Harpsichord Climate Control

Clark caccola@net1plus.com
Fri, 24 Sep 1999 10:11:35 -0100


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Ken,

Most harpsichords have structural bottoms glued or nailed in place. Italian
instruments in particular are built from the bottom up, so chances are very
good that short of total disassembly you will not be able to install a climate
control system under the soundboard.

The worst looking soundboard I've seen was on a Bill Ross Italian instrument,
the cypress board nearly touched the strings in the summer and featured some
enormous cracks. I'd suggest contacting the maker for a better idea of their
shop conditions, or at least finding out where it was made so that you can
guess at an ideal RH. Possibly just running a humidifyer in the winter will
help.

Spinets and virginals are different: mine will not play without the
Dampp-Chaser I installed because the upper guides are part of the soundboard.
But on these instruments, the nameboard provides access to the inside.

Good luck,

Clark

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