Old Packard upright

[Susan Kline]

That sounds very promising, Gordon, and sort of fun in a way,
too, don't you think?

I mentioned only doing the broken bridle tapes because you might
have to remove the action, or fold it forward to get to bad butt
plates. If too many bridle tapes are gone, it's a pain getting the action back
in, tripping each jamming jack one at a time. But if the butt plates
are all right, and cost is that tight, maybe you could just leave
the bridles alone? After all, most old uprights play pretty well without
them, if the hammer springs are working okay. Not that it wouldn't
be nice to do them all later, but if the money is wavering right
on the edge of "go -- no go" ... Was his light wire working okay?
I've seen all sorts of homemade bridle tapes and fixes, like taking
the bridle tape and gluing it to the top of the backcheck if the
tab is broken out, and it seems that most of them worked, more or
less. It might be nice to tell the dad that his (er ...) rustic
repair worked, even if there was a better way to do it.

If the hammer grooves are really awful, and a few have shifted so
the tone is lousy, it's quick to file with that little hammer file with
the semicircular plastic sides (which keep the sandpaper square with
the hammer.) I angle it forward and backward to take more
off the ends of the grooves than the middle. Fast, and fixes the
tone, when the hammers are totally shot anyway.

Sometimes I'd consider that tightening hammer flange screws is worth the
time/money, for quietness, and that can shift the hammer spacing,
but Packards usually have butt plates instead, anyway.

Thanks for replying. Do keep me informed of how this goes ...

Susan

At 12:50 PM 5/23/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks for the suggestions Susan, however.  I believe with this
>family, right now - 2002, that at most the charge for a tuning might
>have been acceptable, but the $150 to $200 would probably be out of
>the question.  I did give some consideration to finding a way to do
>just the "bare necessities" for now, and this discussion with your
>suggestions was what I was hoping would come out of my little story
>about this piano. The father had taken a very light gauge wire and
>attempted to make a connection, from the top of the bridle wire, back
>through the bridle strap hole in the catcher and tied it off there.
>Very crude, but he thought this would help.  Before putting my mind
>in gear I said "boy someone has messed with this" while pointing at
>one of the many examples with my pencil, and he remarked very
>quietly, "ya, I did that, not so good ha?".  Next time I'll be a
>little more careful with that kind of comment.
>  I'm considering these alternatives, one being using eigher the cork
>tipped or spring clip bridal strap.  I fear, without touching the
>straps that are still in place, that many are just waiting to fall
>off with the slighest tug.
>I believe I'll go back and take a quick inventory of what parts I'd
>need to do the "bare necessities" now, hammer heads and shanks,
>not file the hammers, and not mark the parts up, add a charge for
>tuning at pitch and see if that would be more appealing.
>I can spit from my house to their's so there's no travel involved.
>I'll try and talk with them over the holiday weekend and up-date you
>next week.  I do appreciate your interest and sugggestions.
>Regards, Gordon
>On 23 May 2002 at 9:52, Susan Kline wrote:
>
> > Gordon, instead of letting that Packard sit derelict till it
> > is hauled to the landfill, in the meantime doing the little
> > girl no good at all, why not take an intermediate approach?
> > Instead of "doing it all the right way", why not just get
> > it playing? Tune it at pitch, replace the broken bridle
> > tapes but leave the rest for now, replace the broken hammer
> > shanks, get the notes working, ignore the chipped ivories
> > but slap on some recycled ivories for the missing
> > ones (CA glue has certainly helped that work!)
> >
> > For me, the trouble with Packards is likely to be failing
> > butt plates (a nuisance ...) or broken tongues (much worse.)
> > I hate repair clips, but sometimes they are the only practical
> > answer I've found.
> >
> > The broken shanks are in the top section? This would provide
> > you with an opportunity for tonal research, which I took with
> > a Packard I worked on. In the high treble, check out the hammer
> > shanks -- you will probably find that they are shaved narrow,
> > not on the sides like in grands, but on the backs. This
> > makes the shank flex more, and improves the tone in the high
> > treble, as I found out. Someone had replaced one of these
> > with a full round shank, and the tone on that note was
> > noticeably worse than its neighbors. (Also the fitting was klutzy ...)
> > So I did it over, and sanded the back of the shank to match
> > the others -- and the tone sprang back to life! It was fun.
> >
> > Do you think you could do this basic "make it play" work for
> > $150 or $200? Maybe they could manage that -- you'd have saved
> > that Packard for someone to fully restore 50 years from now,
> > and the family would benefit now. So often "the best" drives
> > out "the good", and one is left with nothing but dust and ashes.
> > If they could keep and use the piano for a few years now, they
> > might gradually come up with more cash to deal with some of
> > the rest later on, piecemeal.
> >
> > (Just my take on it ... there are a limited number of Packard
> > uprights in the world, and I don't like seeing that number decline
> > because of temporary difficulties.)
> >
> > Susan
> >
> > At 10:35 AM 5/23/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> > >Hello Susan and List.  I was asked by a neighbor with 4 children, one
> > >girl 9 years old that had been taking piano lessons, to look at their
> > >old piano that wasn't playing right and needed some work.  It turned
> > >out to be a Packard, 1912, with many ailements.  Hammers needed to be
> > >filed, a couple broken shanks, a few keys not playable but did have
> > >the hammers and shanks, many, many bridal straps gone or broken, and
> > >most key top front edges were chipped with a few key tops completely
> > >gone.  The case wasn't that bad, it varied from 25 cents flat to 5
> > >cents sharp.  No new strings or replacement parts that I could find.
> > >Did not check the sound board for cracks.  Father asked what it would
> > >take to get it into playing condition as the little girl stood there
> > >listening to the conversation.  She said she had stopped taking
> > >lessons some time back and that was understandable.  I've know the
> > >family for some 10 years and they just seem to squeek by, now with a
> > >son graduating from high school wanting to go to college.  He plays
> > >the drums and the other kids seem to have a little musical talent
> > >also.  The father and I talked quietly, while mother and the children
> > >stood around. As I verbally walked through the estimated costs to
> > >rework what was apparent without "digging" further, I reached the
> > >$500 mark and the father said "well times are a little strained right
> > >now so I believe we'll wait until later".  Boy, the look of
> > >disappointment on the little girls face was enough to really tug on
> > >the ole heart.  He said to wrap up our conversation, "well, if and
> > >when we every move from here, we'll just leave the piano with the
> > >house".  This is the second time that I've visited a home with an old
> > >upright that the owner just didn't have the money to "do it right".
> > >With grandfathers like me with 7 grown children and 14 grandchildren,
> > >who many are very musically gifted (taking after grampa) there are
> > >times I wished I had a trust fund I could dip into and help some of
> > >these "Old Upright Families".  Have a great holiday weekend.  Best
> > >regards, Gordon Holley, Goshen, Indiana.
> > >
> > >On 22 May 2002 at 12:42, Susan Kline wrote:
> > > > <snip>
> > > > Some of my other upright favorites are Packard,