A Glut of Old Uprights

[Susan Kline]

Ric wrote:

>-------
> > From: Susan Kline <sckline@home.com>
> >
> > After a day of cleaning and delegating cleaning, fixing 6 broken
>butt
> > plates, light tuning, being fed lunch, playing with the cat,
> > demonstrating how a filthy, rough piano case can be rubbed out
> > with fine steel wool wet with furniture polish, and removing a
>loose
> > electrical switch which was leaning against the rear of the
>soundboard,
> > plus giving instructions and hardware for rebuilding the music
>desk
> > hangers and replacing the kickboard spring, the piano had sprung
> > back to life.
> >
> > My customer remarked, as I was getting ready to leave, that I had
> > a wonderful way of making a living.
> >
> > Susan
>
>Ha, you either charged too much or not enough.  But what the
>curious want to know is the brand of piano.     ric the  "c" stands
>for,,, dah

Briggs, made in Boston in 1904. Not fancy, not totally plain. Said
"vertical grand." Agraffes in the bass section, true capo d'astro in the
treble, like a grand. Action decent, and the butt plates broke instead
of the tongues. Plate finish lousy. Varnish poor. Veneer good, and
not loose. Pedals still working great. Bass sustaining for middle pedal.
A lot of broken ivory. I guess it probably got loose at the
fronts, and kids did the rest. Regulation was still okay. Pitch not
quite a semitone low. I left it down there for now. Tone was quite
good. Bass bridge had very minor cracking starting at the holes, but
sound of the bass was still excellent. High treble had poorly installed
mismatched hammers and a scattering of new shanks, because the old
ones were cedar. Bridle tapes still just about intact, though they
were old enough not to take any handling. Punchings lightly moth-eaten,
but not enough to need replacing. Mainly just a lot of filth and
junk under and in there. I didn't even have to tighten any screws.

Susan