Chickering Stringscale

[Les Smith]

Just a short note to keep things straight. There were TWO Chickering
companies that built pianos; Chickering and Sons, out of Boston, and
Chickering BROTHERS, out of Chicago. The quarter-grand was built by
the Boston-based, Chickering and Sons. The "acoustigrand" was built
by the Chicago-based, Chickering Brothers. Although the Chicago-
Chickerings were related to the Boston-Chickerings, the pianos they
made were not. The string scales were entirely different and are in
no way interchangable. The 6'2" Acoustigrand produced by the Chicago
Chickering Brothers firm was a very highly regarded piano in its day,
particularly noted for its tone-quality and projection. They've held
up well over the years and, when encountered, are usually worth re-
building. The best that can be said about the Chickering and Sons
Quarter-Grand is that at least the decal on the fall-board was im-
pressive. Note, sometimes rebuilders "cheat" by using a Chickering
and Sons decal when rebuilding a Chickering Brothers piano. Chick-
ering Brothers had their own, unique decal. It's available from
Decals Unlimited.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net

On Sun, 2 Mar 1997, Richard Moody wrote:

> Oh no ...
> 	In my Travis book "A Guide to Restringing" 1961 (Second Printing
> 1972) page 190 lists a Lauter but no Chickering.  Lauter than ever,
> the thread hasn't died. :) especially since it got entangled with
> Estey... an oderfirous whatever...
> 	However on page 130 is an "Acoustigrand" size 5' .  No half sizes,,
> interesting to note.
> Surprising that the Quarter Grunt ... excuse me "Quarter Grand" isn't
> mentioned in my edition.
>
> Richard Twobits
> ----------
> > From: Danny Moore <danmoore@ih2000.net>
> > To: pianotech@byu.edu
> > Subject: Re: Chickering Stringscale
> > Date: Sunday, March 02, 1997 9:14 PM
> >
> > Lance Lafargue wrote:
> >
> >   Dear List;
> >
> >   Can anyone help me get the stringscale for a Chickering (approx
> 5')
> >   scale
> >   #122?  It does not appear to be in the Travis book.
> >   Lance Lafargue, RPT
> >
> > Lance,
> > The #122 is detailed on page 190 of John Travis' book, or at least
> they
> > are labeling it "Chickering Quarter Grand, Style 122, #113029.
> Send me
> > your fax number if it's missing from your book and I'll fax you
> what's
> > in mine.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Danny Moore
> > Houston Chapter
> >
> >
> >
>