Refinishing

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Les Smith wrote:

> Hi, Del.
>
> Not to be a nit-picker, but I assume that the last sentence of your post
> refers to _grands_, right? :)

Yup. Vertical pianos really did benifit from the idea of overstrung bass strings. Grands I'm not so convinced about.


> If my memory serves me correctly, when
> you pulled the keyslip off that old grand and looked under the keys, you
> saw a set of gleamimg, solid-brass key-pins staring back at you. That
> always impressed me as a classy touch, since no one but the technician
> would ever see them.

Again, yup. I agree. There may be some benifit to the plated pin, but you couldn't tell from the solid brass pins that I've
seen. And they did add a classy touch. But there doesn't seem to be much call for "class" these days. Down and dirty and,
most of all, cheap.


> Many years ago, when I was working for a large rebuilder, we took in an
> ancient Steinway vertical, dating back to 1868. 1869, something like that.
> The finish was ebony, and the word "ebonized" was embossed into the open-
> face pinblock, so there was no question that it was the original finish.
> However, when we stripped it--you guessed it--it was rosewood underneath.
> Steinway, themselves, had ebonized a rosewood case! We never could figure
> that one out. Needless to say, in this instance we ignored historical
> accuracy in favor of common sense, and refinished the piano as rosewood.
> That was a lot of years ago. I've often wondered what tuners most think
> when they open up that gorgeous case and still find the word "ebonized"
> on the pinblock. I guess the answers to some questions are lost forever.
>
> All the best,
>
> Les Smith

Did you look for flaws in the rosewood veneer? I mean the subtle types of things that would have been considered flaws in
1868, not the stuff that would be passed off as "the natural character of wood" today and charged extra for. I've seen this
on a couple of pianos and if you look carefully you can sometimes figure out why the finish was changed from rosewood or
mahogany or whatever to "ebony."

Del