----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: September 07, 2001 8:05 AM Subject: Old Uprights > When we think of old uprights worth restoring, S&S and M&H quickly come to > mind. But I've been told that there are many other brands that existed > 75-100 years ago which may be of similar quality. Is there any resource for > figuring out which ones were well designed and which weren't? I'm sure they > all had beautiful cases, but that can be misleading. > > There must be some guide to old pianos... ------------------------------------------------------------------ There are several excellent guides to old piano. Probably the best is Jack Wyatt, an occasional, and always welcome, contributor to pianotech. (Several of us are encouraging Jack to put as much of his knowledge as possible into book form but he's being stubborn about this and has not done so yet.) There is another, Les Smith, who is also one of the best writers I've encountered in some time. Sadly, Les no longer contributes to pianotech and, to the best of my knowledge, has no plans to write a book. I hope I'm wrong. If you're looking for something already in printed form, there isn't much. Experience and knowledge will be your best guide. That and as much education as you can get. There are classes from time to time that analyze various piano design features, both in verticals and in grands. I would encourage you to take them even if you've no intention of ever designing a piano. As you gain an understanding about how pianos work you'll also gain to ability to evaluate the various disparate design features of the individual pianos you encounter. Then you won't need a guide of someone else's opinions which couldn't possibly cover all of the various pianos out there anyway. There are many pianos out there that are often written off by the piano technical community because they don't have the right name that are really quite excellent pianos. There are others which--based solely on their name--are widely revered that are mediocre musical instruments at best. And yes, the casework can be misleading. Almost as misleading as the name on the keycover. Del
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