Pichel upright (birdcage)

[Joe & Penny Goss]

Patrick,
Please accept my condolences <G>  Be sure to charge according to time spent.
It is sort of like working on the old foreign cars. You had to take the car
to a special shop that charged three times what a domestic car would cost
for the same job.
Perhaps it has been my luck , but all the bird cage actions have been ones
that have a single cap nut in the center that holds the action in place and
two metal locks one on each end at the top that hold the action in place.
If this is the setup it will be a simple job to replace the broken strings.
Wire seems to be very brittle on some of these pianos.
Joe Goss
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "J Patrick Draine" <draine@mediaone.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 7:10 PM
Subject: Pichel upright (birdcage)


> Dear List:
> Yesterday I worked on a Pichel upright piano serial number 3531, made in
> Berlin, with an over-damper action (that's the respectful term for a
> birdcage, right?).
> It's not listed in Pierce -- could someone with an European piano atlas
> look it up & tell me when it was manufactured?
>
> It's in nice condition -- fantastic burled veneer etc. Apparently a very
> late example of an over-damper system.
>
> It was 150-200 cents flat when I got to it; I pulled it up to 100 cents
> flat. Still managed to break a couple of high treble strings.
>
> Anyone have any advice specific to working on this Pichel? I need to
> pull the action to fix the strings, and space hammers (the hammer
> flanges are screwed to the interior side of the action rail).
> Is this an example of an action which unscrews and slides out of the
> piano, keybed & all? I don't often work on "cottage pianos" (though this
> one is much better than the typical "birdcage piano") -- I couldn't
> figure out how to remove the action!
>
> The customer has strong sentimental attachments (mother in law brought
> it over when she moved to the States 50 years ago etc.), so I need to
> get it fixed up!
>
> Patrick