Dear List: Yesterday I worked on a Pichel upright piano serial number 3531, made in Berlin, with an over-damper action (that's the respectful term for a birdcage, right?). It's not listed in Pierce -- could someone with an European piano atlas look it up & tell me when it was manufactured? It's in nice condition -- fantastic burled veneer etc. Apparently a very late example of an over-damper system. It was 150-200 cents flat when I got to it; I pulled it up to 100 cents flat. Still managed to break a couple of high treble strings. Anyone have any advice specific to working on this Pichel? I need to pull the action to fix the strings, and space hammers (the hammer flanges are screwed to the interior side of the action rail). Is this an example of an action which unscrews and slides out of the piano, keybed & all? I don't often work on "cottage pianos" (though this one is much better than the typical "birdcage piano") -- I couldn't figure out how to remove the action! The customer has strong sentimental attachments (mother in law brought it over when she moved to the States 50 years ago etc.), so I need to get it fixed up! Patrick
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