Info on 1890 Ivers and Ponds piano

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Sun, 19 May 2002  7:58:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "D.L. Bullock" <dlbullock@att.net> writes:

>
>You wrote:
><What kind of dollars are these? U.S.? I have heard a few quotes in this
>range, but I don't see <how to do it properly for anything below about $12K.
>That's in U.S. dollars. Now we stated <".....looks and sounds exactly like
>Grandma saw and heard it when she bought it new." I'm <assuming it looks and
>sounds that way because it IS like when Grandma bought it new. New
><everything.
>
>Yes, US Dollars are what we use in St. Louis.  Yes, new most
>everything."Every flange, pin, bushing, spring...felt"
>
><(inc. all the little damper thingees),>
>
>We replace all damper levers spring flange and all.
>
><all action parts,> Unfortunately, not possible.  We do replace hammer
>butts, shanks, hammers, damper heads, all springs, backcheck felt, wires if
>needed, bridle wires if needed, but wippens cannot be replaced in most
>cases, stickers cannot be replaced 99% of the time.  We must clean, rebush
>and refelt stickers and wippens which also get new jacks and jack flanges as
>well as screw flanges.  Yes, all felt is new even if old parts must be used.
>Screws are replaced usually but not always...sometimes just cleaned.  Keys
>and keyframe have all new felt and sometimes new shoes for the ones that had
>pulley keys. The regulation screw eyes and buttons and felts are all new.
>We even replace these and hammer return springs on many of our refurbished
>pianos because it improves regulatability and touch on an old original
>action.
>
><soundboard>  Although this (along with several other widely held myths) is
>something that some techs seem to think is not possible, I recrown the old
>soundboard in 99% of pianos.  The remaining 1% get new soundboards for extra
>charge. The old ones sound better than new spruce can sound.  Most bridges
>are kept.  If I can feel like it will last another 30 years without
>cracking, I keep the old bridges.  This only happens (keeping them) with
>about 10% of bass bridges and 90% of treble bridges.  I usually only have to
>replace pin blocks in 10% of uprights.  It is running about 95% replacement
>in grands, lately.
>
><keybed, action brackets, and action rails - most hardware would remain, but
>of course that is <refinished at the least.>
>
>All metal parts are wire wheeled and lacquered unless they were originally
>painted then they are painted again.
>
><And a grain-filled, hand rubbed lacquer finish. You do all that for $4K <to
>$8K? >
>
>The kind of finish is up to the customer---how much do they want to spend?
>But yes finish work will crank it up toward the high end of the price range.
>
>I have charged more than $8K on a few occasions.  My restoration of a
>birdcage upright begins at $10K.  Yes, I believe we have prices that are
>reasonable.  Perhaps that is why I have so much work.  Perhaps it is why I
>get instruments from all over the country.  I have delivered instruments to
>20 states at last count.  I know that what I do cannot be done for my prices
>on either East or West coast.  Perhaps I need to increase my prices.  I will
>decide that after I complete the several that are in the shop now.  Middle
>America has lower home prices as well as other costs of living.
>
>Nothing is sent out of the country, state, city or even my shop.  Except for
>replating, it is all done here.  I do not know if folks who are thinking
>like you are have ever done all this work on an upright or whether they are
>just awed by and perhaps scared by how much work is involved in doing it.
>It IS a lot of work, but when you do them like we do you learn faster ways
>of doing it without cutting corners.  My customers are accustomed to having
>no corner cut.  But the few folks who have been trained or have watched,
>have been stunned at how fast good quality work can be done when there is
>experience in the mix.  I do know this:  I do not have warranty calls and I
>warranty every item we restore for five years.
>
>Back when I had a one man shop with no phone calls or sales to deal with, I
>could do all this to an upright in only a matter of about a month plus.  It
>now takes several months to do one.
>
>I have a Washburn upright player that I am completing now that was water
>damaged.  We thought that a bathroom leak had dripped on the piano back for
>a week or two.  When I dismantled it, I decided it had been longer than
>that.  Luckily there was no rot or darkening except in the pin block.  Once
>the plate was removed, the soundboard, pin block, timbers and spacer blocks
>in the back all sort of fell into a pile of lumber.  It was probably the
>worst I have had to restore.  However, I found that by having all the ribs
>off the soundboard and having to glue all the soundboard joints and ribs
>back together, I was able to control the crown just like the factory did
>using my dry room and reshaping the ribs before regluing them.  It was a
>fine challenge, but the finished product will be worth it.  The "new" old
>soundboard rings loudly like a tympani when I hit it with my fist.  I will
>have it strung this week and I can hardly wait to hear it.  It got a new pin
>block, new bridges and all the timbers got to be cleaned of glue and glued
>all back together.  It has taken longer than expected to complete.  The
>customer will be happy to hear it again as it is a family heirloom that will
>be delivered to the son of the present owner when it is complete.  It will
>be a fine passing down of a family treasure.  Probably about half of my
>restorations of all kinds are people restoring an instrument for a gift to
>children or children restoring Grandmas piano to help them remember Grandma
>when she is no longer around.  I suspect that the added age on the
>soundboard will make it sound even better than Grandma heard it when the
>spruce was only a few years old.
>
>I will soon have a new website up that will be much more informative than my
>present one.  It will try to answer many of the questions that folks may
>have about upright rebuild myths.
>
>D.L. Bullock
>www.thepianoworld.com
>St. Louis

Ouch, you certainly kick my butt.  I can't wait for your web site.

David Koelzer
DFW