3 gorgeous 1890's Knabe uprights for sale, unrestored.

[Ron Nossaman]

>Perhaps that is a good point Richard that I should consider more closely. 
>Regarding the six Bs I service, the only one that is in a home is the 
>restrung 1904 that is OK. All the others are in churches and performance 
>halls. And yes, you are right, these institutional pianos do certainly see 
>much harsher environmental conditions. Hmmmmm.
>
>OK, that will shut me up from Steinway bashing..............for a while.  ;-)
>
>Terry Farrell
>Tail Tucked Between Legs.


Don't tuck just yet Terry. What was the condition of climate control in the 
average house from, say, 1890 to 1950, compared to climate control 
conditions in the average church or institution from 1950 to present? I've 
tuned a lot of pianos in 80+ year old houses (and much newer ones too) 
where the piano was in the "music room", distinguished by being unheated 
and uncooled (except for what leaked in around the closed doors) until 
someone wanted to go in and play.

You know without a doubt that those 1890s Knabes weren't pampered in a 
stable heat and humidity environment for most, if any, of their lives. 
Climate control conditions that outrage us now were as good as it got for 
most of the pianos still out there when they were new.

Let's quit excusing the piano and blaming the climate control for 
everything we find wrong with a piano and start expecting pianos to be more 
realistically durable under real world conditions. No, that doesn't mean 
they should last forever, but they ought to last a few years under 
reasonable care and still sound like pianos.

And I thoroughly disagree with the concept that pianos deteriorate because 
of lack of service, and won't if they are adequately serviced. They will 
deteriorate at the rate, and in the manner dictated by their materials, 
design, construction, and yes, climate.

But that's just my opinion.

Ron N