Schiedmayer Grand Questions

[John Delacour]

At 02:43 -0400 10/7/08, Joe DeFazio wrote:

>...The piano in question is a Schiedmayer grand, ca. 1905, about 6' 
>3", which was previously rebuilt (perhaps 30 years ago, I'd guess). 
>The previous rebuilding job was done with varying quality of 
>craftsmanship in different areas, and because of the previous 
>rebuild, I'm not sure what aspects what I'm seeing are original, and 
>what are the previous rebuilder's modifications, if any.

FIrst question : WHICH Schiedmayer?  There are two completely 
seperate companies, Schiedmayer & Soehne and Schiedmayer 
Pianofortefabrik (was J & P Schiedmayer).  They were both good but, 
at least for a long while, there was no love lost between them, I 
understand.  At any rate there is no similarity in the designs of the 
two makes.

>My first set of questions is about disassembly and pinblock  fitting.ÊÊ
>The current (failed) block is not attached to the stretcher (which 
>is removable),and is also not attached to the rim at the sides (not 
>to mention that it barely touches the plate flange).  As it is now, 
>it looks as if you could pull the plate with the pinblock still 
>attached.  I've read that this is the case with some European 
>pianos, but I've not seen it before here in the USA.

It's not usual in high quality pianos.  It's a good while since I did 
a grand from either factory but I doubt if the plank was originally 
like this.  Does it look as if the plank has been replaced by the 
previous repairer?


>...Even though the current one isn't, should the new block be glued 
>into the rim at the edges?  Marcel Carey mentioned in a 2001 post 
>that he had found that the block was glued into the sides on one (or 
>more) Schiedmayer that he had encountered.  What would be the best 
>practice for this type of piano?

Once you have the frame and the plank out, it should become quite 
clear how the piano was originally constructed, and I'd rebuild it as 
it was meant to be originally.

>3) David Love mentioned in a 2001 post about a Schiedmayer grand 
>that there are two long, thick smooth-headed "rivets" at the front 
>corners of the plate that extend through the block and into the 
>shelf at the sides of the case.  David, or anyone else who has 
>experienced this, how did you get them out?  Were they attached at 
>the bottom in any way, or are they more like registration pins?

This is only on the S. Pianofortefabrik grands. They are bolts 
without a slot that are screwed into a captive square nut. 
Originally the nut was tightened on to the bolt and then covered up 
so you can't get at it.  If you can grind a good slot in the domed 
head of the bolt, you will be able to turn them out with a big 
screwdriver.  Otherwise, punch and drill off the head with a 10mm 
drill.

>The second area about which I have questions is the scaling (John 
>Delacour, I bet you saw that coming, as you've written about high 
>tensions in Schiedmayers).  There are no marks on the plate or 
>bridges for string gauges, and I don't know if the stringing scale 
>I'm seeing is original or not.  When I started to record the scale 
>data, It seemed unusual, so I plotted the plain wire data in Pscale. 
>Tensions are extremely high (almost 19 tons in the plain wire 
>alone!), and the high treble is above 80% of breaking point.  I 
>understand that the problem is really that the speaking lengths are 
>too long, which I can't change without a belly redesign (out of the 
>budget anyway, and beyond my current experience).  I also understand 
>that I can't really change the plain-wire breaking percentages, 
>either (since wire gauge and breaking point are directly 
>proportional).  However, I can reduce the overall tension on the 
>plate somewhat via wire gauge changes (along with bass rescaling), 
>which I am strongly considering doing.
>
>4) Should I?

For the bass scale there is no problem; this can be brought within 
proper tolerances and will also sound better.  Send me the lengths of 
the plain wire and the bass so that I can do my own calculations. 
The problem of excessive tension is common to both factories, and to 
grands and uprights, at least at certain periods.

JD