Old Knabe Pinblocks

[Brian Trout]

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Hi All,

I have a job in the shop waiting for me right now.  It's a Knabe grand, =
7'4" I think, late 1800's, with a full plate.  The pinblock is sloped, =
and also curves from bass to treble.  If you've seen one, you know what =
I'm talking about.

The pinblock is to be replaced.  I guess what I need is some advice as =
to how to attack the beast.  I want to do it right.  The main problem I =
seem to run into is that to remove the pinblock completely, it's almost =
impossible without tearing off the top front parts of the case.  (The =
pinblocks I've seen like this one were screwed in before the case =
assembly was finished, and not intended to be removed.)

Have any of you come up with a better way to do a pinblock replacement =
on these?

A few thoughts came to mind.

1)  Use a saw to cut out the curved / sloped part of the block, and =
duplicate that leaving the stretcher and case intact.  I've never done =
it before, so it would be a new experience.  Since it's a full plate, it =
would be pretty much invisible, but I'm not sure it would be right.  ?

2)  Make an attempt at routing / chiseling out large areas of the =
pinblock in such a way as to do a very large 'inlay' of several sections =
of pinblock material.  Haven't done this one either.

3)  Tear the bloody thing apart as carefully as I can and duplicate it.  =
I have been down this road before, and there's a lot of case repair to =
be done.

I'm not convinced that to use a bunch of plugs would be a good long term =
repair.  This isn't one we're cutting corners on, so to speak.  It's =
getting the works.  New board, new bridges, new block, much action work, =
complete refinishing (beautiful rosewood)...

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, Pa.
btrout@desupernet.net


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