Chickering quarter grands

[Farrell]

Larry wrote:
"I agree these were nicely built pianos, but the tone on the one I restored is weak and antiquated, like pianos built in before 1860, especially in the high treble."

Did the restoration include a duplicated soundboard? A redesigned soundboard? Redesigned scale? Original scale and soundboard?

Terry Farrell

>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Larry Lobel 
>   To: pianotech@ptg.org 
>   Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 5:55 PM
>   Subject: Chickering quarter grands
> 
> 
>   I restored one of these a couple of years ago, and recently went back to tune it.  I noticed the damper heads are all askew and have been thinking about how to fix this.  The damper wires are screw-threaded at both ends; that is, into the top flange on the bottom and into the head on top, so they're free to rotate and don't stay aligned to the strings.  I hesitate to do anything that would permanently lock them in place, like gluing them, which would make it difficult for the next rebuilder to deal with.  Anyone have any suggestions for this?
> 
>   I agree these were nicely built pianos, but the tone on the one I restored is weak and antiquated, like pianos built in before 1860, especially in the high treble.  
> 
>   Larry Lobel
>   Virtuoso Piano Service
>   Petaluma, California 94952  USA
> 
>   (707) 762-5800 or (707) 529-9676
> 
> 
>   Another practice is to use "Pin-block restorer" !
> 
>   Rani Nir
>