[pianotech] Mirror Piano

[John Musselwhite]

I'm WAY behind in my mail but I thought I'd respond to this one as 
others had commented too.

About 15 years ago one of these Mirror pianos came into Besse's shop 
for "restoration" of the exterior. Turned out to be a late 1890s 
Steinway that was still in reasonable condition inside. Gord Moffatt 
repaired the sides, remanufactured the front so it was fairly 
authentic and even made a pattern off my Style E's legs to make new 
legs for it as well as making a small treble bridge repair. When 
finished it looked almost like the catalogue picture and since the 
interior was still fairly good it sounded and played great too!  Had 
it not been a family piano it wouldn't have been worth the cost, but 
the result was quite spectacular compared to its formerly butchered 
appearance.

                 John


At 07:29 AM 07/10/2011, you wrote:
>I told someone yesterday that the cut-off portion of an old Upright, 
>where they added the mirror, did not degrade the structure of the 
>piano. I still believe that, but I wanted to confirm it with others. 
>She found this online, not I don't think to argue against my point, 
>but just as an anecdote:
>
>"During World War 2, American piano manufacturers ceased production 
>to assist in the war effort. Rationing made it impossible to build a 
>piano during those years, so piano tuners and rebuilders saw a 
>golden opportunity to keep up with the public's demands by 
>introducing the "mirror piano". They simply took a large old 
>upright, often a gutted player piano, cut a step-shelf along the 
>top, and secured a mirror across the exposed back so that the piano 
>had the appearance of being smaller or more modern. These 
>"re-styled" pianos became very popular during the war, and 
>unfortunately this trend continued for another 30 years. Hundreds of 
>thousands of heirloom pianos were butchered during these years, and 
>they are still commonly encountered. Because irreparable damage was 
>done to the integrity of the instrument, mirror pianos are seldom 
>worth more than a few hundred dollars at best."
>
>Are we all in agreement that the "irreparable damage" is cosmetic only?

-------------------------------
John Musselwhite, RPT  -  Registered Piano Technician
Musselwhite Piano Services - Calgary, Alberta Canada
Office/cel (403) 246-7717 Fax (403) 255-5268
Outside of Calgary call Toll Free:  1-866-95-PIANO (1-866-957-4266)
www.musselwhite.com
"Three Generations of Experience"
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