rebuilding decisions

[James Grebe]

Don't get too excited about tri-chords in the upper bass.  Lester spinets
has that also.
I am intrigued about the small bellows on the inside of the fallboard.  Any
chance for a pic of that mechanism?
Jim
James Grebe
Piano-Forte Tuning & Repair
Creator of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups
WWW.JamesGrebe.com
1526 Raspberry Lane
Arnold, MO 63010
BECOME WHAT YOU BELIEVE!
pianoman@accessus.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Davidson" <mark.davidson@mindspring.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: rebuilding decisions


> Thanks for the comments, Robin.  The piano is 4'10", quite small, but
> interestingly doesn't seem small, if that makes any sense.  SN 51124.
> One of the action rails has a 1923 date stamped on the end.
> Many baby grands look "truncated" to me whereas this one looks
> more to  be proportionately scaled down.  I will post scale
> measurements when I have them, but I thought it was interesting to
> have wound trichords at the high end of the bass bridge - something
> I haven't seen before.
>
> The soundboard seems to be quite solid and the sound is still
> strong with lots of sustain (ignoring the dead bass strings and flattened
> hammers).  I won't be making any rash decisions in that department.
> Right now it's in my garage with a dehumidifier at about 45%
> and I'll let it sit a few weeks to make sure nothing develops.
> I thought about putting a small (25W) light bulb under the piano
> to help dry it, but I don't want to *encourage* cracks, so I think
> not.
>
> I tried reshaping one of the flattened hammers and a much fuller
> tone resulted, bright but without the harshness of the flat strike
> points.
>
> I tend to agree with you about the bridges.  The treble bridge
> has only a few hairline cracks, while the bass bridge is really
> splitting in places.  The workmanship is amazing on these -
> I don't think my photos do them justice.  Note the maker's
> mark on the treble bridge photo.
>
> > The pictures suggests that the pins are loose in the birdseye, even if
the
> > bushings themselves are OK.
>
> Not sure what you're seeing here, but I will check these more
> closely.
>
> Silk cords - yes once they start to go...  These are installed with little
> pegs holding them in place.  Probably glued also.
>
> Another "feature" -  a small bellows at the left end of the fallboard,
> presumably some sort of "slow fall" damping mechanism (fallboard is
> two-piece with hinge in middle of keys).
>
> -Mark
>
> > I am surprised to see the piano was made this late if it has agraffes
all
> > the
> > way to the top.  Perhaps I'll learn something here.  The whippen shown
in
> > the
> > picture, though, is quite modern and not like the one used in HF Miller
up
> > until
> > the 1880's or so.  So here you have one antique characteristic- the lack
> > of a
> > Capo, and one modern one - the type of whippen.   How long is the piano?
> >
> > These are tremendous pianos, in the very front rank, in my opinion.  At
> > least
> > the ones up until the second decade or so of the last century.
> >
> >
> > In my opinion, on this piano the best course, given adequate
downbearing,
> > or the
> > possibility of acquiring it by a plate adjustment or aliquot change,
would
> > be to
> > pull the bridge pins and seat them in either epoxy or CA.  One should
try
> > to
> > allow the material to flow out into the cracks.  The bass bridge
probably
> > should
> > be recapped.
> >
> >
> > The suggestion elsewhere to replace the board is entirely inappropriate,
> > either
> > for learning purposes or technical reasons, in my opinion.  Just be sure
> > there
> > is some measurable crown in it.   One should choose intelligently where
to
> > apply  resources so they will be put to best use.  The board on this
piano
> > is
> > very likely to be perfectly adequate and an expert installation of high
> > quality
> > material and your chances of replicating this at this point, with a
> > generic, off
> > the shelf soundboard, are,  pardon me for being frank,  zero to nill.
Not
> > to
> > mention why take on another headache when one temple is pounding
already?
> > By
> > that I mean the legion of details to be attended to in doing a good job
of
> > rebuilding what is already there.
> >
> > The pictures suggests that the pins are loose in the birdseye, even if
the
> > bushings themselves are OK.
> >
> > The cords are a time bomb waiting to go off and should be replaced.
Also
> > the
> > pining looks suspiciously like it may be loose, at least on the rep
lever.
> >
> >
> > One has to be careful with a replacement for the hammers as the shape in
> > this
> > area is extremely critical if it is to clear well.
> >  You should be able to wind up with a great piano, make a profit and
> > acquire a
> > valuable bit of expertise.
> > Regards, Robin Hufford
> >
>
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