Rippen Metal Grand

[Bill Morton]

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At 07:30 AM 3/1/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks Bill Morton for the pictures. WOW, that is one unusual piano.
>I see it is straight strung! It looks awful grey under the strings - 
>please don't tell me it has an aluminum soundboard also? What is the 
>wooden curved object that I see under the strings to the rear of the 
>dampers? How long is the piano? How does it sound?????

Hi again.  No, it has a wooden soundboard.  Spruce?  Not sure what the wood 
is.  the curved wooden object is sort of an artifact of the photo; there is 
a cast aluminum
plate that lies directly under the strings which the soundboard attaches 
to; you
are seeing as a curved object a short strip of wood that marks the end of the
aluminum plate and the start of the soundboard.

The tuning pins appear to go directly into the aluminum frame; I am not 
sure there
is a wooden pinblock; can't see under the frame there without taking the action
out.

The grey effect on the inside is, I'm sorry to say, dust; I cleaned it 
thoroughly
about 3 years ago when we had the action out to have the hammers "fluffed" or
whatever they do to them.  I am about to move it to Spokane, and will probably
have the action removed again after I get it set up there, so I can go 
through the
business with the cheesecloth moistened with "Gold ?" wrapped around the
end of a yardstick.  Can't remember the product I used = = think it began with
Gold.  I don't think it is wise to go through the dusting process with the 
action
still in the piano; seems like that would unnecessarily crud up the 
action.  Does
that make sense?

Not sure exactly how to measure its length, but it is nearly 6' from tip of 
keyboard
to tail.   What is the correct way to measure a grand?

It sounds great; has a very nice, light action, and a mellow tone.  Has 
stood up
remarkably well for the 35 or so years I have had it.  It was purchased new
in San Jose, CA, from a dealer who had had it for a long time and rather
despaired of ever getting anyone to buy it, I think.

As you can doubtless tell, I am not a RPT or anything close to it; just a home
hobbyist that enjoys playing the piano.   But I do enjoy lurking on this 
group and
have learne a great deal from it, as well as from the Reblitz book.


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