Dear List: A customer has recently acquired a cottage piano aka birdcage action piano. It is a Brimsmeade serial number 38828. As it isn't listed in my Pierce Atlas, I was wondering if any of you (most likely someone in the UK or some Commonwealth state) would be able to look up the date of manufacture for this piano. Yep, I realize the K&C spinet I recently castigated may sound like a concert grand in comparison, but the customer likes it ... I usually run away when I hear the words "birdcage", but I will work on it if he accepts my estimate. It *does* have an exquisite case, and I'm guessing it was a very late model "cottage piano" (is there a more proper name for these?). There's lots of lost motion to regulate away, but the parts seem fairly good. Were cottage piano's tuning pins *ever* tight enough to hold a tuning? Were they designed for a very low (like a half tone flat of A440?) pitch standard? -- This one is about 150 cents flat, and wildly out of tune. While alot of CA might make the pinblock tight enough for a major pitchraise, I'm dubious about the frame and strings' ability to handle it. Advice from birdcage rasslers appreciated. Patrick Draine
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC