Well.... we had two in our small area. One would be a fluke and two is a red flag for future consideration. That's how I see it. Beside there are many other candidates far more worthy of this hypothetical scenario being considered. You Know? Dale S. Erwin www.Erwinspiano.com Custom piano restoration Ronsen piano hammers-sales R & D and tech support Sitka soundboard panels 209-577-8397 209-985-0990 -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Sun, Nov 14, 2010 5:12 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Brambach to rebuild? I do not remember that Brambach's were known for plate failure. That would certainly make one hesitate before taking a project on. Perhaps it would be an argument for lowering the overall tension on the piano. I wonder if the plate problems were a result of a design issue or a casting issue? Or both? How many of these have you actually come across in your years of rebuilding? Is it enough to make a broad generalization? We sometimes have to be careful about extrapolating from a limited sample: There were many hundreds of thousands of these pianos produced. On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com> wrote: Yeah, I take the point but but my point is that with out the plate... its a pile of firewood with a piano shaped boat anchor attached. Yes one needs a nose to work on or a piano ;) Dale S. Erwin 0 It wouldn't BE a Brambach after the rebuild - it would be something new! Rescaled with a redesigned belly, new action with Ronsen Wurzen felt hammers, etc. The point is to showcase the transformation a rebuilder can make with the most famous of the humble brands. Its one thing for a cosmetic surgeon to do a fantastic nose job on Nicole Kidman, another thing to do it on Walter Mattheu (RIP)! On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 6:59 AM, Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com> wrote: - Coming to this thread late. We have seen more than a few Brambachs over the years with cracked/ broken plates. This is the first reason why this shop says no to working on them. Second is they are horrible pianos. You can string them and do a hammer transplant and they still sound like .....A Brambach :) AMHIK Dale S. Erwin Sent: Sun, Nov 14, 2010 4:13 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Brambach to rebuild? I see and understand your point completely. Yes, the name Brambach certainly does bring instant recognition within this industry. Okay, gotcha! Terry Farrell On Nov 12, 2010, at 11:59 AM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote: > Terry, you're quite right -- the bass has some problems. Still, I've > seen > worse. With vertical hitches and the right scaling, though, it won't > be a > "bad" bass; it just won't be the best that can be done in a piano of > this > size. > > I saw all of those problems as well...but they were over-ridden by > that > wonderful shot of the name "Brambach" cast into the plate. To be > sure, there > are probably other no-name pianos out there that might be better raw > material for the ultimate rebuild but none of them will have that > legendary > name! It is instantly recognizable by any piano technician. And it's > known > -- absolutely! Positively! -- to be nothing good. The thing is, you > see, > it's not just that we couldn't possibly expect anything great > because it > wasn't built by one of the old masters -- we're absolutely convinced > that > nothing great ever could come out of a Brambach. Ever. Period. Dot. > So if > something good does come out it must be due to something the > rebuilder did. > And maybe, just maybe, he/she might be able to do it again. > > My reasoning for liking a project such as this goes along these > lines: Given > a new action and appropriate hammers, a well thought out scale (Of > course I > have some ideas!) and a competently designed soundboard and bridge > system, > the bulk of the piano's compass--the three-fourths of the keyboard > compass > where most pianists spend most of their time -- will be as good as > can be > achieved in any other piano. Yes, the lowest bass will be a little > less than > could be done starting with some other platform; even so, I can see > comparing the low bass with new pianos (of similar size) costing > upwards of > $55K. And, quite frankly, I'd be pleased if a potential client had > gone out > and shopped some of the well-known and very high-end pianos before > coming to > see my low-life Brambach. I might even suggest it.... > > ddf > > Delwin D Fandrich > Piano Design & Fabrication > 620 South Tower Avenue > Centralia, Washington 98531 USA > del at fandrichpiano.com > ddfandrich at gmail.com > Phone 360.736.7563 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] > On Behalf > Of Terry Farrell > Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 5:04 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Brambach to rebuild? > > Hi Del - I looked at those pictures and one thing I noted what that > the bass > section had a short backscale, the bass bridge has an apron, and the > tenor > hitch pins are very close to the bass bridge. All suggesting to me > that it > would be rather difficult to move the bass bridge forward much if > any at > all. Seems to me that even if you cut a redesigned soundboard free > at the > foot, although some improvement in tone might be had, the short > backscale > would still tend to cause that nasty constrained nasal tone in the > bass. > Would it not be better to find a different old no-name clunker that > might > better lend itself to redesign improvements? > > Looking again at the photo of the bass bridge area, I see there is > an apron > of plate iron forward of the tenor hitch pins (in front of the bass > bridge). > If that is full-thickness, I suppose you could move those pins > forward a bit > - assuming more notes would be destined for a transition bridge. > Still seems > a bit cramped in that area though, and my guess is that the apron > thins. But > then again, I suppose all this is a problem common to most small > grands. But > perhaps some lend themselves to improvements more that others (like > this > one)? > > Terry Farrell > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101115/be90de2d/attachment.htm>
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