The Process
How an original Beale becomes a Jones Beale piece. The instrument comes first, the design second, and nothing leaves until a specialist technician has tuned it.
Sourcing
We find original Beale pianos and choose them for what cannot be replaced: the frame, the soundboard and the action. Clients who already own a Beale bring it to us; for everyone else, sourcing is part of the commission.
Restoration and preparation
Before any design work, the instrument is restored: the action regulated, strings and hammers assessed, the case stripped and stabilised. Every piece is a working piano first.
Reimagining the cabinet
Custom cabinet and body modification, timber work and resin or epoxy features, built to the identity of the design rather than to the original appearance.
Painting and finishing
Specialist painting and finishing: layered lacquer, oiled timber or resin brought to the surface the design calls for, then cured and polished.
Hardware and light
Custom hardware and detailing, and integrated lighting where a piece calls for it, fitted so the piano reads as one object in the room.
Tuning, naming and documentation
Specialist piano technicians service and tune the mechanism. The finished piece is named, numbered and documented, and it carries its history with it.
What the studio provides
The main offering is the complete transformation: sourcing a suitable original Beale, restoring and preparing it, reworking the cabinet and body in timber and resin, specialist painting and finishing, custom hardware and detailing, integrated lighting where a design calls for it, and mechanical servicing and tuning through specialist piano technicians. That work becomes either a bespoke commission for a client or a limited or one-of-one Jones Beale design.
A Jones Beale made for you.
Bring us a Beale you own, or let us source one, and we will design a piece around it.