Knabe in Houston

[Stéphane Collin]

Hi Avery.

 

I do have such a Knabe grand.  When it came in, I had a failure to the
humidity control system in my workshop.  I first didn’t care, as all other
pianos in the room had new soundboards, and I intended to do major repair to
that Knabe anyway.  To my great surprise, the piano which did undergo
humidity levels ranging from 27 % to 68 % (+/- 5%) didn’t suffer at all.
Not a single crack in the soundboard (original and 130 years old) nor in the
pinblock.  The only failure on this piano was an agraffee which popped up.
Of course, not the standard size.  Any older Bechstein original board would
have deteriorated in such conditions.

 

That is the opportunity to ask : how is this possible ?  I mean, if the
ribbing process was intended for a humid climate, the board assembly would
suffer in the dry period, not ?  and other way round.  How can a board
withstand the extremes ?  Better wood ?  

 

Best regards.

 

Stéphane Collin.

 

 

I have a customer who's still in that position who owns a late 1800's Knabe
grand. Around 1890, I think. My question is that because of its age, is this
instrument more likely than newer types to develop any damage/problems in
the future from not being in air-conditioning for that long? It's been
restrung somewhere along the way but beside minor repairs, I believe that is
all that's ever been done to it, except tuning. The weather hasn't been TOO
bad but the temperature has gotten into the low to mid 90's and humidity
into the 70%+ range during the day. I'm concerned primarily about any
possible structural problems with an instrument this old. 

 

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