Hardman pianos

[kam544@flash.net]

Carl, List,

>...I think it compares as    almost as good as the S&S "B".       Too bad
>I can't get a decent price for it like you can for a    B.       Carl
>Meyer     

What's in a name, heh?

One interesting observation I hadn't mentioned yet about this Hardman 5'8"
I have, is *the distance of the strings from the top of the soundboard*.  I
wanted to measure some other grands before bringing it up.  Now I'm ready
to do that.

To recapitulate:
In another thread, Re: a terrible piano, Tues, Dec 12th, I indicated the
following:
===============================================
"...I picked up a 1909 Hardman grand (about 5' 8") about a week ago that
looked like the pits for all practical purposes, has multiple cracks in the
soundboard, definite bearing problems in places, action regulation highly
irregular, pedal lyre loose as a goose, action shifts to the left, chipped
keytops, tuning pin solution stains abound, about every reason on earth to
trash the thing, or do a complete rebuild ... but with a name like Hardman?

For the fun of it, I installed some used Tokiwa shanks and Abel hammers
that were removed from a Steinway D.  Did some rough regulation ... very
rough ... and man, does it put out like no piano I've ever met ... just
unbelievable.

It defies all known piano technology I've learned.  Just blows me away the
magic sensation it gives when I play it.  I'm going to do as little as
possible to not lose that mystique..."
===========================================

Now here is the observation:
The area measured was in the 6th & 7th octave primarily.  On 7 different
grands (Steinways M,A,B,D and Yamahas G2,C5,C7), I measured from 1" to 1
1/4" distance from the top of the soundboard to the strings (music wire).

On this Hardman grand, the measurement is 5/8" !

I am certain this must be contributing to the unique sound this piano is
generating, as this is almost half the distance the vibrations of the
strings have to travel to get to the soundboard.

Carl, would you measure your 7 footer, please?

Keith McGavern
Registered Piano Technician
Oklahoma Chapter 731
Piano Technicians Guild
USA