fortepianos

[Dennis Johnson]

At 11:27 PM 2/15/95 -0700, Steve Brady wrote:

>        What kind of Dampp-Chaser setup do you have in this piano? Does
>the piano have an enclosed bottom, or is the soundboard exposed? I'm
>trying to visualize putting a humidity-control system in our Regier, but
>the bottom is closed off, so I'm not clear on where it would go...
>
>Steve Brady, RPT

---------------------------

        As soon as I sent that remark I knew that I should have qualified
further. This Streicher copy is actually the only fortepiano I've ever seen
with an open bottom, so installing a humidity system was easy. Margaret
Hood claims that this is a copy of a specific Streicher which survives in a
museum, (I can't remember which one) without legs. She must be right, but
the Wolf's Streicher now in production has a bottom. I have also been told
that the current Wolf Streicher is not really a precise copy of one
particular instrument. The Lyon's and Reiger's I've seen also had bottoms.

        I'm not really sure what purpose that bottom serves if not for some
aid in stability, and have no idea how you might install a humidity system.
 Sorry.


                                                Dennis Johnson