I received a call today to evaluate a 'piano' at an antique shop. What I found was unusual, to me, but if the customer does not buy it, I probably will, because the price is right. What was there is a sort of desk piano. It had no brand name on it, though it was probably painted over. The number stamped on the gray painted plate was #723. It has 64 keys. The strings are horizontal, stretching under the keys, apparently, and are not very long. The hammers are positioned over the strings and strike down. What causes the hammer to return is a frail spring with one fairly large loop in it. The hammer flanges appear to be plastic. A thread pulls up the damper when the hammer strikes. From front to back the 'instrument' is about 24.5", 38" high including music rack, and about 40" wide. It has 2 pedals, but only the sustain pedal appears to be functional. A number of the dampers are not damping at all--my brief visual evaluation could not determine why. Action removal would probably reveal the problem. What is it? It needs at least some, maybe all, of those springs replaced (probably need to make them). Perhaps the plastic flanges should also go. The pins seem tight enough to tune. Bass strings are single, all the rest double. The little soundboard looked ok--it, too, stretches under the keybed. Any info will be much appreciated. Arlie -- Arlie D. Rauch Glendive, MT If you have nothing better to do, check out http://Turbooster.tripod.com. You'll be glad you did.
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