaks, it is not likely to be repairable (without spending more money than the piano itself is worth), as many of the parts are no longer made. In this particular piano several flanges had broken and were lose, leading me to make a desperate attempt to repair them and stick them back on to the action with super glue (surprisingly, a previous piano tuner/technician, now retired, had a stuck one flange back on blue tack or some sort of chewing gum, though it seemed to have done the job!). The customer had owned the piano for 40 years, and while she was disappointed that the action was broken beyond repair, she had been previously told by another Sheffield piano tuner that once one action part breaks with these pianos it won’t be mendable. An online search later that evening confirmed my suspicions, with many piano tuners bemoaning the design of this type of action and the manufacturers use of cheap materials unique to this brand. Had I been able to fix the broken flanges, the piano would likely have lasted another 5 to 10 years at the most, as it was already at an age where it was rapidly disintegrating. In the end I advised looking for a newer piano in one of piano shops in Sheffield or on ebay (note: be careful of what pianos you buy on ebay, many people try to get rid of old pianos that aren’t worth the shipping fee).

– Richard Lidster, Piano Tuner Sheffield.