Brambach

[harvey]

Patrick, this reply is posted too late to help you... not that it would
help anyway.

My tagline is strictly tongue-in-cheek. It implies a certain pensiveness,
and became my stock answer on the telephone when a prospect asked the
question that agrees with my answer. 8-}

About then (1974), I began to wonder whether I was getting all the
Brambachs in Los Angeles. It certainly seemed that way. Although I didn't
(and still don't) prefer them as a piano of choice, I really did gain some
"familiarity" with them, up to and including action reconditioning with new
hammers. Some of that familiarity was earned the hard way... by trial and
error instead of studying up on the product. Unfortunately, no study was to
be found, and since I "apparently" had all of them, fellow technicians
weren't much help either.

I think the basic sales positioning (pricing) and marketing philosophy was
on the order of: chicken in every pot, car in every garage, Brambach in
every living room. 

Strange #1: John Ford's father had something to do with the
design/development (unsure of details).

Strange #2: It may have been a Brambach that we gutted and 'prepared' for
use as a prop on the Carol Burnett show -- the one where she falls over
into the piano.

Strange #3: The last Brambach I worked on was in the same room with a
Sohmer grand. The previous homeowners had left the Sohmer in the house, the
new homeowners brought the Brambach with them, and that was the one I was
asked to service. I ended up swapping work for the Sohmer instead of money.
I was young, ambitious, and eager to learn and please the client. In
retrospect, I now know I should have sweetened that deal in my favor.

Strange #4: Dreams do come true. Since moving back to the east coast, I
have not encountered a single Brambach. With that in mind, it's been over
fifteen years since my last "encounter". So, trusting failing memory you
will, or -did- find:

- upright hammer shanks
- original (now worn-out) hammers, butchered to accommodate radical rake
- pear-shaped (and worn-out) knuckles supported by... air, for all
practical purposes
- beams (huh?)
- keybed (the outline of one anyway)
- keyframe bedding (never did figure out how, not that it would have mattered)
- action shift (try it)

Instead of 'eccentric', I would paint this brand with a different brush
than K&B, or even the Chickering Brothers/Sons/Uncles/Nephews. My memory
may really be fading, but I think I would prefer working on a Gulbransen,
or DeKalb, or...? Brambachs were not built -for- speed, comfort, or
longevity. Instead, they were built -with- speed and comfort. Why so much
longevity is unknown, and defies all known laws of physics and science.

The appraisal around here would be: free piano in exchange for hauling away. 



At 08:03 PM 9/1/99 -0500, you wrote:
>> Yes, I'm familiar with Brambach... why do you ask?
>>         -Jim Harvey, 1974
>
>I have to go appraise a Brambach tomorrow morning ... and was wondering...
[cut]


Jim Harvey, RPT
Greenwood, SC
harvey@greenwood.net
________________________
 -- someone who's been in the field too long.