Odd Bechstein

[Ron Nossaman]

>That sound about right. Many German piano factories "tropicalized" their
>pianos for humid climates, to prevent glue failure. They were called
>"Tropeninstrumente".
>But the screws through the soundboard and into the ribs are typical for all
>Bechstein pianos, not only the "tropical" ones.
>
>  Calin Tantareanu


I re-strung a tropicalized Hamburg Steinway C recently, with some minor 
action work. It was the only thing still standing on the slab after a 
tornado took the house. That had to be an interesting sight. Lots of 
shrapnel wounds, but very little water damage. After shoveling out the 
bucket of broken glass and bird feathers, I found that every piece of felt 
in the thing was either tacked down with brass brads, or stitched onto it's 
wooden part through drilled holes. Oh, and a Kilo of screws attaching the 
soundboard to the ribs. Anyone know what the extra charge was (is) to 
tropicalize a piano like this? It HAS to be fierce. One person would surely 
have either a birthday or a breakdown before getting through one.

Ron N