Stillneedhelp 1883 Chickering

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Lance,

First of all, any 1883 Chickering that is being "restored" for its musical value -- as
opposed to its "antique" value -- should be getting a new soundboard. Attempting to
resurrect this soundboard may make the piano sound somewhat less bad than it did when you
started, but will be a far cry from what it should and could be with a new, and properly
functioning, soundboard. (You may be measuring some discernible crown right now after
having been moved to Louisiana from Colorado, but it won't be there long.)

That said, can you discern why the two ribs may have been removed. Assuming, of course,
that they didn't just fall out after glue failure and the previous technician either
couldn't be bothered, or couldn't figure out, how to replace them. There may have been a
more-or-less logical reason for removing them. On two occasions in the past I have done
some serious modifying to the lower end of Chickering grands. Mr Chickering didn't always
exhibit that great a flair for soundboard design.

So the answers to a few more questions are in order before stepping boldly out on that
shaky spruce limb -- in fact, a sketch of the situation might be in order, first: What is
the sound in the bass section like? Does it have good sustain? Or is it some on the short
side. Is there any fundamental left? Are the strings in good enough condition that you can
tell? You've indicated about how long these ribs might have been, can you tell how wide
they were? (Measure the width of the glue track.) Where were these ribs located relative
to the bass bridge. How long is the piano, by the way? How many ribs were there
originally?  What is the soundboard grain angle? What is the angle of the ribs relative to
this grain angle?

With the above information, it might be possible to take an educated guess about what you
should do next with this piano.

-- ddf

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

Lance Lafargue wrote:

> I'm sending this again, hoping someone can help.  Thanks!
>
> I recently took on a restoration job for a Chickering grand (1883).  I will
> begin in about 8-10 weeks. Everything looks like it will be straight
> forward except for the soundboard.  The piano came from it's home in
> Colorado to me in Louisiana (it's now adjusted to our humid climate and now
> I think it's a couple of inches longer).  At some point in it's past the
> bass bridge was reglued/screwed.  I am assuming that at this time the
> technician decided that it was necessary to remove the last two ribs (near
> the tail) from the soundboard.  There is crown in the middle of the
> soundboard but there is some warpage and inconsistency.  My question is: Is
> it mandatory that I replace those ribs, and how do I do it?  They are about
> 10" and 16"long (?).  Can I just shape the ribs for some crown and glue
> them in with soundboard repair jigs?  How do I get them into the rim? The
> customer is not terribly interested in antique value, just
> playability/sound.  It sounds surprisingly good now, despite the "Adam's
> rib" extraction.  THANKS!!
> Lance Lafargue, RPT
> New Orleans Chapter
> Covington, LA.
> lafargue@iamerica.net
>
> Lance Lafargue, RPT
> New Orleans Chapter
> Covington, LA.
> lafargue@iamerica.net