At 18:40 15.08.95, FREDIEBOY@aol.com wrote:
|: I am seeking any information on the history of the Papps Mute.
|: Who was Papps?
|: Was the Papps mute originally designed as a piano tool?
|: I do know it was invented in England, and is now handled by Fletcher &
|: Newman. Any help would be appreciated.
Papps was an upright piano maker in Portsmouth, Hampshire. I recently made
a set of strings for a local colleague of mine who was restoring a Papps.
I did not have time to go and see it but it contained another of Papps
inventions which is also remarkably simple and apparently perfectly
effective : the tuning block is of iron with holes oval in cross-section.
Normal tuning pins are used except that these are not roughened or
threaded. My friend had no problems at all with the restringing or with
the tuning of this piano.
John Delacour
[Restorer and Bass String Manufacturer]
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC