[CAUT] (CAUT) Old Chickerings

[Donald McKechnie]

I have to echo Jim's thoughts on the Quarter Grand. (At least from  
the perspective of just one in my private clientele.) Yes, they can  
be a beast if not rebuilt or reconditioned but if you do some good  
work on this piano it will most likely yield good results. The  
Quarter Grand owned by my customer is a case in point. I contracted  
to a shop in NYC for a new board, block, etc. and I did the the  
action. It is a sweet sounding piano and works well.

Don

Don McKechnie
Piano Technician
Ithaca College
dmckech at ithaca.edu
607-274-3908


> From: James Ellis <claviers at nxs.net>
> Date: March 18, 2006 8:33:12 PM EST
> To: caut at ptg.org
> Subject: [CAUT] Old Chickerings
> Reply-To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
>
>
> Let's not be quite so quick to bad-mouth those old Chickerings, the  
> latest
> of which was a Quarter Grand.  Yes, the Quarter Grand was a fancy  
> parlor
> grand, and a departure from the big heavy models of the 1900-1910  
> period.
>
> As for the dampers that screwed on and damper wires that were  
> threaded on
> both ends - those were standard with Chickering for years.  Did anyone
> notice that those wires are straight, with no "dog-legs" to make the
> dampers line up? Those wippens and shanks at diverging angles, and  
> those
> repetition lever springs that loop into silk cords on each end are  
> a pain
> to regulate, but once you get them regulated, they provide repetition
> that's second to none.  There are other features that may seem  
> strange to
> many of you, but if you will look more closely, you may see some  
> logic to
> what Chickering did from time to time - those pinblocks that were
> integrated with the plate instead of the case, for example.
>
> I own three 100-year-old Chickerings right now - a scale 116, a  
> scale 119,
> and a scale 131 concert grand.  Those wooden action brackets have not
> swelled or shrunk one bit that I can tell, and the actions stay  
> regulated.
> They slide amoothly on the keybeds when the una corda is used, and  
> do not
> knock, despite the fact that there are no glides in the key frames.
>
> Jim Ellis
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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