The teacher's piano

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Marvin McDonald wrote:

> Tom & List,
> The action was actually developed by Darrell Fandrich and Chris Trevellas
> and I'm sure that Del had some input.

Only in trying to get the action into some kind of manufacturable shape.  The
concept and ideas were those of my brother -- and later on Chris.


> Del enginerred and designed the
> Fandrich Piano.  These gentlemen have actually created a spot for
> themselves in "Musical & Instrumental History".  I do not understand all of
> the ramifications as to why the Fandrich piano is no longer built but its a
> shame that it isn't.  The piano action was as good as any Renner grand
> action you've ever seen as far as speed of recovery and control.  Del had
> designed the piano so that it worked amazingly well with the lightest set
> of hammers I've ever heard of.  I can't remember the exact weight of the
> hammers but it seems it was 3 lbs ( Being a stubby Texan I might be
> exaggerating a bit).  They were also unlaquered and produced an excellent
> tone. Del also designed the piano so that the back looked like a piece of
> sculptured art.  This way you could display the back of the piano, where
> all of the sound comes from, to the audience.  BTW  George Harris of Beatle
> fame purchased one of the early Fandrich Pianos.

The hammers were only small by comparison to the oversize rocks commonly put on
modern pianos.  They were actually equivalent to what is known in the U.S. as
14 or 15 lb. hammers.  (This is really a terrible way to designate hammer
size!)  They were made by Abel to my specifications and were considerably
softer than is typically used today.  In terms of density and resilience they
were much more comparable to what would have been found on pianos prior to 1930
or so.

Regards,

Del