Chase square grand restoration? (fwd)

[Juliette Arnheim]

I did not see this posted to the list when I sent it a month ago.  Perhaps
its content was out of scope or perhaps there was an equipment failure
somewhere along the line.  I would appreciate the response of list members
especially if there is any good news to tell! 

Reply to me personally if you think it is outside the scope of general
interest of the group. 

Thanks. 

Julie Arnheim

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 13:06:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Juliette Arnheim <jarnheim@phoenix.princeton.edu>
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Chase square grand restoration?


Listserve members,

Greetings from a newbie who is neither a piano technician nor even a decent 
player of the instrument!  

Forgive me if I ask for replies on a subject where I think I already know 
the "sad-but-true" response....

I have a Chase square grand piano that has been in my family since
Victorian days when it was "what there was" to the music room set.  I
checked out it's genealogy, so I know when it was made and where.  I know
that it was never a "classy" piano in its day (as compared to the
Chickering in my grandmother's home).  It has been treated well, i.e.
housed rather than left in an unheated/uncooled space.  It has a rosewood
case, although it is lacquered and the lacquer is crazed in places, and
its original ivories.  I played it all through my childhood up through
high school (so I KNOW what it sounds like in good repair) but it has
suffered from neglect over the past quarter century.  When I moved to a
place of my own, I bought a nice 1906 Hallett & Davis upright which sounds
a lot better!  Now I need to decide whether 1) to continue to house the
square grand and treat it as a LARGE "dysfunctional" piece of furniture,
2) to fix it so it is at least in playable condition, if I can find someone
either in the Knoxville TN or in Charleston SC area or 3) to give up on
it.  [If I were seriously considering opting for #3, I probably would have
done it by now, although making the choice between #1 and #3 is clearly up
to us (me and my husband), if #2 is not an viable option.]

I'm sure that you have had requests of this type from "newbies" on your
list from time to time.  I searched the archives of this listserv and
didn't see much to recommend this style piano!  I have checked book
sources off and on over the years, and to date I have not seen any talk of
restoration of a square grand turning it into a satisfactory musical
instrument!  Even 35 years ago, it was not easy to find someone with the
proper set of tools to work on this type of piano, although that may have
been a polite way for a piano technician, such as yourselves, to decline
to spend time and effort on an instrument with a poor prognosis. 

I have seen photographs of square grands which have been refinished; the 
ones depicted are made of beautiful wood.  I say mine is rosewood; the 
legs definitely are.  Would the rest of the case be rosewood as well, or 
did manufacturers mix woods when they planned to lacquer the finished 
product anyway?

If you have any success stories on restoration of square grands,
especially as instruments, I'd surely like to hear them!   

Thanks in advance,

Julie Arnheim
Chemistry Librarian
Princeton University