Fallboard Decals, suppliers; and Piano Atlas

[Les Smith]

On Tue, 18 Jun 1996, Frederick G Scoles wrote:

>
> I am looking for additional suppliers of decals.  Last week I tried to
> find a replacement fallboard decal for a Newton Player (Feb. 1914) which
> has three lines, top to bottom line:  NEWTON; PLAYER PIANO; NEW YORK.  I
> checked with APSCO , Schaff, Player Piano Company, Decals Unlimited, and
> Larry Ashley (has Bob Pierce's decals and atlas business).  Larry said he
> might have something by Feb.'97, and Decals Unlimited requires $80. to
> develop one from a tracing of the original.  Just wondering if another
> company might have unusual decals like this, or ones which could be
> pieced together.  I will check the PTG vendor/supplier listing again in
> case I missed something there.
>
>
> Larry Ashley mentioned that since Bob passed away, he has updated the
> Atlas and plans on about Oct. release for the 10th ed.  He would like to
> know if the addition of a hardbound or hardback edition (at additional
> cost) would be good.  He would appreciate input from technicians,
> dealers, ref. librarians, etc.  Of course, he said, the softback would
> still be the main printing.  Both tel. numbers are still good, as well as
> his e-mail.  He has 3 pages linked to the Piano Page WWW.
>
> Fred Scoles, RPT,  Syracuse Chapter 131
>
>
Hi, Fred. My answer is probably too simplistic, but have you ever tried
custom-fabricating your own fallboard decals using individual rub-off
transfer letter? They work like those from Decals Unlimited. I've been
using them for years for obscure, long-out-of-production pianos, when
replacement decals were not commercially available. It yakes a little
practice to get the spacing, etc., but with a little practice the results
can be quite good and one heck of a lot cheaper than having one custom-made
for $80! I use a piece of masking tape on the fallboard to establish a
base for the first line of lettering, so that they are level, marking the
position of the letters on the tape itself. Then, after the first line is
done, I remove the tape and use another piece for the next line, etc.
You can custom-fabricate soundboard and plate decals in the same manner,
too. You might not be able to EXACTLY duplicate the original decal, but,
then, Newton was an obscure enough piano that few will ever know the dif-
ference!

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net