Hardman pianos

[Meyer Carl]

Keith:  I was at the store today where my Hardman is on consignment.  The
string height at the top of the treble bridge is about 7/8 inch from the top
of the string to the soundboard.  At the other end of the bridge it is about
1 and 1/8 inch.

Carl


----- Original Message -----
From: <kam544@flash.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: Hardman pianos


> 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
>
>